In places where there are armed conflicts, children are the most innocent and vulnerable victims. The reality of child soldiers in the world is bleak. Some are victims of kidnappings or have been recruited by force, and others are forced to unite due to poverty, abuse and discrimination.
There are also cases of seeking revenge for acts of violence against them or their families. Be that as it may, it is a horrific situation and what is understood by child soldiers does not only refer to those who carry weapons and actively participate in conflicts.
UNICEF defines a “soldier boy and girl” as any person under the age of 18 who is part of any type of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, for example, but not only: cooks, porters, messengers, and anyone which accompanies these groups that are not family members. It includes girls and boys recruited to practice sexual activities and / or enter into compulsory marriage.
According to Amnesty International, the majority of minors recruited as soldiers in the country are male. But girls are also recruited or enlisted by force, and are often raped or subjected to sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence as wives of military commanders.
In a recent report to the United Nations Security Council, the then Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, underlined the worsening impact of armed conflicts on minors in countries like Somalia. From the text it follows that in the country the majority of the combatants that form the ranks of al-Shabab would be minors. Syria, Congo, Yemen ... are other countries on which the focus is.
According to UNICEF, there are about 300,000 children under 18 who participate in more than 30 conflicts worldwide. A third of these children would be in Africa.
According to UNICEF, more than 4.3 million children face violence, displacement, disease and hunger in South Sudan. In 2016, the recruitment of minors by disputing forces increased, affecting 1,300 children during the year. UNICEF estimates that there are a total of 17,000 child soldiers in the country.
The head of UNICEF in Syria has said that her organization has been able to verify 460 cases related to the recruitment of child soldiers, although it is estimated that there are about 2,000 child soldiers. In total, there are about two million children living in areas of very difficult access in the country, including 200,000 who are in besieged areas.
According to the UN, more than 7,000 child soldiers recruited by armed groups in the Central African Republic have been released since militia leaders agreed with UNICEF that they would end this practice in 2015. The reintegration of these minors is complicated and expensive, but necessary.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo it is estimated that 40% of children enrolled in armed groups and used as soldiers are girls.
18 years. It is the minimum age of participation of children in armed conflicts, established by the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It remains unfulfilled.
Given this harsh reality, the NGO World Vision (together with the Dream Foundation) wanted to draw attention to a reality with "The Story of Kame", a child soldier. Through virtual reality we see in the first person Kame, who represents the life of any of these children who have abandoned their childhood to fight in an armed group.
These are the figures of child soldiers, who have been robbed of childhood. Their difficult situations derive from economic, cultural, social and political pressures, difficult to control and stop, such as wars. We hope for a better future for these children thanks to the work of the NGOs, but they alone cannot: the awareness of everyone and especially the leaders who move the threads is necessary.
