UN working group fails to agree raising minimum age of child soldiers

A working group of the UN Commission on Human Rights on the involvement of children in armed conflict failed in Geneva last week to reach consensus on raising the minimum recruitment age of soldiers to 18 years. Sources at the talks told IRIN the session was more procedural than substantive and adjourned after four hours. The working group is to reconvene in January next year to give countries more time to consult over the drafting of the language for an Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

According to the Scandanavian NGO Radda Barnen, more than 300,000 children under 18 years old are fighting in 36 armed conflicts around the world, 12 of which are in Africa. While many are lawfully recruited, others are kidnapped or coerced into service and suffer under brutal conditions. Britain, which recruits at 16 years, and the United States, have resisted raising the minimum age, the sources said. “We believe the Protocol is essential,” a UNICEF official told IRIN. “We must continue to work towards pulling together the global consensus on this.”