Markus Butkovich
Mr. Jackson
Social Studies 2nd -3rd
30 April 2013
Child Soldiers in Zimbabwe/ African Warlords Research Paper
In the world, there are many sad and heartbreaking problems. A huge part of these
problems are child soldiers in the world. Warlords are big problems too. I think we should stop
warlords and help child soldiers. Hundreds of thousands of children get enslaved in more than
40 countries as child soldiers. A child soldier is a child under 18 that has been recruited as a
soldier to fight. They hold guns and kill others at a young age. They are given drugs and alcohol
while they are still very young, and they have pretty much no education. So they don’t get to go
to school, but they have to fight in battle and kill while they are children. It is a very sad and
unfair thing.
You may ask, how and why do these children get recruited to be soldiers? Well, these
children that get recruited have never had a good school education. They don’t exactly know
what they’re getting there selves into. They often get tricked in being a soldier by bribery or just
getting tricked. So people come along and ask them to be a soldier, then the child gets handed a
gun and is off to a training camp. Sometimes a person comes to a refugee camp and gets sold a
child. They get recruited because they are easy to get and the government doesn’t have enough
soldiers, so the use kids instead.
A lot of the children get recruited in Zimbabwe, a country in Africa. There are more child
soldiers in Zimbabwe then government soldiers. There are 29,000 government forces, 6.3 million
child soldiers, and there are 13.0 million people in Zimbabwe. ("UNHCR | Refworld | Child
Soldiers Global Report 2008 - Zimbabwe").
Zimbabwe has an interesting background. They have had lots of ups and downs, and they
still face problems. Zimbabwe’s main language that they speak is English ("Zimbabwe: History,
Geography, Government, and Culture — Infoplease.com"). Robert Gabriel was Zimbabwe’s first
elected prime minister ("Zimbabwe: History, Geography, Government, and Culture —
Infoplease.com"). Zimbabwe citizens are also facing a lot of difficult challenges. The Zimbabwe
children are sleeping where ever they can find a place. More and more people are trying to
escape the country by crossing the river than ever. (Bearak)
Zimbabwe is also a very corrupt country. That is one of the reasons that they have child
soldiers. The unemployment rate in Zimbabwe is very low. It is at 80 percent. All the money
disasters have led to the environment breaking down ("Zimbabwe"). Then they buy child soldiers
for war. So they spend lots of money on child soldiers, even though most the people in
Zimbabwe don’t have money. The money they spend is on making children live in a harsh world
full of terror.
Another big problem in Africa and in the world is warlords. A warlord is a person who
gets a group of people to be soldiers. That person becomes the leader, even if it is not requested
by the government ("Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus"). They cause big troubles in the
world, and sometimes it can cause child soldier slavery. Warlords will cause massive war in
countries against soldiers or other warlord groups.
There is one specific warlord that is very dangerous. His name is Charles Taylor. He was
in a war that ended in 1996 with over 200,000 people dead. After that, Charles Taylor became
the president with his memorable campaign. In 2003, Charles Taylor got back with his group as
him being a warlord while president George Bush tried to stop him ("FACTBOX-African
Warlord Charles Taylor Faces Trial| Reuters").
Warlords can cause child soldier slavery. It can do that when there is a warlord that needs
to recruit soldiers, so they take what they need in there desperate times and they go to buy at
refugee camps or recruit child soldiers. So the two really bad things can link together and make a
warlord controll a child soldier.
The worst thing about child soldiers is that they are owned by someone. They don't have
the freedom to do whatever they want, but they are owned like pets. Some of them don't have
names so have don't have freedom. The human rights states that every person is allowed to have
a name to be called by, so the child soldiers do not follow the rules because everyone is so harsh
to them. They deserve as much freedom as we do, especially because they are children just like
us, and some are even younger than us.
So in the world, there are many bad things. There are terrible warlords trying to rule lands
that are hopeless of protection. There are child soldiers that don't have the human rights freedom,
or any freedom at all. And then there are warlords who own child soldiers in troops. I think these
horrible events should be stopped by the United States, or by Unicef. Some organization should
stop these terrible events and try to make the world a better place. Organizations are already
trying to stop these tragic events, but it won't be enough to stop everything that involves child
soldiers or warlords, or anything else in these tragic events. I think that these children deserve the
human rights freedom and any freedom at all. In some places, they are owned like pets. It is so
wrong because they are owned instead of going on their own with their families to where ever
they want. I really hope that all this warlords and child soldier stuff stops. It s just not right and I
think that organizations can make a big difference.
Works Cited
Amnesty Internation USA. "Child Soldiers." Www.amnestyusa.org. Amnesty International,
2009. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
Amnesty Internation USA. "Child Soldiers." Www.amnestyusa.org. Amnesty International,
2009. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
Amnesty Internation USA. "Child Soldiers." Www.amnestyusa.org. Amnesty International,
2009. Web. 30 Apr. 2013.
Bearak, Barry. "Desperate Children Flee Zimbabwe, for Lives Just as Desolate." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 24 Jan. 09. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.
Cannon. "Culture of Zimbabwe." Culture of Zimbabwe. Cannon, 19 Apr. 2000. Web. 17 Apr.
2013.
"Child Soldiers « Fight Slavery Now!" Fight Slavery Now! Breat The Chains, n.d. Web. 30 Apr.
2013.
"Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus." The Free Dictionary. Farlex, n.d. Web. 02 May
2013.
"Egyptians Are Free... to Choose Mubarak." Age [Melbourne, Australia] 3 Sept. 2005: 21.
Global Issues In Context. Web. 29 Apr. 2013.
"FACTBOX-African Warlord Charles Taylor Faces Trial| Reuters." Business & Financial News,
Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com. N.p., 03 June 2007. Web. 30 Apr.
2013.
"UNHCR | Refworld | Child Soldiers Global Report 2008 - Zimbabwe." UNHCR Welcome. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.
"Zimbabwe: History, Geography, Government, and Culture — Infoplease.com." Infoplease:
Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online
Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr.
2013.
"Zimbabwe." U.S. Department of State. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2013.