ICBF Director addresses protection of minors recruited by armed groups

Carolina Restrepo, director of the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), has addressed the complexities of protecting minors recruited by armed groups. She emphasized that while children and adolescents involved in these groups must be treated as victims and protected by the state, this obligation should not prevent the military from conducting offensive operations against the organizations responsible for their recruitment.

Restrepo argued that the state must focus on prevention rather than just responding to incidents during military operations. She called for better identification of risks and early intervention in territories where recruitment is prevalent, stating that “childhood must be protected from the criminal, never turned into the protection of the criminal.”