Caring for Kaela participates during Chad's Regional Conference on Ending the Recruitment of Child Soldiers

June 2010: Marking the culmination of a three-day Conference, the “N'Djamena Declaration” (Version française) was adopted on June 9th by six governments - Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), Niger, Nigeria and Sudan.

Organized in the Chadian capital by the Government and UNICEF, the Conference brought together government representatives, UN officials, experts and former child soldiers to help find ways to end  the recruitment of children in armed forces.

The Declaration outlines the region's commitment to protecting children in line with global standards, such as the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, which Chad signed and ratified.

The Declaration also seeks to enhance educational and employment opportunities for children once they leave armed groups. In addition, it establishes a committee to monitor the progress of the implementation of the Declaration.

Stop Recruiting Child Soldiers (Video) - IN FRENCH

Lyrics by: Sultan

May 2009: Statement on Election of U.S. to U.N. Human Rights Council

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
May 12, 2009

STATEMENT BY IAN KELLY, SPOKESMAN

Election of the United States to the Human Rights Council

Today the United Nations General Assembly elected the United States to a three-year term on the UN Human Rights Council. The promotion and protection of human rights is a fundamental value for our own society and, as such, an integral element of the Obama Administration’s foreign policy. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice are pleased with the outcome of the election and eager to take up the important work of the Council.

When the United Nations was formed, it sent a powerful and historic message by placing human rights at the very core of its charter. To fulfill that mission, we strongly believe that all member states must work to ensure that the United Nations offers a credible, balanced and effective forum for advancing human rights.

The United States sought a seat on the UN Human Rights Council at this time to underscore our commitment to human rights and to join the efforts of all those nations seeking to make the Council a body that fulfills its promise. We deeply appreciate the support of all UN member states that endorsed our bid. We pledge to work closely with the international community to ensure that together we address the pressing human rights concerns of our time.

United States: Bush signs Law on Child Soldiers measure to prosecute Recruiters abroad puts Commanders on notice

Source: mediaforfreedom.com

3 October 2008 (NEW YORK): Under a new law (S.2135) signed today by US President George W. Bush, leaders of military forces and armed groups who have recruited child soldiers may be arrested and prosecuted in the United States, Human Rights Watch said today. The law could apply to leaders of dozens of forces that have recruited and used child soldiers in over 20 armed conflict.

The Child Soldiers Accountability Act makes it a federal crime to recruit knowingly or to use soldiers under the age of 15 and permits the United States to prosecute any individual on US soil for the offense, even if the children were recruited or served as soldiers outside the United States. The law imposes penalties of up to 20 years, or up to life in prison if their action resulted in the child’s death. It also allows the United States to deport or deny entry to individuals who have knowingly recruited children as soldiers... Read more

Chad: U.N. should Urge Government to free Child Soldiers

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (Washington, DC) PRESS RELEASE, 3 September 2008: The Security Council working group on children and armed conflict should urge Chad to take measurable, concrete steps to demobilize children from its armed forces and stop continued recruitment, Human Rights Watch said in a letter today.

On September 5, 2008, the working group will discuss violations of children's rights in Chad. The working group asked Chad to take steps to bring an end to the recruitment and use of child soldiers a year earlier, in September 2007, but government efforts to comply have been largely ineffective. 

"Improving child protection in Chad depends on concrete actions on the ground, beginning with the government's implementation of the recommendations made by the Security Council," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The Security Council should demand that the Chadian government cease child recruitment and release children from the ranks of the armed forces."

Far from demobilizing children, the government continues to recruit them. In June 2008, a Human Rights Watch fact-finding mission found recruitment of children into the Chadian National Army (Armée Nationale Tchadienne, or ANT) to be routine in displaced persons sites in eastern Chad, with instances of forced recruitment documented in Gouroukoun camp in the wake of a February, 2008 Chadian rebel invasion. Children in Sudanese refugee camps in eastern Chad are also subject to recruitment, primarily by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a Sudanese rebel group that receives backing from the Chadian government.

"We expect to see a new round of fighting later this year, and children are sure to be on the front lines," said Gagnon. "What is far less certain is how many child soldiers will die in combat before peace is reached Chad, and how many have already lost their lives."

Children are main Victims of Violence in Chad, Ban says in new Report

U.N. NEWS CENTER, 12 August 2008: Children continue to be the primary victims of the conflict in Chad, whether they are recruited as soldiers, killed or hurt by landmines or denied humanitarian access, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes in a report (S/2008/532) made public today... Read more

Chad and CAR: UN Envoy assesses impact of war in children

U.N. News Service (New York) 27 May 2008: The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict is visiting Chad and Central African Republic (CAR) to see first-hand the situation of war-impacted children in the two countries.

In her mission from 26-31 May at the invitation of the Governments of the two nations, Radhika Coomaraswamy will look into child recruitment by State and non-State actors.

She also intends to focus on key issues including the cross-border recruitment of children; the safety of humanitarian workers; the security of camps for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs); the increase of rapes and other sexual violence; and the culture of impunity that is widespread in the region.

While in the two countries, Ms. Coomaraswamy plans to meet with Government officials, UN country teams, civil society, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and children affected by conflict.

International Efforts Still Failing Child Soldiers

New Global Survey Finds Children in Fewer Conflicts but Still Fighting

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH -  20 May 2008 (NEW YORK): Despite progress, efforts to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers are too little and too late for many children, according to the 2008 Child Soldiers Global Report, launched today by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.The report details how a near global consensus that children should not be used as soldiers, and strenuous international efforts – with the UN at the forefront – to halt the phenomenon, have failed to protect tens of thousands of children from war. When armed conflict exists, children will almost inevitably become involved as soldiers.

The report documents military recruitment legislation, policy and practice in more than 190 countries worldwide – in conflict and in peacetime armies – as well as child soldier use by non-state armed groups.

“The international community’s commitment to ending the global scourge of child soldiering cannot be doubted, but existing efforts are falling short,” said Dr. Victoria Forbes Adam, director of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. “Laws, policies and practices must now be translated into real change to keep children out of armed conflict once and for all” ... Read more

CHAD: Child Soldiers forcibly mobilized not demobilized

IRIN - December 26, 2007 (N'DJAMENA) - A UN programme to demobilise hundreds of child soldiers in Chad has been on hold since November following the resurgence of fighting between the army and rebel groups in the east. "The process is on standby," head of protection programmes with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Chad, Jean Francois Basse, told IRIN. "It's now all just a big mess.

"UNICEF began helping hundreds of child soldiers to demobilise after signing an agreement with the government in May 2007. But in recent months, soldiers have reportedly been recruiting people, including children, by force. The Chadian human rights group Human Rights Without Borders (DHSF) says it has received reports since November of army units raiding private homes and taking away children.

"Many youth being made to join the army are under-age," according to Deuzoumbe Daniel Passalet, head of DHSF. New recruits are given at most 10 days' training and then sent to the front, Duezoumbe said. "We have a report of a child being killed by shooting himself with his own gun because he didn't have proper training in how to use it. "With both the army and rebels suffering heavy losses in recent fighting, UNICEF says that the reports are plausible. The Chadian military has been seen picking up young men in towns and villages around the country with several raids in the capital N'djamena in public places where youth gather, such as cinemas, according to several sources, including an eyewitness who spoke to IRIN. Government spokesperson Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor responded to the allegations earlier in December saying that if troops are carrying out such raids they are not authorised to do so. Human Rights Watch stated in a July report that the Chadian army and its allied paramilitary forces are keeping thousands of child soldiers out of demobilization efforts, despite the government's promises to release underage fighters.