Interesting facts:

• There are an estimated 250,000 child soldiers in the world today. 
• It is estimated that 40% of all child soldiers are girls. They are often used as 'wives' (sex slaves) of the male combatants.
• Many rebel groups use child soldiers to fight the government, but some governments also use child soldiers in armed conflict.
• Children are sometimes forced to commit atrocities against their own family or neighbors. Such practices help ensure that the child is "stigmatized" and unable to return to his or her home community. 
• Human Rights Watch estimates that 100,000 children in Africa are currently serving as soldiers for both rebel groups and government forces in armed conflicts.
• Some are under 10 years old.
• • Not all children take part in active combat. Some are also used as porters, cooks and spies.

What are the effects on children?

The effects on children are felt long after their physical scars have healed and their drug dependencies overcome. Many child soldiers are desensitised to violence - often at a very formative time in their development and this can psychologically damage them for life.

Even when they're set free or escape, many children can't go back home to their families and communities because they've been ostracised from them. They may have been forced to kill a family member or neighbour just so they can never go back. Many girls have babies from their time in the rebel groups and their communities/families don't accept them home.

Most have missed out on school - sometimes for many years. Without an education they have very little future prospects and sometimes return to the rebel groups as they have simply no other way of feeding themselves.

What is being done to solve this issue?

There are many intentional organizations that are working to help this children overcome their situation and reintegrate in the society and education. Some of the things this organizations do are:

Providing medical care, sanctuary and counselling to girls who have been the victim of sexual violence

Creating safe havens where children can escape the dangers of life on the streets after war has forced them to leave home.

Rebuilding schools destroyed by war and getting kids out of army uniforms and into school ones.

Helping children get their voices heard and their rights met, and helping local people to protect their children better.

Seek to end the involvement of girls and boys in hostilities in any capacity in state armed forces and in armed groups which are allied to states. We work both in situations where children are currently involved in armed conflicts and where they could be at risk of future use because of lack of legal or practical safeguards to protect them.

Advocate for the release, recovery and social reintegration of all under-18s, girls and boys, from armed forces and armed groups whether they have been formally recruited by, or are informally associated with, them.

We're helping to get children out of army uniforms and into school onesMany child soldiers go through formal Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) programmes when they are free from the armed groups. These programmes tend to focus on the needs of boys but aren't always so sensitive to the specific needs of girls. As a result, girls are often a very vulnerable and marginalised group even among children who are already excluded and rejected by society.

Children are most likely to become child soldiers if they are poor, separated from their families, displaced from their homes, living in a combat zone or have limited access to education.

Why child soldiers?

• Children are relatively easy to abduct, subjugate, and manipulate. They are more impressionable and vulnerable to indoctrination, and their moral development is incomplete and malleable.

• They are also seen as more loyal and less threatening to adult leadership.

• Children, despite their a priori disadvantages in terms of fighting skills, may have a particular functional value. They may be suitable for menial logistical support of the armed group, or they may even have certain tactical advantages: they can slip through enemy lines unnoticed, making them effective spies and bomb carriers. Also, the proliferation of inexpensive, lightweight weapons has made it easier to use children as soldiers. These small arms are easy to transport and use with little training.

• Rebel groups also make simple cost-benefit analysis: children require less food and no payment. Punishment of children is also less costly. Child soldiers are financially attractive. Rebel groups may be extremely resource-constrained and forced to recruit children.

• The use of child soldiers can present a moral dilemma to enemies: should they kill children?

A SAFE CHILDHOOD IS A HUMAN RIGHT

The participation of children under the age of 18 in armed conflicts is prohibited by international law. 

It also violates many human rights:

3. The Right to Life. We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety.

4. No Slavery. Nobody has any right to make us a slave. We cannot make anyone our slave. 

5. No Torture. Nobody has any right to hurt us or to torture us.

24. The Right to Play. We all have the right to rest from work and to relax. 

26. The Right to Education. Education is a right. Primary school should be free. We should learn about the United Nations and how to get on with others. Our parents can choose what we learn. 

30. No One Can Take Away Your Human Rights.

Who are Child Soldiers?

The international definition for a child soldier is any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities.