UNICEF Programme for the Reintegration of Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups in Nepal

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoists (CPN-M) and the Government of Nepal (GoN) saw the end of an internal armed conflict that had played out across Nepal for over a decade. As with most armed conflicts, children were amongst those most seriously and particularly affected. They had been killed, maimed, raped, tortured, displaced and used by both parties to the conflict. The CPN-M, in particular, had recruited and used thousands of children1 directly in hostilities, as spies, messengers, porters, recruiters and trainers of other children and for propaganda purposes.

UNICEF and its child protection partners, under the aegis of a working group for children associated with armed forces and armed groups (the CAAFAG Working Group) designed and started to implement a programme for the reintegration of up to 11,000 children who were associated with the CPN-M. The programme was broadly designed to comply with the Paris Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (the Paris Principles) and on the basis of experience in similar contexts across the globe.