By: Chioma Umeha
Children are increasingly vulnerable to recruitment and use
by armed groups, as conflicts around the world become more brutal, intense and
widespread, UNICEF and the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed
Conflict said recently to mark the International Day against the Use of Child
Soldiers. “While Governments of the world have made progress to recognize
children have no place in their armies, the recruitment of child soldiers is
still a huge problem, especially with armed groups,” said Leila Zerrougui, the
Special Representative of the Secretary- General for Children and Armed
Conflict. ”Out of 59 parties to conflict identified by the Secretary-General
for grave violations against children, 57 are named because they are recruiting
and using child soldiers.”
UNICEF and the Office of the Special Representative
call for urgent action to end grave violations against children including their
recruitment and use by armed groups. Parties to conflicts must meet their
obligations under International Law. “The release of all children from armed
groups must take place without delay. We cannot wait for peace to help children
caught in the midst of war,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Yoka Brandt.
“Investing in ways to keep children away from the frontlines, including through
education and economic support, is absolutely critical to their future and the
future of their societies.” Tens of thousands of boys and girls are associated
with armed forces and armed groups in conflicts in over 20 countries around the
world. Many have been victims of, witness to and forced participants in acts of
unspeakable brutality.
In Afghanistan, despite progress to end the recruitment
and use of children in national security forces, children continue to be
recruited by parties to conflict such as the Haqqani Network and the Taliban.
In the most extreme cases, children have been used as suicide bombers, to make
weapons and transport explosives. In the Central African Republic, boys and
girls as young as eight years old were recruited and used by all parties to the
conflict to take direct part in inter-ethnic and religious violence. In the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations documented new cases of
recruitment of children by multiple armed groups operating in the eastern part
of the country. The children, in some cases as young as 10, were recruited and
used as combatants, or in support functions such as porters and cooks. Girls
were reportedly used as sex slaves or were victims of other forms of sexual
violence.
In Iraq and Syria, the advances by ISIL and the proliferation of
armed groups have made children even more vulnerable to recruitment. Children
as young as 12, are undergoing military training and have been used as
informants, to patrol, to man checkpoints and to guard strategic locations. In
some cases, they have been used as suicide bombers and to carry out executions.
In Nigeria throughout 2014, the armed conflict in the north-eastern of the
country was one of the world’s deadliest for children. There was a dramatic
rise in violence, growing recruitment and use of children, sometimes very
young. The UNICEF is also concerned by reports of this violence against
children. UNICEF works with partners to support children once they are released
from armed groups.
This includes reunifying them with their families and
providing them with health care, basic necessities and psychological support as
well as access to education and training programmes. Just recently, the gradual
release of approximately 3,000 children from the South Sudan Democratic Army
(SSDA) Cobra Faction began. More than 500 children have been released in the
past two weeks and are receiving support to return to civilian life. Further
releases are expected over the next month. Recently, UNICEF called for urgent
action to protect children in North -East Nigeria. Children growing up in
Nigeria’s north -east are in desperate need of protection from relentless
violence, concluded Leila Zerrougui, the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, at the end of a weeklong
visit in Nigeria.
The Special Representative travelled to Nigeria to assess the
confl ict’s impact on children. She met the country’s federal authorities, the
authorities of Adamawa State, the United Nations, the diplomatic community,
civil society and other partners to galvanize efforts to gather and verify
information on grave violations committed against children. This will help the
Government and its partners provide better protection for children and promote
accountability.
This story was published in Newswatch Times on February 27, 2015.
