What is the United Nations doing to stop child soldiers?

Armed conflicts disproportionately affect children. In their tireless efforts to implement the child protection mandate, UN peacekeepers have – among others – helped release thousands of child soldiers and provided vital technical support to legislative reforms aimed at strengthening national child protection system.

How does being a child soldier affect them?

They conclude that psychological trauma and social dislocation are the major consequences of child soldiering. But these studies seldom address impacts other than social/psychological and are often anectotal. They seldom use representative samples or address attrition, selection bias or micro-level impacts.

What happened to child soldiers?

The child soldiers are often forced out of their homes to join a negative cause, fight and sometimes die for the people they thought were going to offer them security but only provided danger. This is what happens to child soldiers for the benefit of whatever regime is intending to show its power.

What happens to children who have been in the military?

While every child’s story is different, children formerly associated with armed forces or groups face many immediate and lifelong challenges. Those who survive have most certainly been robbed of their innocence, their childhoods. These children may suffer from physical, developmental and mental health conditions.

What are the effects of war on children?

This includes more child soldiers, as well as those more likely to be killed or maimed, abducted, sexually abused, see their schools or hospitals attacked, or have aid denied to them. Children in conflict are more at risk of harm now than at any time in recorded history.

What is the role of child soldiers in war?

Child units can greatly add to confusion on battlefields, slowing opposing forces’ progress. Children have also been used as scouts, messengers, minesweepers, bomb-makers, and suicide bombers. Child units are also effectively used as advance troops in ambush attacks.

Are there any armed groups that use children in combat?

Yes. About 30 percent of armed groups using children include girls. In addition to fighting, girls are often subjected to sexual abuse, and in some cases are taken as mistresses by army leaders.