Here you can find lots of background information, organizations and stories related to the issue of Child Soldiers. Please browse throught the following categories: 

Information and Web Links
Articles and Analysis
International Law and Standards
Regional Agreements
Country/Region Specific Information
Other links and resources to issues that matter

War Child reports about Child soldiers

The 'Sierra Leone Survey' report states the results of the programme achieved, based on an extended research study among 1200 children and adults from six communities.

The report  'Child Soldiers. The shadow of their existence' outlines the known problems of child soldiers and the different forms of recruiting. It zooms in on the Colombia situation and the motives with which Colombian children join these armed groups. Finally there's a list of actions that can be taken to change this situation and the contributions of War Child in these actions.


Information and Web Links 

• Amnesty International - Child soldiers (AI USA including drawings by child soldiers)
• Basic Facts about Child Soldiers ( Human Rights Watch)
• Global use of Child Soldiers - Map of where child soldiers are being used ( Human Rights Watch)
• Children and Conflict - BBC World Service Information on Child Soldiers
• Children and Armed Conflict Project - Child Soldiers Center for Defense Information
• Girls and Conflict - Forgotten casualties of war- Report by Save the Children UK, 2005 (pdf)
• The Graça Machel Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children
• Save The Children - Save the Children's Emergencies and Protection Program
• Human Rights Watch
• International Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
• United Nations Cyber Schoolbus
• UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Child Soldiers
• United Nations World Map of Child Soldiers
• Military use of children - information and links at Wikipedia          

Articles and Analysis

• Invisible Children - film documentary about the kidnapping of children in Uganda by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Check out the website for the film.
• ABC News Exclusive: Child Soldiers Recall Learning Lessons of War Instead of the Classroom: Former Child Soldiers Give Testimonials in Footage Shown to ABC News (December 2006)
• Use of Children in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Perspective on Child Soldiers (Defence for Children International - Palestine Section) (July 2004) [pdf]
• When Children Affected by War Go Home: Lessons learned from Liberia (Save the Children) (December 2003) (pdf)
• The reintegration of child ex-combatants in Sierra Leone with particular focus on the needs of females Allison Bennett (September 2002)
• Child Soldiers newsletters (Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers)
• Child soldiers, displacement and human security Lisa Alfredson "Disarmament Forum - Children and Security" 2002
• Child Soldiers 1379 Report (Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers) (November 2002)
• Sexual Exploitation of Child Soldiers: An exploration and analysis of global dimensions and trends (Dr. Lisa Alfredson, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers)
• Global Report on Child Soldiers 2004 (Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers)
• War Games (Kellie Anderson) (World Hunger Education Service)
• The Invisible Soldiers: Child Combatants - Centre for Defence information (Washington)
• What’s Going On? Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone (United Nations campaign)
• International Efforts Address Use of Child Soldiers by Rachel Stohl, Research Analyst, Centre for Defence Information
• The Invisible Soldiers: Child Combatants (The Defense Monitor)
• Stop Using Child Soldiers by Stefania Capodaglio, December 1999
• Child Soldiers: The Road to Recovery (Center for Defense Information)

                           

International & Regional Law and Standards          

• UNEDITED version of the draft optional protocol as adopted by consensus, 21 January 2000, by the inter-sessional open-ended Working Group on a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflicts (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)
• The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts (2000)
• Resolution 1261 adopted- Security Council Strongly Condemns Targeting of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict, including their Recruitment and Use as Soldiers
• International Law on Child Soldiers (Human Rights Watch)
• Amman Declaration on Child Soldiers (April 2001)
• The Capetown Principles (1997)
• European Parliament Resolution on Child Soldiers (1998)
• Maputo Declaration on the Use of Child Soldiers (1999)
• Montevideo Declaration on the Use of Children as Soldiers (July 8, 1999) 

                           

Country/Region Specific Information  

Africa

• Ugandan army recruiting children (BBC) (February 15, 2005)
• Insecurity, poverty leaves northern children vulnerable to military recruitment - UNICEF (IRIN News) (August 18, 2004)
• Reintegrating child soldiers in DR Congo: fears for the girls (AFP) April 14, 2004)
• Child Soldiers in Southern Africa (Institute for Security Studies)
• Using Children In Armed Conflict: A Legitimate African Tradition? (Institute for Security Studies)
• Press Briefing By Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict On Recent Visit to West Africa (UN Press Briefing) (July 24, 2003)
• The role of children soldiers in northern Uganda is investigated by this week's C4 Unreported World.  (Channel 4) (2003)
• No-one fighting for Angola's child soldiers (BBC) (November 19, 2002)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo: Reluctant Recruits: Children and Adults Forcibly Recruited for Military Service In North Kive (Human Rights Watch) (May 2001)
• DR Congo: Torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment (OMCT) (October 17, 2001)
• The Use of Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Human Rights Watch)
• Congo Rebel Group Forces Children into Army (Human Rights Watch) (May 29, 2001)
• Sierra Leone: Child soldiers to swap guns for PCs (BBC) (March 25, 2002)
• Sierra Leone: The battle for childhood (BBC) (January 26, 2001)
• Sierra Leone: The Statute of the Special Court must make all recruitment of children under 15 a crime (Amnesty International) (October 20, 2000)
• New Regime, but Continued Human Rights Violations: Despite Promises, the Use and Abuse of Child Soldiers Continues in Sierra Leone
• Uganda: ’They tied me up and hacked off my lips (The Times) (July 19, 2003)

Americas

• Colombia's child soldiers swap guns for home (The Times) (August 1, 2002)
• Paraguay: No Child's Play - underage recruitment into the armed forces must stop (Amnesty International) (April 5, 2001)
• If US opposes child labor - why not child soldiers? (Human Rights Watch)
• Child Soldiers used by all sides in Colombia's Armed Conflict (Human Rights Watch) (1998)

Asia Pacific

• The problem of child soldiers: listening to young combatants in East Asia (ID21) (July 1, 2003)
• Adult wars, child soldiers: voices of children involved in armed conflict in the East Asia and Pacific region (UNICEF) (October 2002)
• UNICEF urges demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers - Up to one quarter of the world's child soldiers in East Asia and the Pacific.

Europe

• Serb pupils learnt tactics of terror (The Times) (June 1999)
• UNICEF questions UK's right to deploy child soldiers in cases of 'genuine military need' (UNICEF) (July 2003)
• United Kingdom U-18s: Report on Recruitment and Deployment of Child Soldiers (Amnesty International) (November 2000)

Middle East and North Africa

• Middle East and North Africa - Never Again: Children Should Not Fight in Adult Wars (Amman Conference) (Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers) (April 2001)

PLEASE NOTE:  War Child is not responsible for the content of external websites. Links are for informational purposes only. A link does not imply an endorsement of the linked site or its contents.

 Children and Conflict
 Education
 Human Rights
 Landmines
 Refugees/Displaced

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