This paper examines the perceptions of adolescents and their caregivers on the factors that influence children to engage with armed groups, as well as their experiences with the groups and upon returning home to their families and communities. The results illustrate that families living in conflict settings are subject to traumatic experiences and economic hardship that can further erode protective family relationships. This leaves adolescent boys and girls particularly vulnerable to the systemic and overlapping economic, social, institutional push and pull factors that might influence them to engage with an armed group. These drivers are cyclical, preventing adolescent boys and girls for reintegrating into their families and communities and contributing to the common but difficult decision to return to the armed group. Key findings for adolescents and caregivers are summarized by country in Tables 2 and 3. The findings are presented temporally to reflect this cyclical experience. To illuminate dynamics within the household and how a child’s engagement with armed forces and armed groups affects the larger family environment and the interpersonal relationship between the child and their caregivers, adolescent and caregiver findings are presented together within each section. This serves to deepen our understanding of the cycle of recruitment for adolescents and the experiences and consequences for them and their families.
Table 2
Key findings for adolescents by country
Theme | Central African Republic | Democratic Republic of Congo |
Drivers of engagement with armed groups | • Belief in / affiliation with cause of the armed group • Poor economic conditions • Social influence of the community and caregivers o Influence of community / friends mentioned more among boys o Positive parental support for engagement mentioned more among girls | • No affiliation with cause of the armed group and general dislike of armed groups • Poor economic conditions and the negative influence of this on family dynamics • Parental support for engagement for economic reasons (e.g. income for the family) |
Protective factors against engagement | • Positive social influence (e.g. family, friends not in the armed group) • Caregivers discouraged them from joining (reported by boys who did not engage with groups) | • Caregivers or other family members discouraged them from joining (reported by girls and boys who did not engage with groups, but more often by boys) • Close-knit family dynamic and desire to support family economically and emotionally |
Motivations to leave the armed group | • Peer violence within the armed group • Poor living conditions • Frequent contact with families and/or living with family, who encouraged them to leave the group o Caregiver disapproval of engagement o Responsibilities at home (older adolescents) | • Peer violence within the armed group o Sexual and economic violence for girls, in particular • Poor living conditions • Limited ability to contact families while with group, and little social support within group • For those who were in contact with families: o Caregiver disapproval of engagement o Responsibilities at home (older adolescents) |
Motivations to stay with the armed group | • Positive social dynamics within the group for some boys and girls: o Emotional support from other youth o Mentorship and protection from older youth and leaders • Some economic support | • Negative situation at home (no reason to return) |
Readjusting to life at home | • No access to basic needs or livelihoods • Social stigmatization from community and family members, mostly reported by girls (related to reputation of “being with” armed men) • Tension with family, and inability to discuss what happened to them with their family members • Desire to obtain a successful livelihood, but concern that conflict will persist and prevent community from developing | • No access to income (previous source of income was through association with armed group) • Caregivers unable to provide for needs • Social stigmatization from family members, mostly reported by girls experiencing stigma from male family members • General lack of hope for the future due to immutability of their situation |
Table 3
Key findings for caregivers in CAR and DRC
Theme | Central African Republic | Democratic Republic of Congo |
Perception of drivers of child’s engagement with armed groups | • Family’s economic needs, child having no school or occupation • Social influence of other young people • Caregiver disapproval of child’s engagement, but did not know until they went missing o Felt they had little control over their child’s behavior • Knowledge of poor living conditions and violence that their child faced while with the armed group | • Poor economic conditions of the household • Caregiver disapproval of child engagement; fear and sadness • Indistinct line between child engaging with armed groups out of their own will or being forced to join or kidnapped • Knowledge of severity of conditions for adolescent girls, including denial of resources, being beaten and raped |
Conflict experiences and dynamics at home | • Traumatic conflict experiences including children being killed or separated from them o Lasting effects on their mental health and capacity to care for their families • Some reported maintaining a relationship with their child even while they lived with the armed group, providing advice and expressing concern which eventually influenced them to return home (mostly women, some men) | • Stigma toward the caregivers from the community and family for child’s engagement with armed group, including cases of imprisonment or other official punishment o Blame toward mothers by fathers • Increased tension within the household, fighting between partners while child was engaged with armed group reported by women |
Changes in parenting during child’s reintegration | • Economic stress, unable to adequately provide for children o Perception that risk of re-recruitment is high due to lack of livelihoods opportunities • Difficulties with child’s behavior (e.g. anger or aggression and disinterest, particularly perceived among boy children) • Challenges with their own mental health issues and coping as a parent • Difficulties with talking to their child about what happened to them • Successful strategies for talking with their children about their experiences included involving the whole family engaging the child through individual and family conversations | • Unable to adequately provide for children • Positive change in family dynamics upon child’s reintegration, but variation by gender of caregiver and child (e.g. father not welcoming toward girl child, as reported by women) • Difficulties with child’s behavior (e.g. negative externalizing and internalizing behaviors, risky or violent behavior outside of the home) • Successful strategies for talking with children about their experiences included talking about opportunities for the future, sharing a treat or meal as an entry point to a conversation, talking together while working, giving them a responsibility, and using advice or examples |
Needs and areas where for support | • Critical and urgent economic support • Livelihoods opportunities and capital for themselves and their children • Skills and knowledge on child development, child wellbeing, and discipline • Approaches for talking to their children about the conflict | • Critical and urgent economic support • Livelihoods opportunities for their children • Adult literacy and livelihoods training for caregivers • Knowledge on how to raise children • Approaches for talking to their children about the conflict |
[PUT Table 2 AND Table 3 NEAR HERE]
Drivers of Engagement with Armed Groups: The Search for Economic, Physical, and Social Security and its Influence on the Household
Conflict experiences and physical insecurity
Adolescent boys and girls in both CAR and DRC described a childhood mired by conflict, loss, and displacement. All respondents in both countries described experiencing multiple traumatic conflict-related events, including attacks on their village, flight and displacement, kidnapping, killing of family members, and separation from their families. In CAR, these experiences informed their decision to join the armed groups, as the majority of both boys and girls described their desire to avenge family members and a personal affiliation with one of the militias as the primary motivating factor for engaging with a group. A 20-year-old boy from CAR described, “Yes, the [armed group] killed my two older brothers in [village]. … Which made me angry and decide to join the armed group to avenge my two older brothers.”
A few boys and girls interviewed in CAR were also separated from their families while fleeing attacks on their village and reported having no way to support themselves and nowhere to go other than to join the armed groups. This differed from adolescents in the DRC, as the majority of adolescent respondents described not liking or supporting the group, and none referenced avenging family members, defending their community, or other motivating factors related to the cause of the groups. Indeed, some adolescents explicitly stated that they did not trust the armed groups but rather became engaged for economic reasons. One 15-year-old girl from DRC who reported that she went into the forest to join with the group to earn money shared: “No [I did not believe in their cause], I didn’t trust them. … Because they are bad people. Anyone who holds a weapon is very bad and dangerous. A person with a gun is a very dangerous person.”
Interviews with caregivers of children who were recruited by armed groups also shed light on the situation of families during their child’s recruitment. Similar to their children, caregivers in both DRC and CAR reported having experienced multiple traumatic conflict experiences, including their children being killed or separated from them during displacement. Several caregivers in CAR reported that their child joined the armed group during this period of separation and not knowing their whereabouts, while several caregivers in DRC described assuming their child had been killed until learning they had joined the armed group. Both male and female caregivers expressed that this separation and displacement had prolonged mental health effects that still made it more challenging for them to care for their children in present. Respondents described these mental health impacts lasting beyond their child’s return from the armed group, and having a continued influence on their ability to care for their children. One male caregiver of an adolescent boy in who joined an armed group in CAR expressed:
I fought every night for my family to have enough to eat and watched them at all times so that something wouldn't happen to them. We had lost hope, I thought my life was already ruined, I lost even self-confidence, but it was God who guided me to deal with some of these problems.
Economic insecurity
Economic drivers were also reported by boys and girls in CAR and DRC; the majority of respondents reported that their families’ livelihoods were destroyed by the conflict, and they had no access to basic needs, leaving them with few options. Adolescent boys in particular described a sense of having “nothing to do” before they joined. One 20-year-old adolescent boy from CAR stated,
I lived together with my mother, then I moved to be together with my friends because there was nothing to eat at home, and also finding work to do in the village had become difficult. … If I go [with the group], I would find money to start my business again and this is how I accepted.
The conflict situations in both CAR and DRC were further exacerbated by the economic consequences of COVID-19 and related restrictions on movement. One 15-year-old girl from DRC expressed:
When I learned that schools were closing due to COVID-19, I went straight into the forest. … I lived with my friends. We went [to where the armed groups live] together. … After whipping us, they gave us money to buy food for them. … [My parents] could accept because of the lack of money.
Male and female caregivers in both countries also described being unable to adequately provide for their children due to destruction of their livelihoods and homes during the conflict. With no income and no ability to provide for their children’s basic needs, send them to school, or help them get a job of their own, several caregivers expressed that their child had no choice but to join the armed group. Male and female caregivers in DRC particularly emphasized these economic drivers as the main factor that drove their child to engage with the group. One male caregiver of an adolescent boy in DRC described:
What motivated him, it was because of poverty. He could see there is nothing at home, so he decides to join. … I talked to him asking: what pushed you to go there? He told me he realized that life conditions are becoming bad in the village. He heard the armed groups had something good they would provide to improve their lives.
Caregivers emphasized that the economic and social drivers that influenced their child left them with “no choice”, even though they as caregivers had asked them not to go. This vulnerable economic situation demonstrates the difficulty of distinguishing between forced and voluntary recruitment for families living in situations of armed conflict. In both DRC and CAR, adolescents described their “choice” to engage with the groups while also describing situations of economic exploitation and violence. Two girls in CAR reported being kidnapped and forced to join the armed group while simultaneously feeling motivated by the cause to “join” the group even though they were forced to join. In DRC, several caregivers described their children experiencing coercion that verged on forced recruitment while still reporting that their child joined voluntarily. This was most often reported by caregivers of adolescent girls compared to adolescent boys, such as one mother of an adolescent girl in DRC who said, “The reason is that life is difficult here and many get to join after having gone to the bush to carry embers. … She went to look for money without knowing she was going to be kept there.”
Family responsibility may also be a protective factor for preventing child recruitment, particularly for older adolescents. In both countries, older adolescent boys and girls at risk who reported being financially responsible for their families described having to take care of their younger siblings or mother and therefore being unable to leave home to engage with the armed groups.
Social drivers and protective relationships in the household and community
While adolescent respondents did not explicitly list their social network as a key factor in their decision to join, most described the overall influence of local militias on their families and communities. In both CAR and DRC, adolescent boys and girls reported deciding to engage with armed groups alongside of friends or other community members. The influence of these networks were distinct when comparing the experiences of adolescents who were associated with armed groups to those who were not. Respondents who were associated with armed groups reported varying levels of support from their parents. Both boys and girls had family members who were also in the group, such as fathers or siblings. Girls out of the armed groups reported more often than boys that their parent gave them permission to join. A few girls who were at risk but who had not engaged with armed groups reported that their caregivers had forbidden them from joining or that they could not join because of their gender. One 16-year-old girl from CAR described how she wanted to join but was not allowed: “As I am a girl, I could not even avenge my brothers. Right now, I can't run behind men.” Still, several girls from both CAR and DRC reported engaging with the group despite their parents’ disapproval. In a few cases, they associated this decision with their unhappiness with their situation at home. One 17-year-old girl in the DRC shared about her relationship with her parents before she engaged with the group: “It was negative because, when one goes wandering, it is not because there is nothing to do a home. There are chores at home, but you go. If they are pouring out abuse on you, you decide to go wandering.”
In contrast, several boys in both DRC and CAR reported that their parents were against them joining but that they made the decision to run away and engage with the group regardless, creating tension with their caregivers. [REDACTED] program staff in CAR illuminated this dynamic between parents and their children, explaining that armed groups pass through the community and ask what each family will contribute. Even if parents do not want their child to go, the contribution of their child’s labor guarantees security for the family. In the case of boys, they were not expected to ask for permission; as was reported in both DRC and CAR, many caregivers did not know their boy child had joined until he did not come home. In the case of girls, given gender roles and decision-making dynamics within the home, they would need to have the support of their parents—particularly their fathers—to engage with the group. In addition, any economic benefits obtained by the girl in the group would come back to the family, whereas if an adolescent boy has economic gains, they might use them to start their own household. This dynamic was also present in the DRC, where several adolescent girls reported that their caregivers supported their engagement in the group for economic gain, even if they were concerned about their safety. One 15-year-old girl described:
My parents allowed me when I was growing up to go into the forest to associate with armed groups. … So that I can have the money. … And after I earn some money, that I can go home to help them pay for clothes, for example. And the money they allegedly used to buy me clothes would pay for school fees. … They don't like [armed groups] … because they have arms, and they can kill people.
Many male and female caregivers of both boys and girls reported being vocally against their child engaging with the group but that their child still made the decision to go. This was mostly reported among caregivers of boy children; among care givers of girl children, several specifically stated that their daughters did not engage with the armed group because they did not allow them to. Whereas parental support among boys and girls who joined the armed groups was mixed, none of the at-risk youth in CAR or DRC reported having negative relationships with their parents before or after the conflict and most of the at-risk boys reported that their parents were vocally against them joining.
Several at-risk boys in CAR and DRC reported that male community members and extended family specifically advised them against engaging with the group. At-risk adolescent girls and boys reported not having any friends in the group, further reducing any social influence to engage. Among those adolescent girls and boys who engaged with the armed groups, none reported that anyone from the community discouraged them from joining. Rather, boys described having support from their friends and members of the community for joining and having many friends in the group, though this was reported less often among girls. One 19-year old respondent from CAR described the social pressure to join the armed groups, and his fear of not conforming:
Once at the beginning of last year, I took a gun from a friend's house, they were passing in a group. I said to him, my friend, you have already entered the armed group, but I, my parents refused to enter it, can you give me your gun so that I can hold on a little? … My heart was beating hard, I thought to myself that I had to go back there, so that we looked alike. If I did not enter the armed group, I would always be inferior to the others, there will be a big difference between them and me.
This community-wide pressure to join among youth was a driving source of motivation reported in both CAR and DRC.
Experiences in the Armed Groups and Dynamics at Home
In CAR, the majority of adolescent boys reported living on base and the majority of adolescent girls lived at home, with exception of a few who lived on base, two of whom were separated from their families. Those who did live on base reported visiting their families while in the group. In DRC, both boys and girls reported living with the armed groups and most reported being unable to visit home or keep in contact with their families during that time. Across age groups and gender, adolescents reported that their caregivers did not want them to be in the groups once they joined, and many expressed that this disapproval influenced them to eventually leave the group. A 13-year old girl from DRC explained: “I preferred to do a week in the group because I had no idea to go home. … I thought I couldn't adapt to life at home. … There was a message that my family sent me when I was in the group and it gave me the courage to go home. I used to think I couldn't be accommodated anymore.”
This caregiver disapproval, as well as the poor living conditions and culture of violence in the group encampments were the main motivating factors to leave the groups as reported by boys and girls in both countries. Both boys and girls described a normalization of violence within the groups, such as being whipped (among girls) and beating each other as punishment or “for fun” (among boys). Several boys and girls interviewed described poor living conditions in the camp and not having access to basic needs such as food, water and personal hygiene. Very few adolescent respondents reported being paid or receiving any economic or material compensation, despite many having engaged with the group for this reason. Several boys and girls in both CAR and DRF expressed regretting their decision to join once they arrived and feeling unsupported by adults and alone. Despite this violent environment, a few older adolescent girls in the DRC reported staying in the group because the situation there was better or the same than the situation they would return to at home. One 18-year-old girl in the DRC explained:
What scared me was that I realized that the life I led in the group was the same as at home. That's what made me decide to go home so I could die next to my parents. … I [stayed 3 years] because I knew that even with us life was difficult.
After their child joined the armed group, the majority of caregivers in CAR reported having little ability to see or communicate with them and therefore had a limited understanding of their experience, though female caregivers reported more knowledge of their child’s time in the group, in general. In the DRC, both male and female caregivers more often reported having contact with their children, but most often male children. In contrast, caregivers of girl children in the DRC reported learning about their daughters’ experiences after they returned, but had no contact while the girls were in the group. Among those caregivers who did know about their child’s experience, they described the violent and poor living conditions of the encampments. Several reported that these poor living conditions drove their child to leave the group. One male caregiver of an adolescent boy in CAR said, “There, it was just suffering, here at home, he slept under the blanket, but there, he slept in the open space. At some point, he couldn't bear it and he was obliged to come here to the house to take the blanket.”
However, most male and female caregivers reported that their children made the decision to leave the armed groups and return home because they continually expressed concern and asked them to come home every time their child visited. Caregivers described having this conversation in different ways, with some telling their children they were needed at home, and others advising them that they could make a more stable income if they left the group. One female caregiver of an adolescent boy in CAR shared how she discussed with him about different opportunities for income:
I approached him with good advice. I asked him to stop going to the armed groups. … I advised him to look for other activities, even if it involves selling firewood. … I'm afraid he'll die, I won't see him again, because the armed group is not for children and a lot of bad things can happen there.
Another female caregiver of an adolescent boy in DRC reported talking to her son about his future to motivate him to disengage:
I discussed [his experience] with him … to know what he was doing there. … We discussed how he can leave the armed groups and come back home. … Not going there again so that he cannot die there and to avoid to make again alliance with those guys. … I gave him pieces of advice. … I told him I am going to get him back at school. … When I talked about this he showed joy and it gave him courage.
The perception of caregivers that their disapproval influenced their child to leave the group is consistent with what adolescents reported above and demonstrates the effect the caregivers still had on the child during their time with the group.
Nevertheless, many adolescent boys and girls in both countries also described positive social dynamics within the armed groups, including receiving social support from other boys and girls in the group, as well as protection and mentorship provided by chiefs or leaders. A few separated male and female adolescents in CAR described this support as filling a need they had after losing their parents in the conflict. One 20-year old boy from CAR said, “As I lost parents, my friends from the armed groups supported me when I was among them. When someone wants to provoke me, they often defend me. … When I miss a few things, they support me.”
Most adolescent boys and girls described leaving the groups because the immediate conflict ended, and their caregivers asked them to come home. Older adolescents also reported needing an income to support their families and wanting a stable future that being part of the armed groups could not provide.
In the DRC, the consequences of their child’s engagement for the entire household was emphasized by caregivers. Both male and female respondents commonly reported experiencing stigma from the community and their relatives who blamed them for their child’s engagement with the armed group. In at least three cases, a caregiver within the household was imprisoned or officially punished by authorities for their child’s engagement. One male caregiver of an adolescent boy in DRC described,
What we experienced when the child was in the armed group, firstly the government took us to prison. We were charged to pay fines and were obliged to find this child, get him leave the armed group and bring him back home.
While this stigma was reported by both men and women, female caregivers of girls and boys reported receiving additional blame from their husbands due to the perception that it is the mother’s fault when their child misbehaves. In some cases, women reported that their child’s engagement increased tension within the household, including fighting with her partner. One female caregiver of an adolescent girl expressed this worsened dynamic: “Our relationship was bad when the child joined armed groups because [my husband] was saying I was the cause of her joining armed groups.” This increase in tension was reported by female caregivers of boys and girls, and respondents reported that it contributed to their own struggles with mental health. Male caregivers also described a toll on their mental health as a result of the stigma they experienced in the community from their child’s involvement.
After the Armed Group: Readjusting to Life at Home and Changes in Parenting
Upon leaving the armed groups, adolescent boys and girls in both DRC and CAR returned to similar conditions in their homes and communities as before they left. Many described having no access to basic needs and a lack of employment opportunities, and their household having to rely on community financial support to survive. Caregivers in both countries described a similar situation upon their child’s return home: both male and female caregivers described being unable to adequately provide for their children, which they expressed drove their children away. They also reported that the inability to find employment was a risk for adolescents to rejoin armed groups. One female caregiver in CAR who had multiple children join armed groups described:
We are really concerned about the future of our children. When your child is out in the armed group and you have nothing to give him, it hurts. Me and my husband have a lot of worries because if we cannot find something for these children, they will one day risk re-entering the armed group. When they ask us something, we are unable to give them, it hurts as parents.
This lack of financial stability and inability to find jobs was described by both male and female caregivers in CAR and DRC as a source of tension within the household. While many caregivers described positive family relationships upon their child’s return, others described tension within the household and challenges with the change in behavior of their child. These challenges were described mostly among caregivers who had boys in the armed groups, and less among those with girls. Caregivers described their boy children struggling with anger and aggression, and a general disinterest in wanting to occupy themselves with school or work. One female caregiver in the DRC did report that her daughter’s behavior had become more aggressive and the negative impact her behavior and the family’s poor economic situation had on their relationship:
We are still not in a good relationship because all that she could receive from me she is not receiving. … We have nothing because she wants to study but we do not have the means to pay her school fees. … She loves her friends with whom she shares tobacco, drink and other drugs. But she doesn't consider anyone who wants to give her advice.. … When she is angry and I try to give her advice, she speaks unbearable language to me.
In a few cases, caregivers with girl children revealed their daughter’s desire to gain autonomy after returning from the armed group. In these cases, their daughter’s change in behavior was described as negatively as an example of the influence of the armed group on her attitude. One male caregiver of an adolescent girl in DRC described this situation:
When she arrives home, she no longer wants to be considered a child. When she talks, she wants us to do everything she said. And if a family member including myself, talks to her in terms of her advice, she reacts very negatively saying that we have nothing to say to her. That if she wants, she can go back there. And about a few days later, she's going there. In short, she wants to have authority over everyone in the house and that there is no one else talking in the house.
In comparison, most adolescents reported that their family relationships went back to normal after they returned home, though for some it was more difficult. Several boys described the tension with their caregivers as they readjusted to being back at home. This tension often related to the feeling that they were not receiving adequate support from their families who could no longer provide for them. One 18-year-old boy from CAR explained:
After I left the armed group, my relationship with my caregivers here has not improved at all, they do not pay attention to what I do. First, I don't live with them anymore, I don't eat with them. … What hurts me today is the disagreement between me and my guardians here. It gives me a lot of negative thoughts.
A few adolescent boys in both CAR and DRC expressed that they could not or did not want to speak with their families about what had happened to them. They described this as a challenge that made them less likely to spend time with their families. However, other boys in both countries described having a positive experiencing speaking to their caregivers about their experience. One 19-year boy in CAR said:
They asked me if I kept remembering what I did during the crisis I replied that I forgot everything, I don't remember anything anymore. Then I told them not to ask me that kind of question. I don't like to go back to what happened.
Adolescent girls in both CAR and DRC reported experiencing gender-based stigmatization from their families and communities for having spent time with armed men. A 15-year-old girl from CAR explained that other girls treated her differently, “Since I came back, I have lived in perfect harmony with my little brothers. But some of my fellow girls call me a brothel because I sold porridge to the [armed group]. However, others continue to play with me.” Similar instances were reported by adolescent girls in DRC, with one 17-year-old girl sharing: “With my brothers, we love each other very much. … The girls remind me of what happened.” This gender-based stigma was acknowledged by female caregivers who described the discriminatory treatment their girl children experienced at the hands of other family and community members for their association with armed men. In contrast, only a few boys mentioned experiencing some stigmatization in the community upon first returning from the groups, which they said lessened with time.
Caregiver Needs and Support for the Future
Caregivers also expressed their own challenges with parenting after their child returned home. Both male and female caregivers in DRC and CAR shared their own mental health issues and the difficulties this caused with parenting and adequately supporting their children. However, many caregivers also remained optimistic about their relationship with their child and their child’s future, and they described the approaches they had used to support their children which they perceived to be successful. Common strategies included talking to their children about opportunities for the future, sharing a treat or meal as an entry point to a conversation, giving them a responsibility, and talking together while working. One male respondent in CAR described trying to involve the whole family in supporting his son and having both individual and family conversations with him to create an atmosphere of communication and support. A female respondent in DRC described her approach to talking to her daughter while working with her:
Sometimes we sit down together and I take the opportunity to give her advice on how to live. … I do it when we are doing a given job because sometimes she agrees to go with me to the field. … When I'm with her, I ask her questions about life. I ask her what she would like to do so that we know what can help her in the days to come.
However, in both countries, while female caregivers reported supporting both boy and girl children through different approaches, male caregivers exclusively reported supporting their boy children. No male caregivers of girl children shared examples of positive approaches.
Despite having examples of successful approaches for talking to and supporting their children reintegrating, both male and female caregivers in both countries expressed needing assistance to adequately support their families. In CAR, several male and female caregivers specifically mentioned wanting to increase their knowledge and skills on child development, child wellbeing, and how to practice better discipline. Male and female caregivers of both boy and girl children also described wanting to build skills on how to talk to their children about the conflict, in particular. One female caregiver of an adolescent boy in CAR requested: “You give good advice to parents so that we can help our children also through advice, so that they can put their heads out of the bad things of armed groups. … It’s the advice which facilitates a child's well-being and development.” Male and female caregivers in DRC also emphasized wanting to build their skills to talk to their children about the conflict. One male caregiver of an adolescent girl in DRC spoke about what he support he needs:
First, for me, it's building capacity, giving a lot of training so I can know how to advise this child and de-traumatize her. If I attend a lot of training seminars on how to live with the children or how to give them advice, it will already be a lot to help this child.
Caregivers also commonly listed economic assistance as a critical need for supporting their families. Male and female caregivers in both countries most commonly reported needing livelihoods training for their children or themselves in order to have a more sustainable income. This included needing financial or material capital to set up businesses in the face of economic hardship in their communities and a lack of available livelihoods opportunities.