Child soldiers in Africa

Child Soldier of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army

Algeria: Children and youth have been involved in the violence in Algeria, participating among armed groups with and without links to the Algerian government.[27] The establishment of Legitimate Defense Groups, which were essentially private militias, in 1997 furthered the use of child soldiers, since these groups are not required to report on their activity, and the government had little control over them.[27]

Angola: Though the government of Angola denies the use of child soldiers, NGOs confirm that child soldiers are involved in both state forces and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), and later on in the Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave.[4] The practice of rusgas, forcible recruitment of youth, was practiced well into the 90s.[27] The government estimated in 2003 that 10% of the armed fighters had been under 18; however it is suspected that the number is much higher.[4] Child refugees in Namibia are believed to have been recruited to serve in the civil war.[4] As of March 2004, an estimated 16,000 child soldiers needed to be demobilized in Angola, though the civil war ended in April 2002.[4] Child soldiers in Angola were excluded from assistance in demobilizing because the government did not classify them as soldiers.[4] Those who had been child soldiers during the war were excused from compulsory military service but could still serve on a voluntary basis; indeed, some children who had come of age while in the armed forces chose to stay in the military.[4]

Benin: There is no evidence of the enlistment of child soldiers in Benin.[4]

Botswana: There is no evidence of the enlistment of child soldiers in Botswana; however there is not a formal age qualification for service.[4]

Burkina Faso: Child refugees in Burkina Faso have reportedly been recruited by armed groups in Sierra Leone and Liberia in the early 2000s.[4] However, there is no evidence of child soldier recruitment by armed groups within Burkina Faso.[27]

Burundi: Children as young as 8 years old were regularly recruited into Burundi's army, typically to serve as doria, a term meaning "ear agent" in Kirundi.[27] These soldiers were used to collect information for the army.[28] Those that were not recruited to be doria joined the Peace Guards, a government militia unit, or worse, risked being coerced or bribed to be informants for the opposition.[4] Furthermore, 94 percent of child soldiers were not paid for their service.[4] Recruitment of child soldiers escalated during peace processes as armed groups tried to strengthen themselves prior to negotiations.[4] Children from Burundi were also recruited to fight in the conflict within the Democratic Republic of Congo.[4] When detained, children who were suspected of being involved with armed groups may be tortured and held for long periods of time.[4]

Cape Verde: There is no evidence concerning child soldiers in Cape Verde. The Coalition to stop the Use of Child Soldiers points out that the high number of unregistered births may be a challenge in determining the use of child soldiers in Cape Verde.[4]

Cameroon: Though there is no evidence of the use of child soldiers in Cameroon,[4] the country is home to refugees from neighboring war-torn countries such as Chad and Central African Republic, where many child refugees and former child soldiers have received social services from NGOs.[1] There have been unconfirmed reports of kidnappings by armed groups in neighboring countries to recruit child soldiers.[1] Furthermore, the high number of refugees meant that some births were not accompanied by legal records, further exacerbating concerns about trafficking of unregistered children for the sake of army recruitment.[4]

Central African Republic: As many as 10,000 children were used by armed groups in the armed conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR) between 2012 and 2015, and as of 2016 the problem persists.[29][30][31] The mainly Muslim "Séléka" coalition of armed groups and the predominantly Christian, "Anti-Balaka" militias have both used children in this way; some were as young as eight.[31]

Several high-profile cases of child soldier recruitment into government forces occurred, which contradicted governmental claims of no child soldier recruitment.[4] These child soldiers, though few in number, sometimes attained higher ranks after their service, but were accused of perpetrating human rights abuses and looting.[4]

Although the majority of child soldiers in CAR have been demobilized as a result of the peace process, many remain involved with armed groups; poor access to education and jobs leave children with few alternatives to being soldiers.[1][31]

In 2016, a measure of stability returned to CAR and, according to the United Nations, 2,691 boys and 1,206 girls were officially separated from armed groups.[30] Despite this, the recruitment and use of children for military purposes increased by approximately 50 percent, mostly attributed to the Lord's Resistance Army.[30]

The UN estimated in 2014 that up to 6,000 children were involved in the ongoing civil war, with all parties to the conflict recruiting children.[32]

Chad: Governmental turmoil for the past several decades has further increased Chad's susceptibility to armed conflict, reducing the population of war-ready individuals. As a result, children have been used as soldiers within Chadian forces as well as other armed groups both within Chad and neighboring Sudan.[1] Since 2007, more than 800 children have been demobilized in Chad.[1] By 2017, Chad was considered by the United Nations to have put in place the necessary framework to end the use of child soldiers.[33]

Comoros: There was no large-scale recruitment of child soldiers except for in one isolated conflict.[4] In this conflict, children were recruited by armed groups that sought to secede from the state in 1997, however there is no evidence that the state forces used child soldiers. Support from the World Bank and UNDP helped reintegrate these child soldiers at the end of the crisis.[34]

Democratic Republic of Congo: From 1996 the former president Laurent Kabila used children widely for military purposes.[35] During the first and second civil conflicts, all sides involved in the war actively recruited or conscripted child soldiers, known locally as kadogos, a Swahili term meaning "little ones".[36] There were many human rights violations committed by all sides in the conflict.

Even after demobilization efforts had begun, the initiative was not taken seriously and armed groups continued to use child combatants in addition to committing violations against women and girls including violence and trafficking.[4]

The use of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been described as "endemic" by United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO),[37] and in 2011 it was estimated that there were 30,000 children currently being used in combat.[38]

Republic of Congo: Child soldiers were used in both government and Ninja militia forces and were recruited, according to some sources, with bribes.[4] The Ninjas, a branch of Ninja militia actively recruited child soldiers. By early 2004, 2,000 child soldiers that had been involved with the Ninja militia had registered for demobilization.[4]

Côte d'Ivoire: Armed groups in Sierra Leone and Liberia reportedly recruited child refugees in Côte d'Ivoire in the early 2000s.[4] Civil war erupted in late 2002, and both governmental and non-governmental forces recruited child soldiers.[4] Apart from recruitment into child combat, children were also sexually trafficked.

Djibouti: The incidence of child soldiers in Djibouti in modern history was reported by Stolwijk and Horeman to be tied to the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD), formed in 1991.[39] This group signed a peace treaty with the government in 2001, though violence briefly resurged in 2014.[40]

Egypt: Data suggests that child soldiers are not currently employed in Egypt; however it has been noted that they are utilized to conduct terror attacks.[27]

Equatorial Guinea: Data suggests that child soldiers are not currently employed in Equatorial Guinea, as there is no ongoing conflict in that state.[27]

Eritrea: Though Eritrea has been known to use child soldiers in the past, it is unclear whether child soldiers are currently being used by the country's armed forces. This is especially hard to track given inconsistent and incomplete birth records.[27]

Eswatini: There is no existing literature on child soldiers in Eswatini. The minimum age for military recruitment is 18 years old.[3]

Ethiopia: Although the minimum age for entry into the armed forces is 18 years old. War Resisters International had pointed out that there is no system of verifying age in Ethiopia and it is up to the recruitment officer to estimate the age of the youth. "Therefore, this can lead to possible errors, although it cannot be ascertained that children have been recruited as a result."[27]

Gabon: There have been no reports of child soldiers in Gabon.[4]

Gambia: There have been no reports of child soldiers in Gambia.[4]

Ghana: There have been no reports of child soldiers in Ghana.[27]

Guinea: By early 2004, there remained approximately 2,000 child soldiers in Guinea that needed to be demobilized. Neighboring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone pose a threat to the safety of refugees and civilians in Guinea, particularly children, while their conflicts were underway.[27] In the early 2000s, armed groups in these countries reportedly recruited child refugees staying in Guinea.[4]

Guinea-Bissau: Child soldiers are believed to have been involved in Guinea-Bissau's armed conflict up until it ended in 2002.[4] Though some concerns about young recruits have risen among governmental and non-governmental forces, the number of child soldiers in Guinea Bissau currently appears to be quite low, despite the state's previous armed conflicts.[27]

Kenya: There is no evidence of child soldiers employed in Kenya's armed forces or in other armed groups.[4]

Lesotho: There is no evidence of child soldiers employed in Lesotho's armed forces or in other armed groups.[4]

Liberia: All sides in the Liberian civil war used child soldiers extensively.[41] The Small Boy's unit formed an integral part of Liberian rebel forces in both Liberia and Sierra Leone's civil wars; the unit was first designated by Charles Taylor.[42] The boys were not provided with sustenance—they were expected to engage in "snake patrol," looting surrounding villages.[42] Taylor and others were later tried before the Special Court for Sierra Leone because of his involvement in recruiting child soldiers,[4] and the prevalence of child soldiers declined soon after he went out of power. Soldiers were frequently given valium before a battle, known as "bubbles" or "10-10."[42] Lack of reintegration resources prompted child soldiers in Liberia to enroll in other armed groups, seeking some form of employment.[43] By early 2004, about 21,000 child soldiers still needed to be demobilized.[4]

Libya: It is obligatory to serve in the armed forces once each citizen reaches 18 years of age. However, children receive military training from the age of 14.[27]

Madagascar: Madagascar reports no requirement for children under 18 to serve in their armed forces.[27]

Malawi: There is no use of child soldiers in Malawi. The minimum age to enter armed forces, military school, or training camps is 18.[27]

Mali: While there is no evidence of children being recruited to the armed forces. The minimum age of entry to a military school is 12 years of age.[27]

Mauritania: There is left over tension from conflict with Senegal in 1989 and in 1991, Article 18(1) of the Constitution went into effect, stating that every citizen has the responsibility to protect their country. Thus, citizens are allowed to voluntarily join the armed forces at the age of 16.[27]

Mauritius: While there is not official army in Mauritius, there are two paramilitary forces in which 18 is the minimum age of recruitment.

Morocco: Moroccan national legislation, Article 16 of the Constitution, states that citizens must be 18 years of age to be recruited into the armed forces. Citizens are more likely to volunteer in the armed forces if they originate from urban areas and have a higher quality education. There are four military schools that allow youth, including those under the age of 18, to join the armed forces with a national exam as long as they have achieved a high school diploma. All citizens enrolled then go through the same training process and are able to leave at any point in time.[27]

There is a history of armed conflict with the Polisario Front, but there is no direct evidence of children participating in the armed conflict. The conflict has since ended after the UN peace plan in 1991.[27]

Mozambique: Thousands of child soldiers were used in the past conflict between FRELIMO and RENAMO during the Mozambican Civil War. Both factions later stopped using child soldiers.[27] However, Mozambican al-Shabaab, a rebel group which launched an insurgency in Cabo Delgado in 2017 reportedly recruited thousands of child soldiers.[44]

Namibia: Namibian national legislation, Article 15-2 of the 1990 Constitution, does not allow for children, defined by the legislation as a citizen under 16 years-old, to be placed in a situation that would be deemed harmful to them. However, Namibian Defense Force Personnel Policies declare that in order to be recruited, a candidate must be between 18 and 25 years of age.[27]

Past conflict shows no evidence of using or not using child soldiers.[27]

Niger: There is no official national legislation listing recruitment requirements.[27]

Nigeria: The minimum age to volunteer into the armed forces is 18 years of age.[27]

Rwanda: National legislation states that volunteers may be recruited at the minimum age of 16, but exceptions may be made for recruits. Rwandan People's Army reported about 5,000 citizens below 18 years of age in the year 1994. That same year, the Ministry of Defence dedicated themselves to clear the armed forces of children. In 1996, the Ministry of defence claimed that all children had been demobilised from the army. However, in 1997 there were 2,134 documentations of children associated with the army and 725 children had an army number. In 1998, 2,893 children were detained as suspects of genocide. Some children were sent to the Gitagata Re-Education Centre for males below 14 years of age.[27]

Senegal: Legislation states 18 years as the age to enroll in the army, however the age has risen to 19 years in practice but not in legislation.[27]

Seychelles: As of 1998, there has been no evidence of militarization of children in Seychelles. Military service is performed on a voluntary basis, and can only be performed when one has fulfilled one year of National Youth Service, after reaching the age of 16.[27]

Sierra Leone: Existing evidence indicates that children have been viewed by military commanders as more trusting than adults, due to the fact that they are less likely to break rules; and they are also more likely to show bravery and commitment to military conduct–including principles such as sexual abstinence and refraining from using drugs.[27]

Common use of children in warfare was common for a period of time during the Sierra Leone Civil War; though sociopolitical circumstances in Sierra Leone have improved to an extent, and policies have improved in subsequence. In 1998, children under the age of 18 were not allowed to be recruited.[27] In the case of Kamajor culture, becoming a soldier was also seen as part of one's initiation into adulthood; and the Kamajors would also provide shelter and food for children who were able to survive and escape from attacks by the Revolutionary United Front.[45]

Somalia: The Convention of the Rights of the Child was signed by the Somali government in October 2015, affirming efforts to formally protect the rights of children to keep them from entering the war zone.[46] In the past, children have been incentivized through promises for monetary provisions to be given to their families, or promises to future education.[47][48]

South Africa: Current laws dictate that individuals cannot be deployed into combat before they are of 18 years of age; though there may be exceptions in the case of an "emergency."[27]

Sudan: As of January 2017, an estimated number of 335 children were reported to have been recruited amidst the affairs of the current ongoing conflict in (North) Sudan within the last five years.[49] In Sudanese culture, adulthood is believed to reached as young as 11 years of age, but on average most people reach it at the age of 15.[50]

Children have been used in the military for decades in Sudan. Many of these children are grateful for being taken into the military, for it provided them with protection and the opportunity to protect or avenge those close to them.[51]

South Sudan: In 2015, it was that 15,000 to 16,000 children may have been involved in the South Sudanese Civil War.[51] Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch, observed that many people find that "there is no cost to [the] crime" of sending out children onto the battlefield, and that many commanders have never been held accountable for the crime of leading thousands of children within their military troops.[51]

Tanzania: There is no existing literature on child soldiers in Tanzania. Government jobs, higher education and vocational training schools–however, require military service from individuals.[27]

Togo: There is no existing literature on child soldiers in Togo. There seem to be laws protecting children under the pretense that there is a minimum age requirement for military service in Togo (some sources say 18 years of age, while other sources say 20 years of age).[27]

Tunisia: There is no existing literature on child soldiers in Tunisia. Current laws seem to protect the recruitment of children for military service.[27]

Uganda: Over the past twenty years the rebel Lord's Resistance Army has abducted more than 30,000 boys and girls as soldiers or sex slaves.[52] At the height of the LRA's activity, children made up approximately 90% of its personnel.[53] As of 2018, children are no longer recruited by state- or non-state armed forces in Uganda.[54]

Zambia: There is no existing literature on child soldiers in Zambia, though laws provide a way for entities to recruit children for military purposes provided that consent is given by their parents.[27]

Zimbabwe: In 2003, the Guardian reported multiple human rights violations by the National Youth Service, a state-sponsored youth militia.[55] Originally conceived as a patriotic youth organisation, it became a paramilitary group of youth aged between 10 and 30, and was used to suppress dissent in the country.[56] The organisation was finally banned in January 2018.[57]

Many humanitarian efforts are aimed towards improving the situations of war-zoned areas, where children are more likely to be sent into battle, most commonly involving the provision of food, water, medicine and construction materials.[58] However, the concept of psychological trauma in former and current soldiers is a topic of inquiry that has only recently garnered attention—and the act of socializing children has been identified as a related topic of inquiry.[59] As a result, there has been an increase in efforts aimed towards assisting children on the mental level, in addition to the efforts aimed towards physical needs.

The Human Rights Watch has lobbied for the reintegration and rehabilitation of child soldiers worldwide, with many successful efforts in policy changes over time.[60] However, it stands to be the case that there are still organizations that deploy children for military purposes-most of which operate in ways that make them hard to identify.[61]

The role of international actors has been crucial in protecting children from recruitment into armed forces.[87] The Additional Protocols to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, added in 1977, state that 15 is the minimum age for serving in armed forces. In 1989 the United Nations passed the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Article 38 states that "state parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities." In 1999 the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child came into force—the only regional treaty that addresses the issue of child soldiers.[87] Children are defined as anyone below 18 years of age according to the charter.[87]

The UN Security Council, specifically, has identified the recruitment or use of child soldiers as one of the council's "six grave violations."[33] It has passed several resolutions regarding the use of child soldiers: 1261 (1999), 1314 (2000), 1379 (2001), 1460 (2003), 1539 (2004), 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009), 1998 (2011) and 2225 (2015). In 2002 the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict came into force which stipulates that state actors, "shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons below the age of 18 do not take a direct part in hostilities and that they are not compulsorily recruited into their armed forces".[33] Forty-eight African states have now ratified the Optional Protocol:[88]

Also by 2004, Africa had become the first continent where recruiters of child soldiers faced the consequences of international law with indictments from the Special Court of Sierra Leone, and investigations into child soldier recruitment in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo under the Rome Statute.[4][87]

The United Nations launched a campaign in 2014 called "Children, Not Soldiers" to emphasize that children should not be involved in armed conflicts. This campaign was launched in 8 countries of concern, 5 of which were African nations: Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan.[87] The campaign was considered to be particularly successful in Chad, as well as South Sudan and Somalia; since its inception, the "Children, Not Soldiers" campaign has spread to other countries of concern.[87]

• Children in the military
• Child soldiers in the Central African Republic
• Child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Child soldiers in Sierra Leone
• Child soldiers in Somalia
• Child soldiers in Sudan
• Military personnel
• Women in the military
• UNICEF
• Child Soldiers International