Rehab

As the war was starting to come to an end, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), ordered both sides to stop using child soldiers. ''UNICEF calls on all warring sides to put an end to the use of children as combattants and to incorporate provisions for their physical and emotional welfare in a future peace settlement,'' Carol Bellamy, UNICEF's Executive Director said at the height of the conflict." (Fofana). The RUF said they would remove all their soldiers under the age of 18, while the rebels could care less about what UNICEF was saying. However, the government initially didn't make any effort to stop child soldiers from fighting for them, they only said they would.

Eventually the war was declared over and many kids had to go through rehabilitation centers. "Between 1992 and 1996, the period of the worst fighting between the government forces and the RUF, an estimated 4,500 children were forced to fight on both sides." (Fofana). This shows that only half way through the war, there already were many children who would need to go through some sort of treatment to kick there old habits and return to a somewhat "normal" state of mind. I believe that the reason some of these rehabilitation centers worked is because the children were finally getting the care that they needed during the war. Not all children were fortunate though, during one incident, 83 children at a demobilization camp were heading to Freetown when the RUF stopped them, stripped them of their possessions and made them rejoin the RUF (HRW).

To view a blog on the events after the war click Here.