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You are watching UNICEF Television.

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Once hailed as a model of stability, Côte d'Ivoire has slipped into the

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kind of internal strife that has plagued many African countries.

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In 2002, an armed rebellion split the nation in two.

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The conflict caused numerous atrocities and displaced thousands of people.

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Violence against civilians was rampant.

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Children were witnesses, victims and sometimes even perpetrators.

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I am a hero. They call me Bewe.

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I was so happy to defend my village that on my way home I used to sing.

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Bewe is one of the thousands of Ivorian children who is associated with the fighting forces.

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Bewe, like so many others, was deprived of his basic rights.

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Although I am not a soldier, I know everything a soldier knows about weapons.

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Up until now, I remember everything.

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Around us, we had death. People were wounded and dying.

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There are terrible things that happen on this earth.

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UNICEF, along with implementing partners, has set up a prevention, demobilization

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and reintegration program for children who have been associated with fighting forces,

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for children who were at risk of recruitment, and also for vulnerable children in the community.

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The main goal of our intervention is to reintegrate children like Bewe into the

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The main goal of our intervention is to reintegrate children like Bewe

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into their families and into their community and offer them a second chance in life.

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When the rebels came, they burned everything, the birth certificates. Everything was destroyed.

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I would have liked to finish my schooling, but it is already too late. I need to learn a skill.

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Because he had no access to school during the war, UNICEF, with the assistance of ECHO,

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has helped Bewe and many more to learn skills which benefit his entire community.

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ECHO, the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Department, provides humanitarian assistance

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to the victims of crisis. At every cost, with its partners' prevention, demobilization and

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reintegration programs, to date, over 4,000 children associated with armed groups and

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thousands of vulnerable children at risk of recruitment have benefited from the Commission's

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support. In the project, I learn the alphabet and maths. I learn to read and write. I learn many

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things. The education which I receive is good. It helps me. It actually helps me a lot.

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I chose chicken breeding because a hen might produce 10 eggs in two weeks,

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so soon there may be many more. In five years' time, I would like to have a business, a big business.