Do no harm: how reintegration programmes for former child soldiers can cause unintended harm

Abstract

Following participation in armed forces or armed groups, former child soldiers frequently need assistance that promotes their reintegration into families and communities. Although reintegration programmes for former child soldiers can have positive outcomes, they may also cause unintended negative consequences and violate the humanitarian imperative of ‘Do No Harm’. Aiming to bring ethical issues associated with reintegration programming out of the margins, this Chapter examines three broad categories of Do No Harm issues in regard to reintegration work: (1) discrimination, (2) imposition of outsider approaches, and (3) increase in child protection issues. Using examples from a variety of conflict settings, this Chapter examines unintended harms related to excessive targeting of former child soldiers for support; gender discrimination; stigma; violation of children’s participation rights; the marginalization of cultural understandings of mental health and psychosocial issues; the absence of measures for enabling the accountability of former child soldiers to local communities; raised expectations amidst short-term supports; labelling; re-recruitment; and the securitization of reintegration processes, with former child soldiers at times depicted as ‘terrorists’. This Chapter offers strategies for preventing or managing the harms.