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Spotlight: UN demands end to use child soldiers in conflict

Xinhua, February 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Nations on Thursday demanded an immediate end to the use of child soldiers in armed conflicts, saying that child soldiers were found in conflicts from Afghanistan to the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC).

As the world's conflicts become more brutal, intense and widespread, children are finding themselves increasingly vulnerable to recruitment and deployment by armed groups, the world body warned.

In a joint press release marking the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Leila Zerrougui, the special representative of the UN secretary- general for children and armed conflict, called for "urgent action to end grave violations against children" and appealed to all parties of conflicts to meet their obligations under international law.

"While Governments of the world have made progress to recognize children have no place in their armies, the recruitment of child soldiers is still a huge problem, especially with armed groups," Zerrougui said.

"Out of 59 parties to conflict identified by the secretary- general for grave violations against children, 57 are named because they are recruiting and using child soldiers," she added.

According to the United Nations, tens of thousands of boys and girls are associated with armed forces and armed groups in conflicts in over 20 countries around the world.

In Afghanistan, children continue to be recruited into national security forces and, in some extreme cases, used as suicide bombers. Meanwhile, in the territories of Iraq and Syria controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), children as young as 12 are undergoing military training and being used to carry out suicide bombings and executions as well.

At the same time, a number of conflicts in Africa have witnessed a rise in the use of children for military purposes. In the Central African Republic, where sectarian violence continues to ripple across the country, boys and girls as young as eight years old have been recruited and used by all parties to the conflict.

According to the press release, the DRC has witnessed a similar phenomenon in child soldier recruitment with boys being dispatched into conflict while girls are reportedly commissioned as sex slaves.

In South Sudan, some child soldiers have been fighting for up to four years and many have never attended school. In the previous year alone, 12,000 children, mostly boys, have been recruited and used as soldiers by armed forces and groups in South Sudan as a whole.

"The release of all children from armed groups must take place without delay. We cannot wait for peace to help children caught in the midst of war," said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Yoka Brandt.

"Investing in ways to keep children away from the frontlines, including through education and economic support, is absolutely critical to their future and the future of their societies," Brandt said.

In March 2014, the United Nations launched a new initiative to end the recruitment and use of children in government forces in conflict by 2016, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressing that children should be armed with pens and textbooks, not guns.

The "Children, Not Soldiers" campaign, launched at a special event held at UN Headquarters in New York, called on governments, regional and non-governmental organizations to work with the UN to intensify efforts to meet the goal of zero use of children by any government forces by 2016.

The International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers is observed annually on Feb. 12 since 2002, when the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict entered into force, aiming to protect children from recruitment and use in hostilities. At present, 158 countries have ratified the protocol.

Around the world, thousands of boys and girls are recruited into government forces and armed opposition groups to serve as combatants, cooks, porters, messengers or in other roles. Girls -- and sometimes boys -- are also recruited for sexual purposes. Endite