The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers has released a new report documenting progress that has been made in the past several years toward universal condemnation of the involvement of child soldiers in armed conflict, but also the need for greater efforts to translate this emerging consensus into real protection of children from military exploitation. One continuing problem identified in the report is the exclusion of girl soldiers from disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programs in many countries. Girls are often left out of these programs, which can provide important medical, psychosocial, and economic support for former soldiers returning to their communities, for various reasons. They may be retained by the armed forces because they serve useful support roles or because they are regarded as the wives of other soldiers, or they may exclude themselves from the programs because they do not want to be identified as child soldiers and subsequently rejected by their communities due to their involvement in sexual activity. The report recommends that greater attention be paid to the special needs of girl soldiers within the context of gender discrimination and inequality they experience before, during, and after hostilities.
For the full report, click here.
Compiled from: Women’s U.N. Report Network; “Child Soldiers Global Report 2008,” Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2008. (PDF, 418 pages).