Chad:
Several states have been identified by Child Soldiers International as “priority countries” meaning that use of children by armed forces has been extensive. One such country is Chad. The Chadian army began the wide scale use of children in their armed forces in 2006 to fight against armed opposition groups; the opposition groups themselves also enlisted large numbers of children resulting in one of the most prominent cases of human rights abuse in recent years. Child Soldiers International sought to fight this injustice by proposing an Action Plan to the Chadian government. The main tenets of the plan revolved around strengthening recruitment protocols, monitoring more carefully, and holding those accountable who continue to recruit children. While these efforts have helped to reduce the numbers of child soldiers operating in Chad, it remains to be seen if these efforts will prove stable and continue over time or simply be thrown to the wind at the onset of the next conflict. Several factors in Chad have made the wide spread activation of the Action Plan relatively difficult; informal recruitment is rampant and there exists little formal means to verify the age of applicants. This issue is augmented by the weak power structure and lack of military professionalism. However the key element to this problem is that no one seems willing to hold the military accountable for its actions. In addition child recruitment is not illegal and no one has ever faced legal repercussions for engaging in such practices, however immoral they may be.
Democratic Republic of Congo:
Despite the war officially ending in 2002, armed conflict has continued in the Democratic Republic of Congo with all sides of the issue illegally recruiting both boys and girls, using them as fighters in the conflict and to fulfill other positions as well. An intensification of the conflict in late 2011 early 2012 resulted in the large scale recurrence of child recruitment. Despite all this, progress has been made, tens of thousands of children have been released from the armed groups participating in the conflict, a good portion of which occurred during the armed groups were absorbed into the national army. In addition, the International Criminal Court convicted Thomas Lubanga of the war crime of enlisting and conscripting under-15s and using them in hostilities. This was a very important step towards ending impunity for such actions and for letting other warlords know that they can in fact be held accountable for the use of child soldiers in hostilities. On October 4th 2012, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Nations formally committed to ending the recruitment and use of children by Congolese armed forces and security services by signing an Action Plan. A few tenets of the action plan include: preventing child recruitment and other grave violations of children's rights perpetrated by the armed forces and security forces; facilitating regular and independent monitoring of military facilities in order to verify the presence of children; ensuring the reintegration of children formerly associated with armed and security forces; obtaining the adherence of non-state armed groups to the principles of the Action Plan; promptly investigating all allegations of recruitment and sexual violence against children in order to prosecute alleged perpetrators; and supporting the implementation of court decisions on reparations for child victims of violations and affected communities.
Myanmar:
Children have been used extensively in armed conflict in Myanmar by both state and non-state armed forces. Despite there being a minimum age requirement of 18 years old for military recruitment, hundreds of boys have been enlisted, usually through force or coercion into the Tatmadaw Kyi, the national army. These children have been sent to regions where the state forces have been engaged in hostilities with armed opposition groups and forced to participate in the conflict. Border guard forces, which are often made up of former members of armed opposition groups and are officially under the command of the Myanmar military have also been known to enlist under-18s into their ranks. After much negotiating with the United Nations, the Myanmar government finally signed an Action Plan in June of 2012 under which it resolved to release all soldiers under 18 years of age from the Tatmadaw Kyi and border guard forces. Child recruitment and use by armed opposition groups is also widespread. Such opposition groups include: the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA), Karenni National Progressive Party/Karenni Army (KNPP/KA), Shan State Army South (SSA-S), United Wa State Army (UWSA). The KNU/KNLA and KNPP/KA have actually sought to formulate action plans regarding the use of child soldiers with the United Nations, but the UN has been barred from doing so by the government of Myanmar. While the action plan has been officially adopted by the government, Myanmar is still a long way off from fully getting rid of child soldiers in armed conflict.
Several states have been identified by Child Soldiers International as “priority countries” meaning that use of children by armed forces has been extensive. One such country is Chad. The Chadian army began the wide scale use of children in their armed forces in 2006 to fight against armed opposition groups; the opposition groups themselves also enlisted large numbers of children resulting in one of the most prominent cases of human rights abuse in recent years. Child Soldiers International sought to fight this injustice by proposing an Action Plan to the Chadian government. The main tenets of the plan revolved around strengthening recruitment protocols, monitoring more carefully, and holding those accountable who continue to recruit children. While these efforts have helped to reduce the numbers of child soldiers operating in Chad, it remains to be seen if these efforts will prove stable and continue over time or simply be thrown to the wind at the onset of the next conflict. Several factors in Chad have made the wide spread activation of the Action Plan relatively difficult; informal recruitment is rampant and there exists little formal means to verify the age of applicants. This issue is augmented by the weak power structure and lack of military professionalism. However the key element to this problem is that no one seems willing to hold the military accountable for its actions. In addition child recruitment is not illegal and no one has ever faced legal repercussions for engaging in such practices, however immoral they may be.
Democratic Republic of Congo:
Despite the war officially ending in 2002, armed conflict has continued in the Democratic Republic of Congo with all sides of the issue illegally recruiting both boys and girls, using them as fighters in the conflict and to fulfill other positions as well. An intensification of the conflict in late 2011 early 2012 resulted in the large scale recurrence of child recruitment. Despite all this, progress has been made, tens of thousands of children have been released from the armed groups participating in the conflict, a good portion of which occurred during the armed groups were absorbed into the national army. In addition, the International Criminal Court convicted Thomas Lubanga of the war crime of enlisting and conscripting under-15s and using them in hostilities. This was a very important step towards ending impunity for such actions and for letting other warlords know that they can in fact be held accountable for the use of child soldiers in hostilities. On October 4th 2012, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Nations formally committed to ending the recruitment and use of children by Congolese armed forces and security services by signing an Action Plan. A few tenets of the action plan include: preventing child recruitment and other grave violations of children's rights perpetrated by the armed forces and security forces; facilitating regular and independent monitoring of military facilities in order to verify the presence of children; ensuring the reintegration of children formerly associated with armed and security forces; obtaining the adherence of non-state armed groups to the principles of the Action Plan; promptly investigating all allegations of recruitment and sexual violence against children in order to prosecute alleged perpetrators; and supporting the implementation of court decisions on reparations for child victims of violations and affected communities.
Myanmar:
Children have been used extensively in armed conflict in Myanmar by both state and non-state armed forces. Despite there being a minimum age requirement of 18 years old for military recruitment, hundreds of boys have been enlisted, usually through force or coercion into the Tatmadaw Kyi, the national army. These children have been sent to regions where the state forces have been engaged in hostilities with armed opposition groups and forced to participate in the conflict. Border guard forces, which are often made up of former members of armed opposition groups and are officially under the command of the Myanmar military have also been known to enlist under-18s into their ranks. After much negotiating with the United Nations, the Myanmar government finally signed an Action Plan in June of 2012 under which it resolved to release all soldiers under 18 years of age from the Tatmadaw Kyi and border guard forces. Child recruitment and use by armed opposition groups is also widespread. Such opposition groups include: the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA), Karenni National Progressive Party/Karenni Army (KNPP/KA), Shan State Army South (SSA-S), United Wa State Army (UWSA). The KNU/KNLA and KNPP/KA have actually sought to formulate action plans regarding the use of child soldiers with the United Nations, but the UN has been barred from doing so by the government of Myanmar. While the action plan has been officially adopted by the government, Myanmar is still a long way off from fully getting rid of child soldiers in armed conflict.