A child soldier in LiberiaThanks for all of you who were listening tonight on my episode about child soldiers.
I have put a bit of info on them below and some organizations dedicated to making a difference.
- reyn
"any person under the age 18 years of age who forms part of an armed force in any capacity and those accompanying such groups, other than purely as family members.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in 2000 when addressing the UN Security Council
But you can also add to the definition children who are:
Cooks and cleaners
Porters
Sexual slaves and forced wives
Spies and reconnaissance agents
Human shields
Slaves related to supporting combat in indirect ways
There are no perfect estimates on the amount of child soldiers worldwide, but the number is between 200,000 and 300,000.
If want to help, there a number of great organizations you can work with or donate to:
UNICEF - http://www.unicef.org
Warchild International - http://www.warchild.org
Invisible Children - http://www.invisibilechildren.com
Peace For All International - http://www.peaceforallinternational.org
For more information on child soldiers, please visit:
http://www.child-soldiers.org - The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
This is an excellent example of how children are brainwashed into being soldiers from the movie Blood Diamond
Posts
