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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Human Rights Activists

In many countries, children are not registered at birth. This means that it is difficult to prove their real age, making it easier to justify their recruitment and use by military groups.

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

• Read the Paris Principles, especially sections:1.7, 3.1-3.4, 4.0, 6.7.2, 7.7
• Learn more about the issue of birth registration and children's right to an identity at UNICEF's Web site. Be sure to:
o Explore all three children’s stories
o Look at the medical, educational, and judicial point of view regarding birth registration.
• Take a look at 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.

Use this information to fill out the following form and use it while presenting your economic policy recommendation to the Legislative Assembly. As you develop your policy, remember that your task is to use a financial focus to answer the question: WHAT SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT CHILD SOLDIERS?

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