[child-rights] Child soldiers being actively recruited as frontline fodder in at least 13 countries

Save the Children-UK Press release
02/02/2007 

Ten years after international guidelines were established to stamp out the
recruitment and use of child soldiers, under-age fighters are still
actively being recruited in at least 13 countries.

Fighting forces are recruiting and using child soldiers within
Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory
Coast, Myanmar, Nepal, Phillipines, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.
Government forces are also implicated in countries such as Southern Sudan,
where the SPLA is re-recruiting children who have already been released
from their own ranks.

In Uganda 1,500 children are still held by the Lords Resistance Army.
Another 10,000 children associated with the LRA are still unaccounted for.  
In Sri Lanka, at least 5,000 children have been recruited since 2001.
Despite the ceasefire signed in 2002, the threat of re-recruitment is once
again so strong that parents are afraid to let children leave the house.  
An estimated 11,000 children are currently involved with militias in DRC.  
Children as young as eight are being recruited by the government army of
Southern Sudan.  Around 75% of former girl soldiers in Liberia reported
having suffered sexual abuse or exploitation.

In 2005 over 8,000 children were still fighting in West Africa, with
another 20,000 in the process of or waiting to be released.

Despite the fact that the Cape Town Principles, guidelines to eradicate
the use of child soldiers and protect those released, were established by
the international community in 1997, the situation is still dire. Hundreds
of thousands of children are still living in misery due to association
with armed groups and forces.

Child soldiers are subjected to brutal intimidation, often forced to
commit atrocities as military "training", and then used on the frontline.
Whether violently abducted, coerced into signing up or "volunteering"
because they have no safe alternative, they get no access to school or
healthcare and are exposed to abuse and exploitation. Girls taken to
become army 'wives' are often subjected to physical, sexual and emotional
abuse. When released, ex-child soldiers are frequently rejected by
society, refused access to school, and find it impossible to re-enter
'normal' life after so long immersed in violence. Girls as young as 12
have to deal with rape, and care for babies in isolation without any
support from the community.

Bisimwa, 14, Democratic Republic Congo 
"When I went to war it wasn't a good life because I
carried guns. I don't know how many people I killed. Some of my
friends died. I left the armed group because I was about to die of
cold. Here we suffer too much." 

On 5 February, the international community has a crucial chance to
improve the lives of all children associated with armed groups when
they meet in Paris to establish new guidelines – the Paris
Principles - to help eradicate the use of child soldiers. 

Johanna MacVeigh, Protection Advisor, Save the Children 
"Being recruited by armed forces has a devastating effect on
children's lives. They are immersed in violence, are subject to
terrible abuse and are forced to forfeit love, play, education and
hope. It is inconceivable that ten years after international
guidelines were set up to protect children from recruitment, so many
are still being horrifically exploited. Children can't wait.
Governments and the UN must show their support for the Paris
Principles and commit to stamping out the use of child soldiers and
looking after those who have been released." 

Save the Children is calling on: 
- All governments and armed groups immediately to release all
children associated with fighting forces, and to put a stop to all
on-going recruitment and re-recruitment. This must not be dependent
on a ceasefire or permanent peace agreement. 
- All governments to ensure they have signed and ratified all
relevant international law to protect children from unlawful
recruitment and use, and to adhere to The Paris Principles. 
- The UN and the Human Rights Council to adopt the Paris Principles
by way of resolution, recognising these bodies as the leading
international instrument on the obligations of states and others in
this area. 
- Donors adequately to fund programmes to ensure released and
demobilised children can return to normal life. Current reintegration
programmes are not protecting them sufficiently. Funding for such
activities should be set at a minimum of five years. 
- The international community to ensure special provisions are made
for former girl soldiers and their children, to lessen the risks of
forced early marriage, isolation, re-recruitment or health
implications of sexual violence.