An estimated 250,000 children are exploited as child soldiers each day around the world. Boys and girls are often forcibly recruited by both government armed forces and armed groups and made to serve as combatants, porters, spies, and sex slaves. The document calls on restricting US military assistance to governments involved in child soldiering and expanding efforts to help remove and rehabilitate child soldiers globally. It provides examples of countries where child soldiers have been active, including the DRC, Sudan, Uganda, and Somalia.

1. ©APGraphicsBank

2. An estimated 250,000 child soldiers are exploited each day in armed conflict around the world. Boy soldiers fighting in the oil fields of southern Sudan. © Reuters

3. Sudan, © SOS Children's’ Villages -USA Boys and girls are recruited, often forcibly, into both government armed forces and armed groups. They can serve as combatants, porters, spies, human mine detectors, and sex slaves.

6. Cote D’Ivoire Democratic Republic of Congo Burundi Chad Sudan Uganda Sri Lanka Burma (Myanmar) Colombia Areas where child soldiers were active during 2006 Governments that received US military assistance during 2006 Source: US Department of State

7. These girls were abducted by the LRA. Reports indicate that many released LRA abductees have been subsequently recruited into the Local Defense Units . © Sven Torfinn/IRIN Source: US Department of State

8. These boys have been displaced due to the violence of the conflict between the Tamil Tigers and government forces. Source: US Department of State © Amnesty International

9. This child soldier, 14, is from the Autodefensas Unidas De Colombia (United Self-Defense Groups of Colombia) or AUC- a government supported militia in Columbia. © Marcelo Salinas.

10. Young militia fighters, DRC, 2006. © Tiggy Ridley/IRIN Child soldiers have fought with armed groups on all sides of this conflict. Recent reports indicate that child combatants have been forced by the government army to recruit other children at gunpoint. Source: US Department of State

13. Liberia © UN and Eric Kanalstein "I was playing football . . . [when] Government soldiers came. . . We were tied and put in a truck. I was taught how to shoot an AK 47. I fired a gun but I am not sure if I hit anyone.” - A 12-year-old boy, R.J., abducted by government forces in Liberia [not pictured]. AI report, Liberia: The Promise of Peace for 21,000 Child Soldiers

17. Liberia, © UN and Eric Kanalstein “ One 21-year-old boy came to take me . . .to be his ‘wife’. I was forced to join him to save my life. I didn’t receive any training but I was given a gun to fight . . . my stomach was getting big so I fled to Monrovia. . . I went home and had my baby. “ - B.D., 17 when captured by a LURD, rebel soldier [not pictured] AI Report, Liberia: The promises of peace for 21,000 child soldiers

18. “ The International Criminal Court is dealing with the worst crimes in the world . . . but in the first case we are highlighting child soldiers. Why? Because it is a very serious crime affecting the future of mankind. No future of our kids is forced to be soldiers-killers no future for us.” - Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court UN Photo #UNE2523 by Eskinder Debebe

20. Child soldiers in the DRC burn their uniforms to mark the end of their time in the military. © Amnesty International

21. Mohammad, 18, a former child soldier in Afghanistan. He is participating in the UNICEF-supported demobilization program. © UNICEF/HQ04-0654/Kate Brooks

22. Former Maoists fighters. © Naresh Newar/IRIN, Despite a peace agreement in Nepal that forbids the use of child soldiers by either the government or the rebels, the Maoists have continued large scale recruitment of children. Source: US Department of State

23. - Margaret, 15, [pictured] was abducted by the LRA in Northern Uganda in 2003. She is now undergoing rehabilitation. “ If I get home, I need to pray a lot and go to school.” © UNICEF/HQ04-1159/Roger LeMoyne

25. This photo exhibit / slideshow may only be used in its current form for Amnesty International campaigning. Permission must be granted to change the content or publish any of the photos or text in any form, including the Internet. If you have any questions or would like assistance in showing the photo exhibit, please email Brigid at [email_address] or 202 544-0200 ext. 528.