DATA BRIEFS: (continued) No Place for Children Some 300,000 children and young people are estimated to be involved in wars at present, killing and dying for causes that they may barely understand. The actual numbers and age range of these children are unknown since such data is either not kept or not disclosed by the governments or armed groups in conflict situations. What is clear is that, despite the large and growing body of opinion that combat is no place for children of any age, children continue to be sacrificed in this way. Some data do exist on a far less horrific but nevertheless disturbing phenomenon related to youth involvement in the military. Surveys show that young volunteers below the age of 18 are accepted into the state armed forces or paramilitary groups in at least 62 countries. The data, even though limited, show that some form of military training or service for children is quite widely accepted. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines a child as a person below the age of 18, makes an exception for military service, citing 15 as the minimum permissible age. However, the Convention goes on to recommend that those States that do permit children below 18 to serve should make it a priority to recruit those closer to 18. Now, an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, proposed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, is being drafted to raise the minimum age of military service from 15 to 18 years. Having 15 as the minimum age of recruitment not only exposes children to the horrors of war but also jeopardizes those younger than 15, particularly in countries where birth registration — and thus official proof of age - is not universal.
Official minimums
Unofficial minimums
Note: in both lists, children are volunteers unless otherwise indicated. Lists are not comprehensive
Previous | Contents | Continue
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||