Recruitment Of Child Soldiers Is On The Rise Globally

On December 31, 2024, the United Nations warned that armed groups have increased recruitment and use of children for armed conflict purposes, including in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Lake Chad basin, Mozambique, the Sahel, Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Haiti. As reported, most of the impacted children were abducted and forcibly recruited. Most of these children are girls who have suffered rape and sexual violence and have been bought, sold and trafficked. It is estimated that there are tens of thousands of children in armed groups around the world, however, the exact numbers are difficult to ascertain.

For example, in the DRC, the U.N. Group of Experts on the DRC have been warning that child recruitment and use had reached alarming levels by early 2024 due to the escalation of the conflict in the country. Among those responsible are Mouvement du 23 mars (M23), Rwanda Defense Force (RDF), and armed groups of the Wazalendo coalition. M23 is said to have been systematically abducting men, adolescents and children in the conquered territories with “Hundreds of men and boys from the age of 10 to 12 [being] abducted in rural areas while working in the fields, individually or in large groups.” M23 is also reported to have “recruited” in refugee camps in Rwanda and Uganda, primarily targeting Congolese refugees. This recruitment includes false promises of employment and financial benefits.

The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict reported that “The increase in the use of military force by governments and regimes has wreaked havoc on children. Killing and maiming of children and attacks on schools and hospitals are gearing to become – the two most prevalent violations against children in situations of armed conflict in 2024. Air strikes, rockets, missiles, and targeted attacks with the widespread use of explosive weapons in heavily populated areas, continued to wreak havoc in situations such as Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Gaza, the Sudan, Lebanon, Myanmar and Ukraine.”

As the United Nations noted, in 2024, children have become the image of war. This is despite landmark treaties, such as the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, and its Optional Protocol to prohibit the recruitment and use as soldiers of all children under eighteen years of age, which inspired governments to pass laws protecting children from violence and exploitation. 2024 marked the 35th anniversary of the commitment to protect children from being recruited as soldiers. However, armed groups have increased the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, commented: “The cries of these children echo across conflict zones, but far too often, the world remains silent. Their pain is a stain on our collective conscience. We must do better—because every moment we delay, another child becomes just another number in the long list of conflict-related casualties and violations in the children and armed conflict reports.”

On January 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of State published a list of 17 countries that recruit or use child soldiers. The list includes Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Libya, Mali, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Turkiye, Venezuela and Yemen. Pursuant to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act, governments identified on the list are subject to restrictions on some kinds of security assistance, such as Foreign Military Financing, International Military Education and Training, and commercial licensing of military equipment.

These are important steps that can help to limit the resources of the governments using child soldiers. However, the prevalence and scale of the use of child soldiers globally require comprehensive responses to reverse the current trend, including implementing International Humanitarian Law, and Human Rights Law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, granting safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to children, strictly enforcing the prohibition of the military use of schools and the need to prohibit and eliminate anti-personnel landmines, among others.

As armed groups continue to increase the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict globally, more needs to be done to engage all means available to address the issue. No stone should be left unturned when it comes to protecting children from such abuses.