Child Soldiers

A child soldier is defined as a person under the age of 18 either forcibly or willingly participating in armed conflicts. Some children are abducted and forced to join military groups, while others volunteer in order to have a sense of stability and protection in a war-torn region. While many are used in combat roles, others occupy support positions such as porters, messengers, or in the case of girls, sex slaves. Regardless of their role in these military groups, children often witness and are forced to do horrible things to survive. Accounts from former child soldiers describe a brutal kill or be killed mentality.

According to War Child UK there is an estimated 250,000 child soldiers worldwide. These children are invariably  located in unstable regions. Amnesty International recently reported that child soldiers are involved in the conflict in the Central African Republic (For more information on this conflict see my last post).

The issue of child soldiers is not an easy one to solve. Many organizations including the United Nations negotiate their release from military groups, but this is not a sustainable solution. More children will take the places of those freed as long as there is conflict within the region in question. Other organizations like War Child and the International Rescue Committee rehabilitate and provide support for former child soldiers. Their work is invaluable. They give these children a chance to have a better life. The problem, however, persists. I believe that the issue of child soldiers can only truly be solved with peace and stability. These things, however, are slow to come. Until they do, we must do what we can to help because no child deserves to suffer or participate in the horrors of war.

For more information visit: http://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/effects-of-conflict/six-grave-violations/child-soldiers/

To help visit: http://www.warchild.org/