Child Soldiers

Abstract

While the total number of children recruited and used in active combat has decreased worldwide, social media images of children engaged in terrorist activities has sparked international condemnation of armed forces and groups that use children as soldiers. Girls account for a third of children associated with armed forces and groups globally. Some girls enter armed forces or groups as volunteers but many are abducted for the purposes of sexual slavery. The Paris Principles (UNICEF 2007) instigate that a gender analysis should inform all interventions with child soldiers. Many females return to their communities with children and face unique challenges. New research is exploring the intergenerational impact of child soldiering on formerly associated young women and men, their children, and their communities of return. Policy is moving from a silo approach to supporting child soldiers to one that seeks to strengthen systems that support all war‐affected children.