That means the worlds newest nation could be removed from a list of countries. Sudan united nations office of the special representative. On january 24, 2018, the wilson center africa program hosted an event titled former child soldier reintegration in uganda. Nov, 2015 by 2005, when a peace agreement was signed by the central government and the rebel sudan peoples liberation army, the bulk of southern sudans child soldiers, estimated at more than 10,000. This week, the army of south sudan signed a deal with the united nations to release all remaining child soldiers. The much publicized figure of the child soldier in africa is placed in context in this historiographical survey. Jun 26, 2018 the recruitment of child soldiers in syria. Furthermore, rosen offers an illuminating history of how human rights organizations drew upon these sentiments to create the very term child soldier, which they presented as the embodiment of wars human cost. James, baba and hundreds of others walked out of the. Child soldiers in africa and their recruitment essay blender. The recruitment of children under the age of 18 by armed groups has been rising in syria as the war continues. Official reports show that the youngest soldiers are only 11 years of age and that girl soldiers are often the victims of sexual abuse against which they receive no protection. When children are given a platform they can advocate for their own rights in participation, protection, development, and sustainability. Based on the statistics developed by the united nations in the year 20, eight government armies had made the commitment to stop the process of child recruitment for the use of warfare.
On august 19, 2016, unicef announced that 650 children had been recruited into south sudans current conflict in 2016 alone. New york south sudanese leaders should help end widespread use of child soldiers by suspending and investigating commanders who have recruited children, human rights watch said in a report released today. Other children abducted in war are sold into physical slavery or prostitution where. The sudan peoples liberation army spla has established a child protection unit to fulfil the pledge. The recruitment and use of child soldiers has taken place within the context of a war in which both government sudan peoples liberation army spla troops and sudan peoples liberation army. Child soldiers are brutalized through being forced to kill and inflict violence on others, leading them to be both victims and perpetrators at the same time. Audiobook excerpt narrated by ademola adeyemo created by macmillan audio listen to the. Understanding the recruitment of child soldiers in africa. In the early 20th century, women in the united states and the uk started petitioning their governments to end child labor. South sudan working group on children and armed conflict. When we hear the term child soldiers, most americans imagine innocent victims roped into bloody conflicts in distant wartorn lands like sudan and sierra leone. According to unicef, there are about 6,000 child soldiers in darfur alone. Some of the regions where child soldiers have become the norm rather than the exception include chad, somalia, sudan, and the central african republic. By 2005, when a peace agreement was signed by the central government and the rebel sudan peoples liberation army, the bulk of southern sudans child soldiers, estimated at.
The army in southern sudan has pledged to demobilise all child soldiers by the end of the year. Children, not soldiers united nations office of the. Now that war has broken out in south sudan, it has been reported that child soldiers are once again being used in armed conflict. For the purposes of this backgrounder, a child soldier is defined as a person under a prescribed age see box on page 2 who is a member, or attached to, a countrys armed forces or any other regular or irregular armed force or group, whether or not he or she is involved in armed conflict. This is a human rights crisis of epic proportion in. In february 2018, world vision accepted the first 250 of nearly 700 child soldiers and other children who had associated with armed groups in south sudan into a program to ease their transition to civilian life.
The name sudan derives from the arabic expression bilad alsudan land of the blacks, by which medieval arab geographers referred to the settled african countries that began at the southern edge of the sahara. In the early 1980s, the sudan peoples liberation army spla recruited and trained boys as young as 12. Sudan, like south sudan, has recruited many children to its armed forces. Mlambo and others published armed conflict and the increasing use of child soldiers in the central african republic, democratic republic of congo, and south sudan. The child soldier of today is enmeshed in a triad of anarchic civil war, lightweight weaponry, and drug or alcohol. Recruitment of child soldiers still rising in south sudan. For eight years beginning in 1994, sudan provided the lra sanctuaryin retaliation for musevenis backing a sudanese christian rebel group, the sudan peoples liberation army, which was. The second sudanese civil war was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central sudanese government and the sudan peoples liberation army.
Filled with shocking historical accounts and factsand revealing the reasons why one cannot spell infantry without infant child. Yet our own history is filled with examples of children involved in warfarefrom adolescent prisoner of war andrew jackson to civil. Republic of sudan 11 september 2012 ii the main text of this coi report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 1 august 2012. The psychological consequences of becoming a child soldiers. Issues that will be covered include the facts surrounding the phenomenon, its history, and the reasons for recruiting children into armed conflict.
Conflict in south sudan and the challenges ahead congressional research service 1 background south sudan emerged in 2011 as the worlds newest country, and one of its least developed. We know that children should not be soldiers, but that doesnt mean that we should not interrogate the consequences of advocacy efforts. The spla in opposition signed an action plan with the united nations to end and prevent the recruitment and use of childrenin december 2015. Governments which used child soldiers in armed conflict were burundi, drc, cote divoire, guinea, liberia, myanmar, rwanda, sudan, uganda and the united states of america. Although it originated in southern sudan, the civil war spread to the nuba mountains and the blue nile.
The number of governments who have not committed to removing child soldiers from government military forces. In that same year, 652 children died and 647 were maimed, and these numbers are rapidly rising. Caseworkers help them recover from the violence theyve seen and experienced, so they can peacefully rejoin their families and. Throughout history and in many cultures, children have been involved in military campaigns. After almost 40 years of war between the sudan government and southern insurgents, southern sudanese voted in a january 2011 referendum to secede from sudan. Jul 24, 2017 between 2015 and last year, unicef negotiated the release of 1,900 child soldiers in south sudan, one of the largest such demobilisations ever. Pdf version i still dream about the boy from my village who i killed. It was largely a continuation of the first sudanese civil war of 1955 to 1972.
Pdf child soldiers and youth citizens in south sudans. South sudan thought it solved its child soldier problem. The facts about child soldiers united states department. In 2016 alone, 851 children were recruited to be child soldiers in syria.
For more than a century, sudanfirst as a colonial holding, then as an independent countryincluded its neighbour south sudan. Pdf armed conflict and the increasing use of child soldiers. Using children as soldiers is not only sadistic, it is a crime, a crime that not only endangers children, but robs them of their childhood. Oct 27, 2014 using children as soldiers is not only sadistic, it is a crime, a crime that not only endangers children, but robs them of their childhood. In striving to enrich the lives of all readers, teachingbooks supports the first amendment and celebrates the right to read. During the 19832005 northsouth war in sudan, thousands of child soldiers were used by southern rebel groups including the spla that became south sudans official military after the 2005 peace. South sudans exploitation of child soldiers youtube.
Six countries have committed to the united nations an end to child soldier recruitment since 2012. John pearn, in international encyclopedia of public health second edition, 2017. The children of south sudan continue to suffer the consequences of a brutal conflict. This research paper seeks to investigate the phenomenon of child soldiers in africa. Chidi blydenrowe, former director for east africa at the office of the secretary of defense and former director of the africa program at the center for civilians in conflict. The history of using child soldiers dates back to 1986, when museveni used child soldiers to help overthrow the second obote government. The involvement of children in armed conflict is something that no parent can desire. Mary, a 16yearold demobilized child soldier forced to join an armed rebel group in central africa. I see him in my dreams, and he is talking to me, saying i killed him for nothing, and i am crying. South sudan child soldiers although exact figures are hard to determine because of insecurity, unicef estimates that 9,000 children in south sudan have been recruited into armed forces and groups by both sides in the conflict. Both government and nonstate forces in developed and developing countries are culpable.
According to the child soldiers global report 2004, governments which used child soldiers in armed conflict between 2001 and 2004 were burundi, democratic republic of the congo drc, chad, cote divoire, guinea, liberia, myanmar, rwanda, sudan, uganda and the united states of america. No end to forced mobilisation as civil war enters fifth year, having killed thousands and displaced millions in african country. Child soldiers comprise a new class of combatants distinct from those of immature years who have, since the times of ancient greece, served in uniform as an adjunct to former armies and navies. South sudans red army comes of age global development. They believed that a childhood is a fundamental human right. May 31, 2017 the number of governments who have not committed to removing child soldiers from government military forces. Read child soldiers still being recruited in south sudan at bbc news. That program was underway with 280 child soldiers between the age of 10 and 18 registered and demobilised and living in a transit centre in thonyor, near ler, western upper nile, southern sudan, when in may 1999 fighting broke out between the ssdf and another governmentcontrolled militia. Human rights watch interviewed more than two dozen current and former child soldiers from the former western equatoria and unity states in south sudan in november and december 2017. Aug 31, 2010 the army in southern sudan has pledged to demobilise all child soldiers by the end of the year. After briefly presenting the notions of child soldier, abuse in armed contexts, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other mental illnesses, this article will analyze the impact that war traumas and.
Today there are child soldiers in many nations around the world, including the central african republic, chad, somalia, uganda, myanmar burma sudan, iraq, colombia and sri lanka. The recruiters of child soldiers should be held accountable by international as well as national agencies. It lasted for 22 years and is one of the longest civil wars on record. Children, not soldiers united nations office of the special. Joseph kony eventually created the lords resistance army lra and began kidnapping children to use them as soldiers as early as 1987. Child soldiers in sudans conflict zones what happened the united nations special representative for children and armed conflict in sudan, in an april report, estimates that 335 children were recruited over the last five years by armed groups in sudan s conflict zones in darfur and the two areas. In march 2016, the government of sudan signed an action plan with the united nations to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in the national security forces. Rehabilitation of child soldiers essay example graduateway. Kimmel and roby 2007 describe the use of child soldiers as a form of institutionalized child abuse.
The recruitment of child soldiers breaks several human rights laws. Children in the military are children defined by the convention on the rights of the child as people under the age of 18 who are associated with military organisations, such as state armed forces and nonstate armed groups. Individuals responsible for the unlawful recruitment or use of child soldiers for armed groups or forces may be subject to sanction under u. Jordan january 2017 6 seven jordanian troops were killed and more than wounded. Lessons learned from africa and the way forward, featuring ms. Child soldiers according to rory mungoven, spokesman for the coalition to stop the use of child soldiers, sudan has one of the worst child soldier problems in the world. Contents preface reports on sudan published or accessed between 2 august 2012 and 11 september 2012 useful sources for further information. South sudans army promises to release child soldiers. The psychological consequences of becoming a child. Yet our own history is filled with examples of children involved in warfarefrom adolescent prisoner of war andrew jackson to civil war drummer boyswho were once viewed as. For example, the lords resistance army lra, which abducted many children and fought against the government of uganda, maintained military camps in southern sudan, where its. Mar 16, 2012 this week, the army of south sudan signed a deal with the united nations to release all remaining child soldiers. The use of child soldiers is one of the more horrific moments in the history of south sudans creation, but the former red army members who. Unicef sudan when children are given a platform they can advocate for their own rights in participation, protection, development, and sustainability.
The phenomenon of child soldiers 1767 words 123 help me. The government of south sudan launched the campaign children, not soldiers nationally on 29 october 2014. Children in south sudan struggle within conflict on 9 july 2011, south sudan, officially known as the republic of south sudan, seceded from the republic of sudan to become an independent nation and africas fiftyfifth country. Governmentbacked paramilitaries and militias, were using under18s across the world, including in colombia, somalia, sudan and zimbabwe. With the end of the civil war, an interim peace period was established which resulted in the release of thousands of child soldiers. Although most child soldiers are teenagers, the recruits also include children as young as six or seven years of age. Recruitment and use of child soldiers in south sudan hrw. That means the worlds newest nation could be removed from a. Dealing with the highly complex issue of recruitment and the reintegration of child soldiers and, possibly, even the future prevention of their employment is a very challenging problem with significant consequences and impacts.