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Child Soldiers

July 2005

Child Soldiers: Children Deprived of Parental Care, A Submission by Friends World Committee for Consultation to the Committee on the Rights of the Child Day of General Discussion on "Children without parental care"

This submission discusses how children without parental care are most vulnerable to becoming child soldiers, not only in times of armed conflict, but also in peacetime. It particularly mentions children under 18 years of age in State institutions, who may be recruited into Government armed forces. The submission includes recommendations for the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

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April 2004

Why Adolescents Volunteer: Oral Statement to UN Commission on Human Rights

An oral statement by Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), to the 60th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. It highlights the importance of understanding the reasons for which young people volunteer for armed forces and armed groups, citing the importance of such understanding for demobilisation and long-term re-integration efforts.

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December 2003

"Child Soldiers: Why Adolescents Volunteer": Written Statement to UN Commission on Human Rights

A written submission by Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), to the 60th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. It highlights the importance of understanding the reasons for which young people volunteer for armed forces and armed groups, citing the importance of such understanding for demobilizaton and long-term reintegreation efforts.

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November 2003

Paper on Adolescent Volunteers given at the Spanish Red Cross Conference, Valencia, Spain

This presentation highlights five major (but not exclusive) factors leading youngsters to join armed forces or armed groups without being coerced. These are: war, poverty, education, employment and family. It is important to understand these factors in efforts to demobilize/reintegrate former child soldiers.

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April 2003

"Child Soldiers": Oral Statement to the 59th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights

This statement deals with the importance of understanding the specific experiences and needs of girl soldiers, and take these into account in policy and programme formulation.

See also The Voices of Girl Child Soldiers and Girl Soldiers: Challenging the assumptions.

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January 2003

Former Child Soldiers as Refugees in Germany

Published jointly with Terre des hommes Germany, this research concerns the experiences and circumstances of former child soldiers seeking asylum in Germany. It focuses on some of the problems these extremely vulnerable young persons face, and attempts to assess their needs. The study highlights challenges imposed by the asylum process, providing insights and recommendations that will be useful in other national contexts. The English edition, unlike the original German version, does not include detailed discussion on German asylum law and process, as it is intended for a broader audience.

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January 2003

The Voices of Girl Child Soldiers

This set of publications focuses on the experiences of girl children who have been soldiers. It discusses the different circumstances under which different girls became child soldiers, the range of experiences during the period during which they were part of a fighting force, and their futures once they are no longer part of the fighting force.

In-depth interviews with former girl child soldiers were carried out in Angola, Colombia, Philippines and Sri Lanka.

See also: oral statement to 59th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, and Girl Soldiers: Challenging the Assumptions.

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November 2002

Girl Soldiers: Challenging the Assumptions

This paper is based on QUNO’s research in The Voices of Girl Child Soldiers. It highlights those aspects of the research that add new dimensions and greater specificity to the problem of girl child soldiers, with implications for policy and programmatic issues.

See also this oral statement to the 59th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

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November 2002

Juvenile Justice, Counter-terrorism and Children

This document deals with an aspect of the problem of child participation in armed conflict that is little explored and not well understood - how child participants in armed conflict, internal violence and other militarized situations are/should be treated by the justice system and by counter-terrorism legislation.

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Young Soldiers: Why they choose to fight

This publication seeks to better understand the realities facing boys and girls who “volunteer” for participation in armed conflict, highlighting personal, socio-economic and political factors that motivate their decisions to participate. It is based on in-depth interviews with young soldiers and ex-soldiers from around the world, including the conflict situations in Afghanistan, Colombia, the Congo, Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

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  • an oral statement submitted to the 60th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights,
  • a written statement submitted to the 60th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, and
  • This paper presented at a conference of the Spanish Red Cross

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