Resilience amidst risks for recruitment: A case study of ‘at risk’ children in Colombia

Abstract

Children are often displaced and/or recruited into armed groups due to large-scale, global conflicts and the estimated 56 internal conflicts (UN General Assembly, 2007). Over 25 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) exist in the world today making displacement one of the primary effects of war (IDMC, n.d.). As a result of displacement, IDPs experience estrangement and loss; children and their families lose the majority of their belongings, including their home and land; social structures break down; family relationships are strained; distrust and fear increases; social norms may change; members of receiving territories may discriminate against newly arriving IDPs; and IDPs can lose their sense of normalcy (Working Group on Children Affected by Armed Conflict and Displacement, 1996; Bello et al., 2000; Arias, 2002; Cuéllar, 2004). IDPs also tend to have limited access to nutrition, health, education, water and employment (Bernal et al., 2004). These conditions also increase the risk of a child’s recruitment into an armed group (Achvarina and Reich, 2006). In fact, over 250,000 children are currently estimated to be active participants in the ranks of armed groups globally.