CRC/C/COD/CO/3-5 (c) Large numbers of children continue to be recruited and used in armed conflict by non-State armed groups, such as the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda, Raia Mutomboki and Nyatura, among others; (d) Decrees for implementing the provisions of the Child Protection Code on prohibiting the recruitment and use of child soldiers have yet to be adopted and there are no effective mechanisms for investigating, convicting or sanctioning those responsible for grave violations against children; (e) Human and financial resources for the demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers are scarce, disproportionately affecting girl soldiers, who comprise up to 30 per cent of children involved in armed forces and groups; (f) Girl soldiers face stigmatization and rejection by their communities and thus are sometimes forced to re-join armed groups. 48. The Committee reiterates (CRC/C/OPAC/COD/CO/1), which have recommends that the State party: its not previous been fully recommendations implemented, and (a) Show greater political commitment at the highest levels to stop the involvement of children within the national armed forces and end any collaboration with or military, financial or logistical support for non-State armed groups that involve and use children in their activities; (b) Review its Criminal Code in order to criminalize the recruitment of children under the age of 18 years; (c) Provide adequate resources for investigations and prosecutions and publish information on the number of prosecutions and convictions for the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict; (d) Ensure that the release, recovery and reintegration of children associated with non-State armed forces or armed groups becomes a priority and is addressed in all peace or ceasefire negotiations and agreements with armed groups, in line with United Nations operational guidelines on addressing children’s issues in peace agreements; (e) Standardize army recruitment procedures and train officers to ensure consistent and effective verification of the age of individual recruits to prevent effectively the recruitment of children into the armed forces. In this regard, the State party should widely circulate guidelines on verifying age and instruct recruiters that in the case of doubt over an individual’s age, he or she should not be recruited; (f) Expedite the effective implementation of the Child Protection Code and establish a comprehensive child protection system, including a systematic mechanism for investigating, convicting and sanctioning those responsible for violations against children; (g) Provide the National Implementation Unit for the National Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Programme and all involved State agencies with the human, financial and technical resources necessary for them to identify and provide assistance to all former child soldiers, including self-demobilized children and child soldiers abandoned by armed groups en route to army integration sites; (h) Develop and implement, in collaboration with the United Nations and child protection actors, a strategy to identify and provide effective reintegration assistance to current and former girl soldiers and their children that meet their complex medical, economic and psychosocial needs, ensuring that those initiatives, 16

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