Child Soldiers. Care & Protection of Children in Emergencies – A Field Guide

The “Field Guide to Child Soldier Programs in Emergencies” is one in a series compiled by Save the Children (SC) as part of its Children and War Capacity Building Initiative. The SC Children in Crisis Unit developed this initiative in order to support SC staff in responding to the priority care and protection needs of children and adolescents during new emergencies and in situations of chronic armed conflict or displacement.The field guide outlines the planning and implementation of programmes focused on recruitment prevention, demobilisation, or reintegration of child soldiers. It includes notes on situation analysis, monitoring, and evaluation. It is intended for Save the Children staff and partners designing and implementing either a programme focused fully on child soldiers, or a child soldiers-focused component of a broader programme for war-affected children and is meant to be useful both for staff that have limited experience with child soldier programming and for experienced staff that wish to improve their understanding of particular aspects of child soldier programmes.