In Indonesia, recent attacks have brought to light to which extent the children can be associated with terrorist and violent extremist groups and the consequences of violence on their lives. In parallel, the country has been dealing with the consequences of a large flux of Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) having left the national territory to join ISIL in Iraq and Syria, at times accompanied by family members, including children.
For Indonesia, intervening to prevent child recruitment and to address its consequences has become a priority on the national agenda. On 25 May 2018, an amendment to the Law on Terrorism was passed. In addition, the national government is investing in innovative programmes focusing on the rehabilitation and reintegration of children who have been exposed to recruitment and indoctrination.
The adopted approach combines social support and psychological care with monitoring measures. To do so, Indonesia is relying on both specialization of actors and growing multidisciplinarity, such as the specialized bodies of the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) and the specialized Counter-Terrorism Unit 'Densus 88' which cooperate with civil society organizations, including the Hendayani Centre for the rehabilitation and reintegration of children.
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NewsroomIn Indonesia, the visibility of child recruitment has increased in recent years. The national government has engaged with UNODC in numerous activities in this area, demonstrating strong political will in dealing with this phenomenon. UNODC engaged with Indonesian counterparts in the context of multiple regional activities in 2018 and 2019. On November 2019, UNODC organized a capacity-building workshop in Jakarta, focusing on the rehabilitation and reintegration of children affected by the FTF phenomenon.
In March 2020, the National Counter-Terrorism Agency co-hosted a High-Level Regional Event with UNODC that relied on the participation of high-level participants from Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives and the Philippines. Such continued cooperation, including with UNODC’s Country Office in Jakarta, laid the basis for cooperative partnership, mutual trust, and allowed the Office to build working relationships with key national partners and to identify key priorities for action.
Being able to reach out to both security experts and child protection professionals, UNODC has been effective in ensuring broad dissemination of international guidance, in particular through the UNODC Handbook and the UNODC Roadmap, to support national authorities in dealing with the phenomenon of children associated with terrorist and violent extremist groups. Therefore, as a result of the High-Level Event held in Bali in March 2020, the Government of Indonesia launched the Bali Call for Action, a political declaration which endorses the UNODC Roadmap and commits to translating it into action at the national level.
29 March 2021 Jakarta, Indonesia – The European Union in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and its Global Programme to End Violence Against Children, has launched a new STRIVE action, STRIVE Juvenile, to better protect children from violence perpetrated by terrorist and violent extremist groups. The Government of Indonesia officially joined the STRIVE Juvenile Partnership through its National Counter-Terrorism Agency and will cooperate with UNODC within the next three years to prevent and counter violent extremism affecting children, in full respect of human rights, gender equality and international law.
Demonstrating strong political will in dealing with the phenomenon of child recruitment and exploitation by terrorist and violent extremist groups, the Government of Indonesia has played a leading role in the ASEAN region and globally by advocating for supporting the rehabilitation and reintegration of children associated with these groups. The STRIVE Juvenile Partnership is expected to play key role in disrupting terrorist groups’ recruitment of children, supporting children’s rehabilitation and reintegration, and strengthening their resilience against violent extremism.
More information: E-Press Folder ; STRIVE Juvenile Factsheet ; Social Media STRIVE Juvenile Poster ; STRIVE Juvenile Indonesia Launch Poster; STRIVE Juvenile Indonesia Banner (Bahasa)
