step five: developing a policy about child soldiers

Children and Parents Criminal Court Judges Finance and Trade Advisors	Human Rights Activists Mental Health Professionals Military Advisors

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Children and Parents

As Children and Parents, you care very deeply about each other. As Parents you have a need to care for and support your family; as Children you have an equally strong desire to help your parents and the rest of your family. With over 1 billion children living in poverty worldwide, that may well mean helping your family get the food/water, clothing, shelter, and medical supplies it needs to survive—never mind develop and thrive.

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

• Review its answers to the Military Activities Age Chart.
• Find out if the country you’re representing has signed or ratified either the Convention on the Rights of the Child or the Optional Protocol. If it has signed the OP, look through the Declarations and Reservations section to find the minimum age it has set for voluntary military recruitment.
• Read Facts About Child Soldiers.
• Read The Voices of Children at War by having members of the group chose roles and read the play aloud.
• Read the Paris Principles, especially sections:
* 1.14 and how they relate to the CRC and OP
* 6.0 which gives information about how children become soldiers

Use the information from these resources to help you answer the questions on the next two pages. Your answers to these questions will help you set policies regarding child soldiers. As you develop your policy, remember that your task is to take the perspective of Children and Parents in the country you are representing to answer the question: WHAT SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT CHILD SOLDIERS?

Group Name

1) Has the country you're representing signed or ratified the CRC?

Yes
No

2) Has it signed or ratified the OP?

Yes
No

3) If the country you're representing has not signed or ratified the OP, do you want to recommend that they do as part of your policy statement?

Yes
No

If you do, be sure to include a minimum age for voluntary recruitment in your policy.

4) What are the minimum ages for compulsory and volunteer recruitment based on the treaties the country you're representing has signed or ratified?

5) List as many reasons as you can (at least three) that explain why some children become child soldiers voluntarily and why some are forced to fight against their will.

6) If the country you are representing has signed or ratified the OP, then children under the age of 18 are not allowed to fight in combat. What kind of non-combat tasks do you think children should be allowed to do if the voluntary age of recruitment is below 18?

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