Child Soldiers:
An Issue of Global Concern
Although many child soldiers are found in
non-government armed opposition
groups, governments in fourteen
countries are implicated in supporting the
recruitment or use of child soldiers. The
U.S. government provides military
assistance to how many of of them?
a. None
b. Two
c. Eight
d. Twelve
c: The US provides military assistance to
eight countries implicated in supporting
the recruit or use of child soldiers.
Child soldiers are used as:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Combatants
Human shields
Sex slaves
Spies
All of the above
e. All of the above
What region has the most child
soldiers?
a. Latin America
b. Asia
c. Africa
d. Europe
c: Africa has the largest number of child
soldiers. Child soldiers are being used
in armed conflict in Burundi, Central
African Republic, Chad, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia,
Sudan and Uganda.
Which country has the most
child soldiers?
a. Democratic Republic of Congo
b. Colombia
c. Myanmar
d. Sudan
c: Myanmar’s army has 70,000
soldiers under 18 years of age.
Facts and Figures
Facts and Figures
• Child soldiers are actively involved in armed
conflicts in 19 countries or territories
• There are currently around 300,000 child
soldiers worldwide
• The majority of child soldiers are part of nonstate armed groups
• In at least 14 countries, governments have
recruited children to serve in auxiliary forces,
civilian defense groups, or in illegal militias
A group of
child soldiers
in Colombia
Marcelo Salinas
• Most child soldiers tend to be between 15
and 18 years old, but some are as young as
8 or 9 years old.
• Children join armed groups because of
economic or social pressure. Others are
coerced or abducted.
• Child soldiers serve as porters, cooks,
guards, messengers, spies, and sex slaves.
• Many are pressed into combat and some are
also used in suicide missions
• Child soldiers are sometimes forced to
commit atrocities against their own families or
neighbors
This child soldier is part of
the Autodefensas Unidas
De Colombia (United SelfDefense Groups of
Colombia) or AUC- a
government supported
militia in Colombia.
© Marcelo Salinas.
The Fate of Girl Soldiers
• Girls are involved in armed forces in combative and
non-combative roles.
• Many girl soldiers are forced to marry or perform
sexual services for their male combatants.
• At high risk for contracting HIV and other sexually
transmitted diseases
Girl soldiers and others
gathered at a Communist Party
of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist) event
in Tila, Rolpa district, Nepal
(Marcus Bleasdale 2005)
Disarmament, Demobilization
and Reintegration
• National DDR programs
specifically designed for
child soldiers have been
established in many
countries
• Girls are often excluded
from DDR programs
• DDR programs suffer from
a critical lack of funding
Former child soldier talks to a professional
counselor at a rehabilitation centre in Beni,
Democratic Republic of the Congo (Christian
Relief Network 2005)
What is the Red Hand Day
Campaign?
The aim of the campaign is to gather one
million “red hands”, the symbol of the
global campaign against the use of
soldiers, and present to UN officials on
February 12, 2009, the anniversary of the
day the treaty banning the use of child
soldiers took effect.
How we’re going to help
•Friends Seminary is going to gather cut-out
red hands from February 2nd to February 4th
in the main lobby
•Our goal is to collect 500 hands by February
4th, which we will then bring to Human
Rights Watch office in NYC