A/HRC/42/42/Add.1 Reintegration in the community was thus either extremely difficult or impossible. Reports of women joining armed groups or Boko Haram as active combatants were rare, but not unheard of. The tactic of Boko Haram of abducting women and girls from schools to exploit and abuse them is well known, strongly indicating that the majority of the women associated with the group were forcefully recruited. Children 54. Chad has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. And yet, the number of children and young people affected by the conflicts in Chad is staggering. Children in the crisis region of Lake Chad constitute around 60 per cent of those affected by armed conflict, and are at greater risk of violence and exploitation. They have also been particularly vulnerable to recruitment into groups and forcefully used as child soldiers. Since 2007, the Government has taken steps to demobilize child soldiers and reintegrate children into society. An estimated 7,000–10,000 children were in various armed groups, according to estimates provided to the Working Group. Many children have been abducted and forcibly recruited while others joined the army or armed groups to pillage and escape poverty due to lack of opportunities and education. Some children have been used to lure other children to join armed groups with the promise of money, reportedly offering between $20 and $500.2 In some villages, local residents have been forced to give up children for recruitment into armed groups as a way of protecting themselves and their village from further violence. 55. One of Boko Haram’s main objectives is to destroy schools and abduct children – mainly girls for forced marriage and rape. The use of children as suicide bombers is on the rise, and Boko Haram has been known to recruit children to make bombs and engage in combat and in supporting roles. Like many who manage to return to their villages, children also face suspicion and can be stigmatized. They risk being rejected and abandoned and face severe trauma that stays with them permanently, especially without appropriate medical and psychosocial care. 56. Some said that many children became fighters because of a lack of other alternatives and due to extreme poverty. Food shortages and the prevailing humanitarian crisis in certain parts of the country continue to threaten livelihoods. With groups like Boko Haram operating in those places, children continue to be at risk of recruitment. 57. The delegation was also informed of ex-Séléka militants from the Central African Republic attempting to recruit young people in Chad to engage in their home conflict. Young people were also susceptible to recruitment into rebel groups, and some travelled abroad, such as to Libya, to join mercenary activities. 58. The Working Group notes that considerable efforts have been made to demobilize child soldiers and reintegrate them into society. Agencies such as UNICEF have played a significant role in returning children who had engaged in armed conflict to their communities. The Working Group also notes the importance of ensuring that the reintegration of children associated with armed groups is carried out in accordance with international standards. IV. Human rights concerns 59. Enjoyment of the most basic fundamental human rights, such as the rights to work, to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing, to safe drinking water and sanitation, and to a life of dignity, has not been possible for thousands of people affected by armed actors, including mercenaries and foreign fighters in Chad. The Working Group also met with people who had escaped inexplicable horrors in neighbouring countries. They had lost many of their loved ones and had left behind everything in order to find safety in Chad. Many of those people had also suffered atrocities at the hands of 2 Amnesty International, A Compromised Future: Children Recruited by Armed Forces and Groups in Eastern Chad (2011, London). 9