Child soldiersChildren in Developing CountriesRenata Serra – March 29th 2007

Child soldiers Under-18 attached to any government, regular or irregular armed force

No reliable estimate of number exists Boys mainly but also girls

Africa seems to have the largest number of child soldiers Conflicts in Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, DRC, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and

Uganda (and recently in Mozambique, Angola, and Sierra Leone) Asia: Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, Laos and Philippines, and especially

Sri Lanka Myanmar: the only country where government armed forces forcibly recruit

children from age 12 Middle East: child soldiers reportedly used in Iran, Iraq, Israel, the

Occupied Palestinian Territories and in tribal groups in Yemen Latin America: Colombia (14,000?) Europe: Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation

International standards and initiatives 2002: the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the involvement

of children in armed conflict outlaws the involvement of children < 18 in hostilities Thus raising the previous standard of age (15) set by the CRC, the

1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols 2002: the Statute of the International Criminal Court makes

the conscription, enlistment or use of children under 15 in hostilities a war crime First prosecution in 2006 against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the leader

of a militia group based in the northeast of the DRC 2007: UNICEF sponsored Paris Meeting with 58 countries

The issues 1. How can these “new wars” emerge? What

made possible such human tragedies? 2. Children: Innocent or guilty? Agents or

victims? 3. Can children be prosecuted for their war

acts? What initiatives and programs for children after the wars?

The “new wars” Warfare versus war Multiple connections between wars

Sierra Leone & Liberia Central Africa region

Total societal crisis Predation of natural and other resources

Children in war Child-soldier is an oxymoron: difficult to

comprehend Liminal and interstitial space, in-between states

What are the features and steps of the initiation into a new culture of terror and violence?

Are there ‘other’ spaces/spheres the child can cut out for herself?

What are the possibilities and limits for child agency?

After-war trajectories Trauma and healing DDR programs (disarmament, demobilization and

reintegration) Re-acceptance by community and family? The extraordinary experience of Ishmael Beah,

former child soldier in Sierra Leone Read his newly published book “A long way gone” Click here for a video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3OcYVQ9o3o