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UN Seeks to End Use of Child Soldiers - UN Security Council - Global Policy Forum UN Seeks to End Use of Child Soldiers
By Nick Wadhams
Associated Press
January 20, 2004
Efforts to crack down on the use of child soldiers have largely failed, and stricter measures are needed to pursue countries and warring factions that exploit children in conflicts, members of the U.N. Security Council said Tuesday.
In a daylong open debate, country after country came forward to lament the use of child soldiers, citing countries like Myanmar, Congo, and Liberia. A report issued by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers spelled out the worst cases, including Congo, where the government supports groups that recruit ``armies of children,'' some as young as seven years old. ``Remarkably little progress has been made in ending the use of child soldiers and some violators have even increased their recruitment of children,'' the report said.
The Security Council had unanimously passed a resolution on the issue last year, but there was widespread criticism that it didn't have strong monitoring or enforcement measures. French Ambassador Jean Marc de la Sabliere said his country had submitted a new draft resolution and discussions would begin on the document Wednesday. It would set up new measures to study how well warring parties are disarming and demobilizing child soldiers. The resolution would also take into account ``all serious violations of children's rights'' in conflict areas, including rape, kidnappings, mutilations and attacks on schools.
The United Nations estimates that some 300,000 children worldwide are being used as soldiers despite initiatives aimed at protecting them, including an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which sets an age limit of 18 to engage in hostilities.
Lists of parties that continue to exploit child soldiers include 54 countries and warring factions. U.N. Undersecretary-General Olara Otunnu urged the council to respond to the list by implementing U.S. recommendations that include sanctions against persistent violators. ``You now have before you the information ready for action,'' Otunnu said. ``At this watershed moment, I urge you to respond to the lists with concrete action--action commensurate with the gravity and scope of the violations in question.''
Among the worst violators was Liberia, with 15,000 child soldiers forced to fight for years, United Nations Children's Fund executive director Carol Bellamy said. There were reports that children fleeing with their families to neighboring Sierra Leone were seized and taken to military bases, and then sent to the front lines if their parents could not buy them back. ``Now I think that there's a palpable sense that the council sees this as a critical moment, that they have to take action,'' said Kathleen Hunt, of Care International. ``The issue is so grotesque and deplorable that many people are personally committed to doing something about this.''
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