Child Soldiers around the world

In over thirty three countries around the world, children are direct participants in war. Denied a childhood and often subjected to horrific violence, an estimated 300,000 children are serving as soldiers for both rebel groups and government forces in current armed conflicts. These young combatants participate in all aspects of contemporary warfare. They wield AK-47s and M-16s on the front lines of combat, serve as human mine detectors, participate in suicide missions, carry supplies, and act as spies, messengers or lookouts.

Africa has the largest number of child soldiers. Child soldiers are being used in armed conflict in Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

In Asia thousands of children are involved in fighting forces in active conflict and ceasefire situations, although government refusal of access to conflict zones has made it impossible to document the numbers involved. Myanmar is unique in the region, as the only country where government armed forces forcibly recruit and use children between the ages of 12 and 18. Child soldiers also exist in Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, Laos and Philippines, where they are mainly associated with armed opposition groups, factional or clan-based groups or groups composed of ethnic or religious minorities. In Sri Lanka, hundreds, perhaps thousands of children are believed to remain in the ranks of the main opposition force and forcible recruitment continues.

In the Middle East child soldiers are reportedly used in Iran, Iraq, and Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in tribal groups in Yemen. In Latin America up to 14,000 children are estimated to be involved with armed political groups and army-backed paramilitaries in Colombia.

In Europe under-18s are believed to be involved in a range of armed groups in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation, although the numbers are impossible to establish given a virtual ban on media and human rights organizations from operating in the region.

 

LATEST REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION

According to the latest report of the International Labor Organization (ILO), 246 million children between the ages of 5-17 engage in child labor. The majority of the world’s 211 million working children between the ages of 5-14 are found in Asia (127.3 million or 60%), Africa (48 million or 23%), Latin America and the Caribbean (17.4 million or 8%), and the Middle East and North Africa (13.4 million or 6%). The rest can be found in both transitional and developed economies. Asia has the highest number of child workers, but Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest proportion of working children relative to population.  

PLEASE SEE THE STATISTICAL REPORT : Statistics

 

Children in armed conflicts (1990s) 

2 million killed; 

4 -5 million disabled; 

12 million left homeless; 

1 million orphaned or separated from their parents; 

10 million psychologically traumatized 

Source: UNICEF

PLEASE SEE THE GRAPHIC : cs