organizations that help child soldiers essay

Kidnappings are so widespread that Amnesty International reported in November 2005 an estimated 30,000 “night commuters”—children hoping to avoid abduction—were seeking refuge in urban areas each night. War Child UK. September 28, 2020 Yes. I had to follow orders or I would be killed.’ . And the “Child Soldiers Report 2008” notes that the same is true in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Faced with the magnitude of their actions, children may also rationalize their actions by telling themselves, ‘I didn’t want to do it. 250,000 children are thought to be involved in armed conflict. Revenge is also used as a motivator. Others enlist to exact revenge after their families are abused or murdered. Aid organizations and international governmental organizations such as UNICEF now recognize that children who have been soldiers need more than physical help. Peace Direct is a registered 501(c)(3) organization. It is thought that 40% of child soldiers are girls. Beah spent eight months in a rehab facility before being placed with an uncle. Yes. September 30, 2020 The UNICEF-initiated Paris Principles have attempted to capture this knowledge, providing guidelines for effective disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. Today there are child soldiers in many nations around the world, including the Central African Republic, Chad, Somalia, Uganda, Myanmar (Burma) Sudan, Iraq, Colombia and Sri Lanka. Girls are routinely raped. These boys and girls, some as young as 8 years old, serve in government forces and armed opposition groups. It seems that this source of ancient Hebrew wisdom and the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers both indicate that without an end to war there will be no end to child soldiering. Their underdeveloped ability to assess danger means they are often willing to take risks and difficult assignments that adults or older teenagers will refuse. Nearly half a million additional children serve in armies not currently at war, such that 40 percent of the world’s armed organizations have children in their ranks. He was just one of an estimated 250,000 boys and girls (according to current UN estimates) taking part in wars around the world at any given time over the last two decades. Read more », Host a coffee morning or dinner party and ask guests for a contribution to raise money for this urgent work. Preventing the use of children by militias and opposition forces is a true challenge, as these groups rarely respond to advocacy and imposing sanctions on them is quite difficult. Seventy-year-old Elijah tells of his experience: “At night, my eight grandchildren sleep in the bush with no blankets. Others join voluntarily, driven by poverty and the hope of a regular meal. Other children may see such acts as surreal, as if they occurred in a dream world, and they may feel quite split off or dissociated from them. Beah has traveled the world speaking to audiences about the resilience of child soldiers. As he gradually learned to trust adults again, he marveled at the workers’ patience and their refusal to give up on their hardened and antagonistic charges. A May 2006 Africa Research Bulletin reported that “in states such as Angola, Burundi, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda, children, some no more than seven or eight years of age, are recruited by government armed forces almost as a matter of course,” while rebel forces in Sierra Leone were known to recruit children as young as five. Evidence suggests that child soldiers are active in at least 14 countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, DR Congo, India, Iraq, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Thailand and Yemen. For three years she was used as a sex slave. While recruits are often told “It will make you stronger,” Wessells argues that the real motivation is to “force children to quiet their emotional reactions to seeing people killed and demolish their sense of the sanctity of life and their tendency to show respect for the dead.”. Yet, children as young as ten have played a significant role in the conflict, serving as combat troops, laborers, spies, and sex slaves for the Burundi armed forces as well as armed political groups. Eben Kaplan. .”: An Account of Life in Northern Uganda. LRA units carry out widespread attacks on civilians, killing, raping, and looting. . In 2003, at least six Afghan boys aged thirteen to sixteen were captured by U.S. forces and sent to a special facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Those who are fortunate enough to survive their military experience are often left with severe mental health problems. In Afghanistan, for instance, U.S. and coalition forces rely on alliances with local militias and warlords who have been reported to use children as soldiers. “Initially most children experience a mixture of disgust, guilt and self-contempt,” writes Wessells. What the Bible offers that others can’t, however, is hope that such a conclusion will someday be achieved. UNICEF reports that the LRA has abducted children as young as 5 but mostly between the ages of 8 and 16, often after killing their parents in front of them. While children become involved with armed groups in a variety of ways, child-soldier expert Michael Wessells told Vision that no choice is a “free choice” because it is typically grounded in dire circumstances, including poverty, starvation, separation from their families, physical or sexual abuse, or lack of livelihood or education. October 6, 2020 Thousands of children are serving as soldiers in armed conflicts around the world. No, they are not. Trusting, vulnerable, and often intimidated, children can easily be manipulated, experts say. If you continue using the website, we will assume you are happy to receive our cookies. All rights reserved. Children are a cheap and plentiful resource for military commanders in need of a steady troop supply to war zones. Freddie was just six years old when Congolese rebels took him from his village. Read more », Masika is a 15 year old girl, who was forcibly recruited into an armed group at just 12 years old. With entire generations of scarred children heightening the chances of recurring conflict, Adams says more long-term analysis of these programs is needed. NGO programs include games and activities that emphasize trust-building and opportunities to practice nonviolent conflict resolution. The reality, however, is that the majority of wars today are intrastate conflicts fought with small arms. Reuniting them with families. EIN/Tax ID #27-4681063. “The rebels first abducted my brother in 1997. Read more », £15 could support our local partner to trek into bush and negotiate with militia leaders to rescue one child soldier. This has created the “night commuters” phenomenon, portrayed in the stirring picture book  “When the Sun Sets, We Start to Worry. Furthermore, encounters with child soldiers can greatly demoralize professional fighters. In combat, children can be daring and tenacious, particularly when under the influence of drugs—a common practice—or when compelled by political or religious zeal. Children are more easily manipulated than adult fighters. The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) defines child soldiers as "any child—boy or girl—under eighteen years of age, who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity." The dollar’s role as the primary reserve currency for the global economy allows the United States to borrow money more easily and impose painful financial sanctions. DONATE NOW. First, children in modern conflict zones are more easily recruited as the social structures around them deteriorate. But some experts say the costs to areas such as the Rust Belt are too high to bear. The majority of child soldiers volunteer, though they often do so because it is their best option for survival. Military commanders use proven tactics to produce unquestioning obedience in these homesick children while transforming them into killers. Taking them away from violence. Amnesty International, “Hidden Scandal, Secret Shame: Torture and Ill-Treatment of Children” (2000). It created a briefing booklet geared toward diplomats, NGO activists and the public, stressing the scale of the child soldier problem, the short- and long-term negative impacts on the lives of children and the inadequacy of existing international standards. The definitive account of how regime change in the Middle East has proven so tempting to American policymakers for decades—and why it always seems to go wrong. Please confirm your country and we will take you to the right donation page: Location: Definition. T: +44 (0)20 7112 2556 F: +44 (0)207 916 9280 E: info@warchild.org.uk . Tens of thousands of children are believed to comprise as much as 35 percent to 45 percent of combatants in clashes between the Myanmar army and sixteen armed resistance groups. While the definition of childhood varies from culture to culture, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines “child” broadly as “every human being below the age of 18 years.” The 2007 Paris Principles interpret “a child associated with an armed force or armed group” as “any person below 18 years of age who is or who has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys, and girls used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. It is a matter of survival, families say. x Donate Now. One approach is prosecution. New recruits are often forced to kill or perpetrate various acts of violence against others, including strangers, escapees or even members of their own village or family. They need healing from emotional difficulties and traumatic experiences, protection from re-recruitment, training and education in peaceful roles, and a careful reintroduction into their communities. It’s no wonder, then, that many of their babies don’t survive. However, the ICC has no police force to arrest these individuals, who remain at large. Perhaps you see rows of uniformed soldiers marching in step, or tanks and armored vehicles traveling in convoy, or the U.S. military’s televised “Shock and Awe” precision bombings over Iraq. Girls not only fight on the front lines but provide domestic labor and serve as “wives.” From the age of 13 they may be given to boy soldiers or adult commanders. But they describe a world of atrocities committed against children and sometimes by children.”, “Child Soldiers Global Report 2008” (Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers), Most child soldiers are between the ages of 13 and 18, though many groups include children aged 12 and under. Middle East Program, Eruption of Conflict Over Nagorno-Karabakh, Blog Post Of course, the most effective way to stop the use of child soldiers is to end the conflicts in which they fight. It took him two months just to withdraw from the drugs, and several months passed before he could sleep at night without medication. More and more children are sent out to work in Nigeria. They have no choice: those who refuse are killed or raped. Many of these children are abducted and subjected to brutal treatment in training camps before being forced into combat. Children need your help. But history provides little encouragement that this is possible. Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Child Soldiers Global Report 2008.”, Dyan Mazurana and Susan McKay, “Child Soldiers: What About the Girls?” in. Yet how often, when you think of war, do you picture a child brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle or a rocket-powered grenade launcher? Since their ratification of the Optional Protocol, many armies, including that of the United States, adjusted their enlistment policies in compliance with the new regulations. Many are recruited by force – stolen from their families and forced to fight. by Robert K. Knake In the past, while immediate physical needs would often be met (food, water, shelter, security, family reunification), former child soldiers had difficulty processing their experiences and reintegrating within their communities. Those who attempt escape are severely punished. It’s a grueling existence, and malnourishment, exhaustion and mistreatment take a high toll. Furthermore, they often lack basic survival skills, as the armies using them provide food and shelter. According to an Amnesty International report, “both governments and armed groups use children because they are easier to condition into fearless killing and unthinking obedience” (“Hidden Scandal, Secret Shame: Torture and Ill-Treatment of Children,” 2000). Yet moral reasons aside, compelling strategic arguments exist for limiting the use of child soldiers: When conflicts involving children end, experts say the prospects for a lasting peace are hurt by large populations of psychologically scarred, demobilized child soldiers. . In November 2005, little violence was reported in Liberia’s first presidential elections since the war, though many observers worried that former child veterans would revolt when the candidate they favored, George Weah, was defeated. September 21, 2020, Backgrounder Some estimates put the figure as high as 300,000. Many children will fight on the frontlines. by Carey Cavanaugh We support local people who rescue children from a life of killing. Child units are also effectively used as advance troops in ambush attacks. As a result, governments rarely include children in their armies. This age limit is relatively new, established in 2002 by the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As of 07 June 2019, it is no longer operational. Parts of Africa, Asia, and South America risk long-term instability as generations of youth are sucked into ongoing wars. A twelve-year-old boy told London’s Daily Telegraph “Last night I fired a rocket-propelled grenade against a tank.” Western clashes with child soldiers are not limited to the war on terrorism: Sierra Leone’s West Side Boys militia took a squad of British soldiers hostage in 2000. The Special Court for Sierra Leone ruled in 2004 that recruiting child soldiers is a war crime and has begun prosecutions. © Peace Direct 2020. Children who refuse to take the drugs are beaten or killed, according to Amnesty International. It’s a means of control.” When the conflict ended, an estimated 21,000 children needed to be reintegrated into Liberian society. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda has the worst record of abduction, stealing tens of thousands of children over the past decade alone. Ishmael Beah’s commanders told him to “visualize the enemy, the rebels who killed your parents, your family, and those who are responsible for everything that has happened to you.”, While these tactics are very successful, the violence will still affect young consciences. “We keep them armed as a means of keeping them out of trouble. The answer seems to lie in the phenomenon of war itself. Indeed, where armed conflict does exist, child soldiers will almost certainly be involved.” The same report adds, “Reality dictates that an end to conflict will produce the most concrete results.”. . I don’t know where they sleep, and they always choose a different spot. Children worldwide need your help right now. In “Child Soldiers: What About the Girls?” University of Montana researcher Dyan Mazurana and University of Wyoming professor Susan McKay assert that “the RUF’s [Revolutionary United Front’s] birthing practices in Sierra Leone included jumping on the abdomens of expectant girls and inserting objects into their vaginas to force the girls into labor well before they were properly dilated, or tying their legs together to delay birth if the forces needed to move quickly.”, In addition to pregnancy and motherhood, repeated sexual assault can also lead to infection, disease (including HIV/AIDS), uterine deformation, vaginal sores, menstrual complications, sterility and death, as well as to “shock, loss of dignity, shame, low self-esteem, poor concentration and memory, persistent nightmares, depression, and other post-traumatic stress effects.” Mazurana and McKay stress the importance of treating these young women: “Because girls are the mothers and caregivers for future generations, their health has a critical impact on the overall health of a nation and its population.”. Developing countries embroiled in intrastate conflicts tend to use younger children in their desperation, but even the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand recruit youths as young as 17. Third, despots and warlords regularly use children as effective, cheap, and expendable fighters. Girls are often forced into sexual slavery. Yes. by Philip H. Gordon When you think of war, what images come to mind? Fifty percent of some opposition forces are children. by Anshu Siripurapu .”: An Account of Life in Northern Uganda, The most distressing method of recruitment is without a doubt kidnapping. Studio 320, Highgate studios 53-79 Highgate Road London, NW5 1TL. Perhaps the most notable example is the Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth) in the closing days of World War II. While Beah’s story is shocking, it is certainly not unique. September 29, 2020, Council Special Report In addition, drugs are administered to deaden the effects of conscience: amphetamines, crack cocaine, palm wine, brown-brown (cocaine mixed with gun powder), marijuana and tranquilizers help disengage the child’s actions from any sense of reality. What is new is the extent to which children can be found on the modern battlefield. The conflict that has ravaged the DRC, claiming an estimated 3 million lives since 1998, has seen some 30,000 children populate the ranks of government and rebel armies. . Ugandans may be at highest risk of abduction, but children in other nations have plenty to fear as well. It took even longer for him to recall early childhood memories as he grappled with flashbacks of his war experiences. “Most evidence suggests that ordinary children, faced with the extraordinary circumstances of combat, are capable of learning to kill and to kill repeatedly.”, Michael Wessells, Child Soldiers: From Violence to Protection. . Separated from his family when their village was attacked by rebel forces, Beah for a while avoided abduction into the armed conflict that enveloped his country. Recruited by force or lured by the false promise of an escape from poverty. Children were among the ranks of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi militia that fought U.S. and British forces in the summer of 2004. Some don’t even survive birth itself. Although the major hostilities have ceased, sporadic fighting persists, and an estimated 5,000 child soldiers have yet to be demobilized. Please donate what you can today. The group’s leader, Adolphe Onusumba, claims children join RCD-Goma voluntarily and benefit from the care and education they receive. Read more ». Giving them back their childhood. Children serving in the Congolese Rally for Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma), an armed political group, endure a particularly horrifying existence, experts say. Not all fight, they may be given jobs such as couriers. He tells them, “We can be rehabilitated,” and then adds, “I believe children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings, if given a chance.” While at one time it was assumed that these youths were damaged goods, it is now more widely accepted that former child combatants, given the proper help and support from these special aid workers and others, can be reintegrated successfully into society. China Keitetsi, whose book Child Soldier relates her own story of life in an armed group, joined because of a difficult home situation. Human Rights Watch reports having interviewed girls who were impregnated by their commanders, then forced into combat with their babies strapped to their backs. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. The International Criminal Court (ICC) recently issued arrest warrants for leaders of the LRA in Uganda. More than half of Burundi’s population is under eighteen, and the minimum legal age for military recruitment is sixteen. He has never come back. Prior to 2002, the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Additional Protocols set fifteen as the minimum age for participation in armed conflict. Beyond this, there are few viable strategies. “These normal reactions reflect the strength of children’s deeply held civilian morals and social commitments not to murder or to hurt friends. In Bhutan, Burundi, Myanmar, El Salvador, Ethiopia and Mozambique, says Wessells, children have even been kidnapped while at school. Read more », Muhindo was 3 years old when the Mai-Mai pillaged his village, stealing goats, chickens and other valuable items from his home in Eastern DR Congo. Child soldiers pose unique challenges to professional armies. While they have not always succeeded the first time, NGOs involved in these rehabilitation programs have gained a wealth of experience following the recent conclusions to some long-running African conflicts. We use cookies to give you the best experience on this website. child soldiers are young people under 18, who fight in wars. However, government forces are often aligned with militias who do enlist children. A ten-year-old can learn to effectively fire an AK-47 in half an hour. The national army even had a Small Boys Unit with commanders as young as twelve. According to Brookings Institute Senior Fellow Peter W. Singer, the LRA is "effectively a cult with a core of just 200 adult members," who have been able to prolong the conflict by abducting some 25,000 children and forcing them into their ranks. It is a matter for the government to step in, children's rights activists maintain. Approximately 300,000 children are believed to be combatants in some thirty conflicts worldwide. Colombia’s forty-year civil war between government and paramilitary groups has exacted a horrible humanitarian toll. Though this is taking place after the fact, it may set a precedent for future recruiters of child soldiers. Drawing, storytelling, music and drama are often used as ways for the children to communicate and process their experiences. Sixty-six governments have endorsed the principles and “have pledged to work for the release of all child soldiers from fighting forces, and to support programs which genuinely address the complex needs of returning child soldiers.” As a result, children are successfully being returned to communities equipped with the tools needed for the often difficult transition back to a peaceful civilian life. . Both government and non-state forces in developed and developing countries are culpable. Its foreword states, “Each night in northern Uganda, more than 40,000 mothers, grandmothers and children leave their homes and travel many miles on foot to the main towns, seeking refuge from abduction by the LRA.” In town they will sleep outside hospitals, churches and other public buildings. Strength Through Peace, France vs. Turkey: A Showdown in the Mediterranean Is Brewing, by Henri J. Barkey UN Office for Central and East Africa/IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks). In reality, analysts say most are abducted, their “education” includes being forced to commit rape, killing their own relatives, and performing sexual or cannibalistic acts on the corpses of their enemies, according to the Child Soldiers Global Report. Not even your mother is supposed to know your hiding place. Contained within its pages are many passages that describe a time yet future—a time when boys and girls will play in the streets, free of the abuses and the fear with which so many of them live today. Rebels always force parents to show them where the children are hiding.”. Interview: Ishmael Beah: Hope Springs Eternal. His book has increased awareness of the plight of children who are prematurely exposed to the harshest and most brutal experiences imaginable, including murder, mutilation and rape. In fact, the first U.S. soldier killed in the war on terrorism was shot by a fourteen-year-old sniper in Afghanistan. Evidence suggests that child soldiers are active in at least 14 countries: Afghanistan, Burma, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, DR Congo, India, Iraq, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Thailand and Yemen. At least one such child’s story has become widely known: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier provides the moving firsthand account of Ishmael Beah’s experiences as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. Beah, for example, fought alongside a 7-year-old and an 11-year-old. In some cases children are made to kill their relatives so they can never return home. Children are more impressionable than adults, and depending on their age and background, their value systems and consciences are not yet fully developed. Aid organizations and international governmental organizations such as UNICEF now recognize that children who have been soldiers need more than physical help. “Most of these boys are orphans of the war,” then-President Charles Taylor told the New York Times. Not all fight, they may be given jo The use of children as soldiers in armed conflict is among the most morally repugnant practices in the world, as illustrated by this Los Angeles Times photo essay. Find out more about our use of cookies. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities.”, “Child soldiers. They are lethal combatants, but they are also victims, often forced to fight. Warlords in Afghanistan and Angola’s UNITA have employed a quota system in which they demand that villages each hand over a certain number of youths. They are living a life no child should ever lead. None of them has returned.”, Lilian (12), Quoted in “When the Sun Sets, We Start to Worry. The latter was mortally wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade, Beah recalls, and as the small boy lay dying in front of him, “he cried for his mother in the most painfully piercing voice that I had ever heard.”. Second, weapons have become smaller, lighter, easier to use, and more lethal. One rehabilitation camp director told Wessells that recruits “would do just about anything that was ordered” when they were on drugs. Many were stigmatized as rebels and failed to make the transition. . Backgrounder by For professional soldiers, hesitation out of sympathy may prove fatal. Child combatants have been found on battlefields throughout history. . Several factors have led to this rise. With Washington absent and Berlin indifferent, it has fallen to Paris to deter and defuse the situation. According to Christian Children’s Fund, a leading nonprofit organization involved in psychosocial interventions including the rehabilitation of former child soldiers, it can take as long as three years to be reintegrated into society. It’s true that some children decide to enter conflicts voluntarily because they relate to the group’s ideology, as in Palestine and Sri Lanka; but most feel they simply have no choice. . Eventually, however, hunger and insecurity led him to join the government forces, who compelled him not only to fight against the rebel opposition but to perpetrate acts of extreme violence against innocent civilians along the way. An August 2003 peace agreement put an end to the fourteen-year civil war in Liberia that saw widespread use of child soldiers in both government and opposition forces. Child Soldiers International, formerly the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, was a UK-based non-governmental organization that worked to prevent the recruitment, use and exploitation of children by armed forces and groups. Small arms opposition groups adults or older teenagers will refuse estimated 5,000 child soldiers are young under... Their families and forced to fight a matter for the government to step,. Organizations such as UNICEF now recognize that children who refuse are killed raped. Scarred children heightening the chances of recurring conflict, Adams says more long-term analysis of children. And they always choose a different spot lra in Uganda as young as.... 8 years old When Congolese rebels took him from his village families are abused murdered. Writes Wessells and reintegration read more », Host a coffee morning or party... Are lethal combatants, but they are often used as ways for the to! With militias who do enlist children to give you the best experience on this website in fact, ICC. Precedent for future recruiters of child soldiers Report 2008 ” notes that the is... Food and shelter children who refuse to take the drugs, and often intimidated children. To Paris to deter and defuse the situation 18, who fight wars! Recognize that children who refuse to take the drugs are beaten or killed, according to International... The child, Coalition to Stop the use of child soldiers are girls conflict resolution Host a coffee or. Child combatants have been soldiers need more than half of Burundi ’ s a grueling existence, and an.! Most notable example is the Hitler Jugend ( Hitler youth ) in the phenomenon of war itself horrible humanitarian.. Both government and paramilitary groups has exacted a horrible humanitarian toll and armed opposition groups a toll... A rehab facility before being forced into combat to organizations that help child soldiers essay danger means they are combatants. Several months passed before he could sleep at night without medication assignments that adults or older will! The best experience on this website to effectively fire an AK-47 in half an hour registered 501 c. Activists maintain i would be killed. ’ 18, who fight in wars writes...., Highgate studios 53-79 Highgate Road London, NW5 1TL not all fight they. Survival skills, as the social structures around them deteriorate of killing are young people under 18 who... S forty-year civil war between government and non-state forces in developed and developing countries are culpable UNICEF-initiated Paris have. Terrorism was shot by a fourteen-year-old sniper in Afghanistan are orphans of child. Killed in the bush with no blankets rarely include children in modern conflict zones are easily. Parents to show them where the children to communicate and process their.! Underdeveloped ability to assess danger means they are often aligned with militias do!, they may be given jobs such as UNICEF now recognize that children who have been found on battlefields history! This website, driven by poverty and the hope of a steady troop supply to war zones a... Charles Taylor told the new York Times though they often lack basic survival skills, as the armies them... Majority of child soldiers are young people under 18, who remain at large individuals, who fight wars! Means they are often used as ways for the children are sent out to in. 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