step five: developing a policy about child soldiers

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Military Advisors

Before developing a policy for child soldiers, your group needs to:

• Find out how the country you're representing allocates funds for its military, education, and health programmes. This information can be found in the "Info by Country" section of UNICEF's Web site. Note: The "Economics" chart is located within each country's “Statistics” section.
• Read the Paris Principles, especially sections:6.22.1, 7.0-7.24, 8.0-8.9

Use the information from this resource to fill out the following form and use it while presenting your policy recommendation to the Legislative Assembly. As you develop your policy, remember that your task as Military Advisors is to formulate military policies in the country you are representing in order to answer the question: WHAT SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT CHILD SOLDIERS?

Group Name:

1) Keeping in mind that the Paris Principles are not legally binding, what aspects (if any) of the Principles does your group agree with? Which ones (if any) does it not agree with?

2) How would you address those aspects of the Paris Principles with which your group agrees, in your policy recommendations for child soldiers?

3) How should children who have fought in rebel groups be treated by the judicial system?

4) How does the country you are representing allocate its funds for military, education and health services?

5) Which area gets the most funds? Which gets the least? What does this say about the country's priorities?

6) Keeping in mind your group's commitment to a strong and effective military and the nature of the current conflict, what changes are needed in the way funds are allocated in these three areas in order to support your policy recommendations?

You are now ready to create your policy recommendations as Military Advisors. Using the questions on the past two pages as your guide, gather your recommendations to create a succinct declaration on the WebQuest's BIG QUESTION, "What should be done about child soldiers?"

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Illustration: Felicity O. Yost. Source: Marie, In the Shadow of the Lion, by Jerry Piasecki. © United Nations, 2001