Support youth's mental health-social reintegration

In Colombia today, the threat of child recruitment is no longer confined to remote rural areas or physical encounters. Armed groups are increasingly using social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and WhatsApp to target children and young people, presenting violence and criminal activity as attractive pathways to belonging, money, or status. Videos glamourising life within armed groups can receive hundreds of thousands of views, exposing vulnerable young people to manipulation and coercion on platforms they use every day.

This growing digital threat comes against the backdrop of a wider national crisis. According to Colombia’s National Center for Historical Memory, more than 17,860 minors were recruited by armed groups between 1958 and 2020. More alarmingly, reports from the Ombudsman’s Office show that cases have sharply increased in recent years, rising from 37 reported child recruits in 2021 to more than 400 between 2023 and 2024.

In response, we have created a project to help children and young people navigate online spaces safely while addressing some of the root causes that make recruitment possible, including poverty, exclusion, lack of opportunities, and social marginalisation.

Through psychosocial support sessions, digital literacy workshops, and livelihood and entrepreneurship training, the project is helping to strengthen resilience and create safer, more protective environments for children and young people. Importantly, young participants themselves have played a central role in shaping the initiative. In Bogotá and Villavicencio, children and young people took part in co-design sessions that informed the planning and development of workshops and activities, ensuring the project reflects their lived realities and concerns.

Alongside direct workshops, the project is also developing a digital prevention campaign designed to reach young people in high-risk communities with anonymous, locally adapted messaging focused on online safety and awareness.

During this initial phase, the team has focused on mapping existing digital literacy and prevention initiatives across Colombia, developing workshop syllabuses, and building partnerships with organisations and stakeholders working in child protection and youth development. These collaborations have already strengthened knowledge sharing and informed the development of pilot workshops that will guide the project’s future implementation.

Each year, the project aims to engage more than 680 children and young people, alongside 260 parents and carers, helping families and communities better understand the risks young people face online and equipping them with tools to stay safe. By combining prevention, education, and opportunity, the project seeks not only to protect children from recruitment today, but also to support them in imagining safer and more hopeful futures.

Through this project, we supported children and young people affected by forced recruitment, including young offenders, former child soldiers, and at-risk youth, in Bogotá and Meta. Through a narrative-based psychosocial approach, the project focused on healing trauma, preventing re-recruitment, and supporting meaningful reintegration into families and communities.

Reaching Young People, Families, and Caregivers
Over three years, the project reached 525 children and young people and 250 adults, including parents, carers, and frontline staff. Activities are designed to strengthen mental health, emotional wellbeing, and social inclusion, recognising that sustainable reintegration depends not only on the child, but on the environments around them.

Healing Through Story, Art, and Leadership
Children and young people take part in workshops on life skills, emotional regulation, and self-recognition as subjects of rights. Through art therapy, storytelling, and positive leadership sessions, participants were supported to reinterpret their experiences, rebuild self-esteem, and imagine futures beyond violence. These creative and reflective spaces helped young people process trauma while strengthening resilience and confidence.

Strengthening Families and Protective Environments
The project works closely with families and community actors to reduce stigma and create protective environments that prevent reoffending and further recruitment. Sessions with caregivers focused on emotional intelligence, communication, and shared responsibility, helping transform family dynamics and rebuild trust between children and the adults around them.

Youth Leadership and Institutional Collaboration
A key strength of the project is the inclusion of young people as project staff, ensuring relevance, credibility, and sustainability. Strategic partnerships with institutions such as the Juvenile Criminal Responsibility System and UNODC expanded the project’s reach and reinforced pathways for reintegration.

Advocacy and Lasting Impact
Beyond direct support, the initiative contributes to national advocacy efforts for restorative justice, demonstrating the power of community-based, narrative approaches to promote mental health, social inclusion, and long-term reintegration for children affected by armed conflict.

This project shows that when children are supported to heal, reclaim their voices, and rebuild relationships, reintegration is not only possible, it becomes a foundation for peace. Your support helps us continue this work and expand it further, ensuring that children are protected and communities are equipped to support them.  

Links:

• Forced Recruitment in 2025 - What we're doing to prevent it
• Tackling forced recruitment and exploitation in Colombia