Child Soldiers

By: Brittany ChristensenSara WaqarTy Mennie

Background

• Who/what: A child soldier is anyone the age of eighteen or under who are recruited by state or non state armed force or armed group and used as fighters, cooks, suicide bombers, human shields, messengers, spies, or for sexual purposes in any capacity.

• When: Since as long as we know there has been the use of child soldiers and since 1998 there have been armed forces using child soldiers in at least 36 countries. Between 1986 and 1996, 2 million children were killed and 6 million injured.

• Where: Used in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. (mostly in Africa)

• Why: the more soldiers the better so they started using kids.

Current trends & solutions• Child soldiers are currently statistically invisible as

governments and armed opposition groups deny or downplay their role.

• Some solutions include donations to places where child soldiers are immense, and international rights campaign.

• Child Soldier Prevention Act (CSPA) - The CSPA’s goal is to stop child recruitment and to ensure that vulnerable children never find themselves on a battlefield. This was passed in 2008. they are continuing to work with the UN.

Impact on the world and local society• The impact child soldiers have on the world is

immense. Why is it okay for hundreds of thousands of children to have their rights and lives stolen from them at the snap of some persons fingers. Realistically, it could be any of us and that’s not okay.

• Not only destroying that kids life also anyone who cares about them. This is where the impact starts to hit home. Now it’s not just the kids in Africa or Afghanistan, its family that have had to move and leave their kids behind or people that have gone through it in the past and moved here. We also have to go through the fact that its happening around us and there is little to nothing we can do about it.

Bibliography• www.planusa.org/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/2147• www.unicef.org/graca/kidsoldi.htm• www.blogs.america.gov• www.kindernothlife.org.htm• www.yapi.org• www.globalissues.org• www.child-soldiers.org/about_the_issues.php• https://

blogs.state.gov/stories/2014/10/02/child-soldier-prevention-act-working-end-child-recruitment