As of 2016, every national armed force identified by the Secretary-General as using child soldiers is working with the United Nations to end this practice. We have finally reached a global agreement among Member States that children under the age of 18 should never be recruited and used in armed conflict. Today, as we mark the International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers, which is also the 15th anniversary of the entry into force of a treaty to ban the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, we also celebrate a remarkable achievement by the global community and the United Nations. Despite this reality, we are making progress in ending this horiffic and cruel practice, which robs children of their futures. This practice is also inextricably linked with other violations against children in conflict, such as abductions, sexual violence and attacks on schools.Īround the world, nearly 250 million children are living in countries affected by conflict and tens of thousands of them have been recruited and used as child soldiers. Recruitment and use of children often results in severe physical and psychological trauma, which persist even after the conflict has ended. They serve as forced brides, or spies behind enemy lines, as cooks and porters in support of war efforts. These boys and girls are made to fight on the frontlines, forced to be suicide bombers in markets and schools. This is the experience of child soldiers around the world. There is no loving parent to tuck them in indeed, many shudder at the sound of footsteps approaching their bed. When they close their eyes, they do not replay the happy and innocent memories of their day, but instead fight to keep from their minds the horrors they have seen that day. Throughout the world hundreds of thousands of children go to sleep each night, not with their favourite teddybear or doll beside them, but with a gun. Joint statement by Margot Wallström , Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden and Leila Zerrougui , Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Voices for Children Affected by Conflict.ACT TO PROTECT children affected by conflict.Virtual Summer School on Child Protection in Armed Conflict.Ratification status of the Optional Protocol.OPAC – Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.
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