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‘One size fits none’ approach to young terrorists ‘could really backfire’: new UN University report

‘One size fits none’ approach to young terrorists ‘could really backfire’: new UN University report

Intro:

How do some children end up working for a terrorist organization that’s been responsible for killing members of their own family?

That’s one of the questions addressed by a new report from UN University (UNU) that’s drawn on two years of fieldwork in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and Mali, covering terror groups such as ISIL and Boko Haram.

The ‘Cradled by Conflict’ research initiative, backed by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UN Peacekeeping (DPKO), finds that an over-simplistic approach to diagnosing why children join terror networks and how they can be reintegrated, could be doing more harm than good

For out latest Lid Is On podcast from UN News, Matt Wells has been talking to Siobhan O’Neil, leader of the Children and Extreme Violence Project for UNU.

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How does a child end up working for a terrorist organization that’s responsible for killing his own father?

That’s one of the questions addressed by a new report from the UN University (UNU) that’s drawn on two years of fieldwork.

For out latest Lid Is On podcast, Matt Wells has been talking to Siobhan O’Neil, leader of the Children and Extreme Violence Project for UNU.

Audio Credit
Matt Wells, UN News
Audio Duration
28'49"
Photo Credit
UN Photo/Marie Frechon