Where are child soldiers currently being used?

The Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Syria and Yemen currently have the largest number of child soldiers. 3. Children are not only recruited by armed forces and groups as fighters. They are also used as informants, looters, messengers, spies and as domestic or sexual slaves.

How are child soldiers used in conflict?

Thousands of children are serving as soldiers in armed conflicts around the world. These boys and girls, some as young as 8 years old, serve in government forces and armed opposition groups. They may fight on the front lines, participate in suicide missions, and act as spies, messengers, or lookouts.

How are child soldiers used?

Child soldiers are boys and girls who are often abducted and used as combatants, forced to act as human shields or conduct executions, deployed as suicide bombers, or used to make or transport explosives. Other roles include working as guards, spies, messengers, porters, cooks or domestic servants.

What are Girl Child Soldiers used for?

Child soldiers are any children under the age of 18 who are recruited by a state or non-state armed group and used as fighters, cooks, suicide bombers, human shields, messengers, spies, or for sexual purposes.

At what age can you deploy?

The federal law that can be manipulated in a case by case basis states that the minimum age for enlistment in the United States military is 17 (with parental consent) and 18 (without parental consent). The maximum age is 35.

Are there child soldiers in the world?

Child Soldiers. Thousands of children are serving as soldiers in armed conflicts around the world. These boys and girls, some as young as 8 years old, serve in government forces and armed opposition groups.

What is the role of a child soldier?

A child soldier does not necessarily wear a uniform or carry a weapon: he can be recruited into an armed group as a cook, carrier, guard, spy, messenger, bodyguard, sex slave, mine “detector”… Children are recruited because they are more manageable, more obedient, and more easily manipulated than adults.

How old do you have to be to be a soldier?

Current international law in force fixes 15 years as the minimum age for recruitment in the army and participation in conflicts. However, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child fixes 18 as the age of adulthood. A child soldier is not only a member of an armed group who actively participates in hostilities.

How can we help child soldiers safely leave armed groups?

Frederique, a former child soldier, was reintegrated back into his community by War Child. One day he’d like his own family. Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR) is the main framework aimed at helping child soldiers safely leave armed groups.