The 10th anniversary of a programme designed to help reintegrate
former child soldiers in Colombia has been marked this week by the
launch of a new peace song.

The song, Regálame Tu Paz (Give Me Your Peace), was
composed by IOM Colombia staffer Hadit Felipe Vega and was
performed by a group of 13 young singers. It aims to promote
greater care and affection for children, so they will be less
likely to link up with violent groups.

Children in Colombia join illegal armed groups for a variety of
reasons including abusive family circumstances, links with people
associated with the groups, the proximity of the groups, poverty,
the promise of easy money and a general lack of educational,
recreational and job opportunities.

The programme, run by the Colombian Family Welfare Institute
(ICBF), has been funded by USAID since 2001 and receives technical
support from IOM.

During the past 10 years, it has helped 4,136 demobilized
children aged between 13-17. Nearly three quarters of them were
boys.

Currently, 571 of these children are receiving reintegration
assistance from the progamme, which includes psycho-social, health
and nutritional care, education and job training, social
activities, help with the rebuilding of family and emotional ties
and legal advice on their status.

"More than 300 of the 4,136 children that are now adults have
been traced and we know that the majority of them are studying and
have returned to their families. In some cases reuniting them with
their families has not been possible for security reasons," says
ICBF director Elvira Forero.

A video of Regálame Tu Paz can be seen at "paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://www.youtube.com/iomcolombia" target="_blank" title=
"">www.youtube.com/iomcolombia or at "paragraph-link-no-underline" href="http://www.oim.org.co" target=
"_blank" title="">www.oim.org.co

For further information, please contact:

Jorge Gallo

IOM Colombia

Tel: +57.1.6227774

E-mail: "mailto:jgallo@iom.int">jgallo@iom.int