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Child soldiers overview
1. Child Soldiers Facts
• 300,000 child soldiers are fighting around the world
and every year the number grows as more children are
recruited for use in active combat
• Both boys and girls may be sent to the front line of
combat or into minefields ahead of older troops
• Some have been used for suicide missions or forced to
commit atrocities against their own families and
neighbors
• Others serve as porters, cooks, guards, servants,
messengers, or spies
• An AK-47 assault rifle costs as little as the price of a
chicken in Uganda or a bag of maize in Mozambique
• The use of children to fight adults' wars is not limited to
a single country or continent, but has become a
worldwide problem
• The problem is most critical in Africa and Asia
2. Problem and Scope
The Problem
• Because of their emotional and physical immaturity, children are
easy to manipulate and can be drawn into violence that they are too
young to resist, or understand.
• Children are killed and wounded at far higher rates than their adult
comrades. Those who survive often suffer trauma, injury, abuse,
and psychological scarring from the violence and brutality they
experience. Some are rejected by their families and communities.
Most lose the opportunity to acquire an education, job skills, or any
hope for the future.
The Scope
• The use of children to fight adults' wars is not limited to a single
country or continent, but has become a worldwide problem. Mostly
in Africa and Asia, though children are also used as soldiers by
governments and armed groups in many countries in the Americas,
Europe, and the Middle East. However, the problem is not limited to
developing countries. Industrialized countries facing personnel
shortfalls have also increased efforts to attract young recruits.