A child soldier is:
“... any person below 18 years of age who is or has ...
A child soldier is:
“... any person below 18 years of age who is or has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group (...), including but not limited to children, boys, and girls used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes.”
Definition according to the Paris Principles (2007)
For centuries, children have been used in wars for a variety of purposes, be they messengers, porters or even regular soldiers. It’s only in the last few decades that the use of children in war has been criticised by human rights initiatives and banned by the United Nations. In 1989, the UN in New York demanded that a resolution be passed which stipulates that all member states must ensure that none of its citizens under the age of 15 participate in armed conflict.
People under the age of 18 are still allowed to voluntarily participate in war. There are even 16-year-old recruits in some European countries. Still, many countries observe the 2002 UN protocol banning the participation of anyone under the age of 18 in any direct war activities.
In Article 8.2.26, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) explains that recruiting children under the age of 15 and using them to actively participate in hostilities is a war crime.
It is estimated that there are over 250,000 child soldiers worldwide, most of whom are in Africa.
The LRA war in Uganda is considered to be one of the world’s worst conflicts to directly affect children. Today, this war is being waged in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.
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