8 - Release and Reintegration of Child Soldiers: One Part of a Bigger Puzzle

Summary

OVERVIEW OF CHILDREN's INVOLVEMENT IN ARMED CONFLICT

Since the early 1990s, when the issue of child soldiers first became a feature of international human rights, humanitarian, peace and security agendas, significant measures aimed at ending children's involvement in armed conflict have been taken. A framework of international law and policy to protect children from military exploitation has been established; close to two thirds of states are parties to the core human rights treaty prohibiting children's involvement in armed conflict; and some 80 states have set 18 as the minimum age at which an individual can enter their armed forces, including for training.

Progress can also be measured by the level of attention the issue now receives from key international bodies, not least the UN Security Council. A greater level of scrutiny of grave abuses against children in situations of armed conflict, including their recruitment and use as child soldiers, has been achieved through the establishment of the UN-led monitoring and reporting mechanism.This in turn, better informs the actions of the Security Council and others.

In the realm of criminal justice, successful prosecutions by the Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2007 and ongoing trials at the International Criminal Court (ICC) of individuals on such charges have underscored the gravity with which the crime is regarded internationally.

In the meantime, tens of thousands of child soldiers have been released from armies and armed groups as long-running conflicts have ended in a number of countries, including Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Elsewhere, for example in Nepal and Sri Lanka, large-scale recruitment of children effectively ceased with the end of hostilities, although the question of the release and reintegration of those already recruited has yet to be fully resolved in both countries.

In situations where armed conflict is ongoing, efforts to release children have also yielded results. Action plans to end the recruitment of children have been agreed between the UN and parties to armed conflicts in Côte d’Ivoire, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda. Negotiations are ongoing with parties elsewhere, including in the Central African Republic, Darfur, Myanmar and the Philippines. In Myanmar, three ethnic armed groups, to which access by the UN is prohibited by the Myanmar government, have unilaterally declared their commitment to preventing under-18s from joining their ranks.