Jacques MBUSA BULIGHO

Jacques Mbusa, through his organization UPDECO, developed a comprehensive step-by-step blueprint for the full reintegration of child soldiers with their families. In 2023, 30,000 former child soldiers were successfully reintegrated across the Democratic Republic of Congo. This pioneering approach by Jacques has gained official recognition and adoption by a consortium comprising DRC federal agencies, international NGOs, and national NGOs.

Jacques has created a high-standard step-by-step blueprint to follow for obtaining the release of child soldiers and the steps that lead to the successful reintegration of every child soldier in society. This blueprint was approved by a network of international agencies involved in rehabilitating child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), psychologists, and the Ministry of Defenses, Social Affairs and Education. During negotiations for the release of child soldiers, a crucial step involves assuring commanders that the network will offer comprehensive support including physical care, safety, and emotional and psychological counselling and treatment post-release. The ultimate objective is to ensure that all child soldiers receive the necessary care and support for their complete reintegration into society after their release.

The negotiation process with local commanders is time-consuming, requiring a multi-step program to be designed for effective engagement and resolution. To achieve a successful release of all child soldiers in a particular area from the command structure of a rebel group, it is necessary to be able to effectively move beyond the level of the local group commander to the leader of the rebel army commander, who coordinates the activities of the rebel groups under his control. To do that successfully, it is necessary to find the most influential leaders in the community (typically 10-15 village chiefs), convince them of the need, and get them to send messages directly to the army rebel commander about the threat that holding onto child soldiers poses to the village chiefs as well as the rebel army itself.

Jacques’ team members educate the village chiefs about the basics of international law. In some cases, it involves bringing in local representatives from the Red Cross. Rebel commanders at the local and area levels are not aware of the concept of human rights, and the risk to them if they are judged guilty of maintaining child soldiers in their ranks. This is when the UPDECO team members point to the real case of Bosco Ntaganda, a rebel commander in the DRC, who was convicted of recruiting child soldiers and is now serving 20 years in prison in Europe at International Criminal Courts, thousands of miles from where they live.

To ensure safety and mental health care for child soldiers, Jacques, along with his network of partners nationwide, launched a comprehensive mental health initiative. This involved conducting psychological clinical diagnoses to treat released child soldiers and implementing a program that trains health and social workers to offer health treatment and psychological support for extended periods in all conflict-affected regions in the DRC. Jacques also recruited professionals to provide health services to those with severe disorders among the released child soldiers, engaging a network of partners including UNICEF, social workers, and government agencies.

Children released from armed forces and groups undergo a common diagnosis for various psychological conditions like depression, anxiety disorders, attachment disorders, behavioral disorders, and more. Effective therapeutic interventions including counseling, cognitive behavioral therapy, and medication aid in their recovery and reintegration post-conflict. This approach helps children understand and normalize their distress, easing their belief in insanity or bewitchment. Cognitive Behavior therapy replaces negative thoughts with rational responses, fostering positive outlooks and adaptive behaviors. Psycho-education identifies disorders’ roots, while Cognitive Behavior therapy combats irrational fears. Motivational therapy helps combat harmful behaviors like substance abuse, promoting health and well-being.

What sets Jacques and his network apart is the full integration the child soldiers receive. They are provided with installation kits, grouped into cooperatives for follow-ups and income-generating activities, and join savings and credit groups to access funds. The aim is to change their social status and achieve complete social integration, with child soldiers being recognized as entrepreneurs, barbershop owners, carpenters, and more. Jacques also created schools that offer adequate education based on these child soldiers’ needs. They also integrate in school with other children to prevent future reintegration into the army.

To create these sorts of scalable and ongoing solutions to address the fundamental drivers that affect rebel recruitment efforts, Jacques has lobbied for and won approval for the formation of a GTTS (Joint Technical Working Group) to coordinate policies and programs with regard to child soldiers who are being re-integrated, as well as those who may become susceptible to joining armed groups in the future. It is a national structure with provincial branches. At the provincial level, it brings together the Governor’s Advisor on Child Recruitment and Use, the representative of the military regional commander, the head of the social affairs division, the head of the justice division, the president of the North Kivu Children’s Court, United Nations agencies such as UNICEF and MONUSCO (Child Protection), as well as national NGOs like CAJED, PAMI, ACOP, and UPDECO. Jacques serves as the co-facilitator of all meetings of the GTTS (Technical Working Group).

Jacques has expanded his network of partners, including government and non-governmental organizations, to provide further support for youth. Collaborating with the Ministry of Education has led to increased investment in maintaining and boosting school enrollment at the local level, as lower enrollment rates contribute to the success of rebel recruitment. The Ministries of Health and Social Affairs are focusing on clinical mental health support and increasing the supply of nutritious food from a diverse range of local sources, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and meat, to address the ongoing needs of the population. These efforts aim to address critical issues and improve the well-being of communities in these areas.

Jacques is frequently invited by the United Nations (UN) to consult on developing comprehensive strategies for the full reintegration of child soldiers in neighboring countries of the DRC. He intends to expand his project to include the Central African Republic and South Sudan, further extending his efforts to promote peace and rehabilitation in these conflict-affected regions.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has long been plagued by a devastating 30-year conflict, resulting in the recruitment of children as child soldiers by various rebel groups. The conflict in the DRC spans numerous regions, notably in the eastern, Great Kasai, and northeastern areas bordering South Sudan and the Central African Republic. The primary contention lies in the control of mineral resources, often exploiting children for mining activities. With the government struggling to gain control over these groups, the situation has reached a critical state, as evidenced by the alarming report of 60,000 children having joined these rebel groups. The successful reintegration of a child soldier, both within their immediate environment and for society, poses a significant challenge.

It is crucial to recognise that each child soldier has a unique story, encompassing their family circumstances, the challenges faced by their village, their experiences since recruitment, and the status of their family and village, which may have migrated or faced further violence. These child soldiers endure severe forms of abuse, including sexual and gender-based violence, separation from their families and economic exploitation. Limited access to education, healthcare, and justice services further damages their well-being.

The underlying problem lies in the structural approach to addressing the issue. Prior to Jacques’ intervention, there was no nationwide network for the release of child soldiers nor a comprehensive system for integrated psychological, mental, and physical support. Until UPDECO developed this step-by-step negotiation protocol for area-level release of child soldiers in a rebel army, there was no systematic approach to this question, and consequentially there were very limited releases of child soldiers by the rebel armies and no organized effort at the federal and provincial levels to address the question of how to re-integrate the released child soldiers. Many organizations lacked effective strategies to persuade commanders and lacked coordinated efforts involving local leaders. The responsibility of releasing child soldiers has predominantly fallen on NGOs, who view them as short-term “projects” constrained by limited time and budget. The focus has primarily been on facilitating their release from local commanders, neglecting the crucial aspects of social and economic reintegration once they leave the rebel groups.

There was a pressing need for a unified system to provide health treatment, safety, and care for child soldiers. Released child soldiers often face severe psychological challenges such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, and behavioral issues due to their traumatic experiences in armed conflicts. These psychological burdens hinder their successful reintegration into society, leading to social stigmatization and difficulties in adapting to civilian life.

Jacques, through his comprehensive mental health program, provides essential psychological diagnoses, counseling, cognitive behavioral therapy, and psychosocial support to address the psychological needs of these children. By collaborating with a network of partners including UNICEF, social workers, and government agencies, Jacques ensures that released child soldiers receive the necessary therapeutic interventions and support for long-term recovery and successful integration into society, offering them a chance to rebuild their lives with dignity and hope.

The initial step in this process can be quite time-consuming, involving the meticulous mapping of relationships that interconnect village leaders with both local and regional military commanders. Additionally, this necessitates understanding the connections between these village leaders and adult members of the community who have been recruited into the local group led by the commander, as well as those who operate beyond the immediate vicinity and are affiliated with the broader organization headed by the regional military commander. All individuals involved, to varying degrees, are integral to the solution and play a vital role in achieving resolution. Consequently, the area commander must issue an order to the local commanders, compelling them to release all child soldiers under their control to UPDECO, the organization led by Jacques.

In Jacques’ approach the process of identifying individual child soldiers in an area as well as the number of child soldiers begins during the initial discussions and negotiations with the village chiefs and local military group commanders before the child soldiers’ release. The goal is that by the time the area group military commander gives the order to release all child soldiers under their command, the team from UPDECO has a good estimate of the actual number of child soldiers in the area so that in case a group commander is not fully complying with the area commander’s order they can continue to press for their release, with specific examples. And throughout this initial process UPDECO team members are gathering information about individual cases of child soldiers, so they have a sense of what an individual child has experienced.

Jacques is breaking the blueprint for different phases in sensitization and advocacy with commanders for the release of child soldiers. Identification is conducted with commanders of rebel groups and officers from the National Army. Accredited staff, well-trained by the government and Jacques, verify whether a soldier is an adult or a child. If approved, the government and the army offer certificates to child soldiers upon their withdrawal from rebel groups.

Jacques’s network has implemented clinical diagnosis and initiated mental health counselling services across conflict regions in the DRC. Supportive therapy enhances children’s resilience in coping with trauma, while occupational therapy aids in shifting negative thoughts and promoting empowerment for successful reintegration. Transitional host families provide crucial support and guidance for former child soldiers, facilitating their adjustment to civilian life through counselling and shared experiences.

Collaborating with supervisors and psychologists, these families organize sessions to address behaviours and strategize on effective assistance. They serve as catalysts for positive change. Sensitizing biological families before reunions, UPDECO facilitates welcoming ceremonies and mediation sessions to address tensions. Daily dialogues help families understand and support returning children, fostering acceptance and community integration through shared activities like musical choirs and sports teams.

UPDECO facilitators engage with security service agents and notify them about at-risk children reuniting with families. Civil authorities endorse family reunification documents, while social workers advocate for child safety during the process and petition for the release and safety of children involved with armed groups.

When a child soldier is released, their status and circumstances, as well as a plan for reintegration, must be prepared and filed with the government. The “verifiers” investigate and equally weigh both what the child soldier has been exposed to, as well as the current family circumstances in the village where they were recruited, before making a decision as to where a child soldier will be reintegrated – whether it be with their immediate family, or if those circumstances are not in the best interests of the child, to another member of the child’s extended family or, in some cases, to organizations that focus on rehabilitating children recovering from severe trauma. For counseling and psychological support, a day center and host families are established. Efforts are being made towards family unification, community acceptance, and social economic integration. These steps are helping to change the social status of former child soldiers and achieve full social integration. People are starting to refer to them as entrepreneurs, barbershop owners, carpenters, mechanical engineers, electricians, and family-oriented individuals, rather than solely as child soldiers.

Jacques and his team have also created schools for former child soldiers. The goal of creating these schools is to reintegrate these children who have passed school age. Child soldiers are also often not accepted by normal schools because of fear of their behavior. Although integration into regular schools is prioritized, UPDECO schools allow those of school age to return to school when integration is not possible.

UPDECO also supports older youth to acquire vocational and practical skills, and then to go into business. Before Jacques provides support for a business venture started by a child soldier, an analysis is conducted to assess the viability of the business idea, considering the environment and security. Steps for social and economic integration include studying opportunities and business types to determine their profitability in the specific context and market environment, considering competition as well. Participatory action research is being carried out, involving parents and children to ensure that they understand the advantages and disadvantages of practical and profitable activities such as sewing, mechanics, and salon services. After identifying the children’s capacities, passions, and local environment, the next step is to guide them towards suitable fields. MOU contracts are then signed with training centers and schools, placing the children in their respective learning centers for training. A jury evaluates their performance and successful completion of exams. Post-training support is provided, and micro-enterprises are established, involving three to five children collaborating to build their businesses. Post-installation follow-ups are conducted to monitor enterprise growth, track their social status, and ensure complete reintegration. Jacques has partnered with local and international organizations to replicate and expand his model in different regions of the DRC and South Sudan. Now, he is actively working to integrate his model in the Central African Republic, as these countries face similar challenges to the DRC.

At the current stage, with releases of tens of thousands of child soldiers each year as a result of the more coordinated effort led by UPDECO to engage with rebel military commanders, UPDECO has put in place a monitoring system that allows for a wider range of partners, including both government and NGOs, to follow up with further support for these youth. In the case of the Ministry of Education, this has resulted in a greater emphasis on investment in maintaining and increasing school enrollment at the local level, as diminishing enrollment correlates significantly with the success of rebel recruitment efforts. For the Ministries of Health and Social Affairs, it means a redoubling of efforts to focus on growing an adequate supply of nourishing food from a variegated local diet of fruits, vegetables, grains and meat to meet the ongoing needs of their population. Since 2020, UPDECO has established a Community Radio to support its awareness activities on child protection and prevention against the recruitment and use of children in armed groups.

Jacques was born in Vitchumbi, Rutshuru, in North Kivu Province, Eastern DRC. He is the seventh child in a family of nine, consisting of four girls and five boys. Tragedy struck early in Jacques’ life when his mother passed away when he was just four years old, leaving him and his siblings orphaned. The family faced a challenging situation, and the nine children were divided among members of their extended family for care and support. Jacques found himself living with his aunt from his father’s side. Meanwhile, his father, who worked as a pastor, eventually remarried.

When Jacques was seven, he joined the Scouting movement. At 10, he became a patrol leader for Scouts aged 6-12 and was promoted to the Scout District Secretary at 17 and the area’s Scout District Commissioner at 18. As Commissioner, he organized community activities for the district scouts at the sites for internally displaced people in Kiwanja, Nyanzale, and Bambo. The goal was to help the communities to dig garbage pits, separate and apart from where the displaced people lived, and in ways that would also insulate the communities from disease and other health related issues, such as drinking water contamination.

Through this process, Jacques saw that, among the displaced youth, some had experienced severe trauma, and others were former members of armed groups. At first, he organized sessions with the displaced youth, Scouts, and other members of the community. The sessions dealt with issues of how communities could live together in harmony and what being a responsible citizen entailed. Based on what he learned from these sessions Jacques organized a community-based Child Protection Committee (CBPE), with the aim of supporting unaccompanied children and those who had left armed groups.

In 2007, the NGO Save the Children UK asked Jacques to serve as a consultant for eight months to advise them on what he had learned about community-based child protection for displaced people. Jacques followed that immediately by founding his organization UPDECO (Union pour la Paix et la Promotion des Droits de L’Enfant au Congo), which set him on his path to creating solutions for displaced people which ultimately led to his focus on child soldiers ranging from awareness-raising and identification, verification, temporary care, family reunification and sustainable socio-economic reintegration.