A/HRC/18/38 32. Reintegration is a key post-conflict process for children formerly associated with armed groups or armed forces. Its objective is to contribute to security and stability in postconflict environments so that recovery and development can begin. It is regarded as a more child-friendly mechanism for addressing children’s participation in hostilities than prosecution. The process of reintegration and the approach taken are necessarily different for children and adults. It has been suggested that child disarmament, demobilization and reintegration measures should target the entire community rather than just former combatants. Mixing different categories of children may actually be beneficial to their social reintegration, and difficulties or tensions between groups of children may be overcome. 33. Traditional justice, aimed at the reintegration of child soldiers, can make a significant contribution to healing, recovery and reintegration. It may employ an array of measures, such as punishment, reparation, truth-telling, involving confession and absolution, and healing or cleansing ceremonies. Traditional justice can be most helpful in assisting reintegration where it focuses on re-establishing the child as a member of the community rather than relying upon punishment or public shaming. Restorative justice is very often the only way of bringing reconciliation to victims and perpetrators alike in a war-torn society where victims of offences suffer, as do child perpetrators, having been forced to commit offences. V. Attacks on schools and hospitals: an emerging concern 34. Attacks on schools and hospitals in armed conflict are widespread and are of increasing concern. Out of 22 country situations reported in the annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (A/65/820-S/2011/250), 15 referred to attacks on schools and hospitals. Apart from the direct and physical damage to schools and hospitals, incidents of closure of schools and hospitals as a result of threats and intimidation, as well as the military use of these civilian institutions, have been documented. In addition, schools are often used as recruiting grounds for children. 35. Armed conflict can either directly or indirectly result in the forced closure or the compromised functioning of civilian facilities. Children, teachers and health-care providers can be subject to direct threats and acts of intimidation by parties, which, for example, target Government institutions or medical personnel assisting the other party to the conflict. In other situations, armed elements are opposed to secular and/or girls’ education, or to girls being seen by male medical personnel. The delivery of health-care services to children is also heavily affected by lack of supplies and manpower caused by looting of the facilities and/or access constraints. A general climate of fear and insecurity as a result of armed hostilities can also prevent children, teachers and medical personnel from attending school or seeking medical help. Parents, for example, may find it too risky to send their children to school in a volatile security situation, or children may be denied timely access to hospitals because of checkpoints and roadblocks. 36. Military control and use of school facilities also endangers children. The Office of the Special Representative will advocate with parties, urging them to take all precautionary measures not to endanger the life of civilians and civilian objects in the vicinity of military objectives. Extreme caution should also be exercised in identifying objects normally dedicated to civilian purposes as military targets. In armed conflict situations, the use of schools as polling stations may put the physical integrity of such facilities at risk, as some armed groups see these civilian institutions as legitimate targets of attack. The Office of the Special Representative will further continue to advocate with Governments for the adoption of precautionary measures that avoid jeopardizing school facilities. GE.11-15092 9