From Africa Recovery, Vol.16 #4 (February 2003), page 23

UN exposes armies using child soldiers

In a departure from past practice, a new report by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan explicitly names 23 governments and other warring parties that recruit and use children as soldiers. "For the first time in an official report to the Security Council, those who violate standards for the protection of war-affected children have been specifically named and listed," emphasizes Mr. Olara Otunnu, the Secretary-General's special representative for children and armed conflict. The report, released in December, is the third such annual review of progress in protecting children affected by conflict.

While various international agreements set 18 as the minimum age for compulsory recruitment and direct participation in hostilities, the "challenge today is to ensure their implementation on the ground," the report states. There are an estimated 300,000 child soldiers across the world.

In Africa, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia are the only governments identified as currently not complying with these international norms. More than a dozen rebel or insurgent factions are also listed, in these countries and in Somalia. Although it does not list them, the report also cites evidence that child soldiers are in the ranks of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, in southern Sudan, and the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group in northern Uganda, which is believed to have abducted more than 10,000 children over the last 15 years. The report commends Eritrea and Ethiopia for not recruiting child soldiers in their recent border war, which ended in late 2000.

By publicly identifying those who recruit child soldiers, the report concludes, the international community is demonstrating that it will not allow those violating children's rights to do so with impunity. Mr Otunnu notes that the published list provides an advocacy tool for governments, civil society groups and the media to apply pressure to cease such exploitation. "This is the beginning of a systematic effort in a new era of monitoring and reporting on the conduct of parties and how they treat children during conflict," says Mr. Otunnu.

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