Working Paper | Collaboration between the Peacekeeping Operations and Child Protection Actors for the Prevention of Child Recruitment, Identification, Release, and Reintegration of Children

The Working Paper examines the collaboration between UN peacekeeping missions with a protection mandate and child protection actors in the prevention of child recruitment, identification and release, and reintegration of children associated with armed forces and armed groups (CAAFAG). The Working Paper is based on the findings of a study carried out in three countries, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and South Sudan. This project is funded by Global Affairs Canada and led by the CAAFAG Task Force of the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action with leadership from Plan International and UNICEF.

Grounded in the Vancouver Principles on Peacekeeping and the Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers, the study underscores peacekeeping missions’ crucial role in preventing child recruitment and use, supporting Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) processes, and enabling accountability. Findings are drawn from key informant interviews conducted in 2025 with community leaders, former CAAFAG (young women and men), national and international NGOs, UNICEF, and peacekeeping mission representatives.