The Issue: Child Soldiers
The Issue:
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Child soldiers are children (anyone under 18 years of age, as defined by UNICEF) who are forced to fight in combat, or participate in other military activities.
Key Points about Child Soldiers:
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Why Is This A Problem?
The recruitment of children as soldiers is a severe problem because thousands of children are being forced to serve, and being severely injured or killed in their work. It is urgent that action is taken, because the problem isn't stopping, and continues to be a worldwide issue. |
Who is Affected By This?
The children being recruited are most affected by this issue, however, the government and government opposition groups using the children are constant opposition , because they don't want to lose the free labor. |
Solutions
After extensive research and multiple discussions, the children against child soldiers have come up with four possible solutions to the issue, along with their positive and negative aspects:
1. International military intervention: By using international military intervention we can help stop the recuiting of child soldiers at the source. Almost all child soldiers are brought into combat in countries currently in war. The international military can help stop the wars that child soldiers are brought into, and fight against the people who use child soldiers. The international military can combat groups when needed or forcefully keep peace if necessary. Since most of the groups that support the use of child soldiers are governments or independent groups who will not agree to international agreements like the CSPA, this choice is a backup to option 2. However, child soldiers can also be used as human shields, bait, or in combat against the international military. Furthermore, this would require many resources, as well as a lot of time to be able to provide military intervention to all the locations in which child soldiers is an issue.
2. Get more signatures on the CSPA (Child Soldiers Protection Act): As of 2015, there are only around 8 signatures from nations. Once a nation has signed this treaty, they agree to all the aspects of the treaty, and will make efforts to stop any child soldier supporting groups in their country. As a positive, there will be more countries putting their resources towards preventing the recruitment of child soldiers. However, these governments cannot do anything to stop any groups using child soldiers outside of their country. Also, if the government does not have a lot of power, it will not be able to stop the recruitment of child soldiers at all. As a side note, there are other acts and treaties, such as the convention on the rights of the child, that we may also push to be ratified by more.
3. Push to lengthen the statute of limitations on conviction of recruitment of child soldiers in the past 10 years if the case has significant evidence. This means that recruiters can be convicted, and pay a more severe price for the physical and psychological damage they have caused. By making the punishment more severe, we are deterring more from using child soldiers, hopefully with the added threat. Unfortunately, when dealing with caught suspects, there may not be enough evidence to back up a case, even if there is clear truth behind it. Also, this solution only works for recruiters who have already been caught, and not for those currently in need of being caught.
4. Stop giving US military aid to countries that support the use of child soldiers. The US will not be promoting the use of child soldiers, which could lead to other countries doing the same. As of the present, the US provides military aid to many countries whose governments actively use child soldiers, including Nigeria, Sudan, and many more. This shows other countries that despite the fact that the US has been trying to stop the use of child soldiers, it doesn't really care about it that much. If the US were to seriously care about stopping the use of child soldiers, it would not support those governments. However, this could lead to tense relations between the US and the countries it was previously supporting.
1. International military intervention: By using international military intervention we can help stop the recuiting of child soldiers at the source. Almost all child soldiers are brought into combat in countries currently in war. The international military can help stop the wars that child soldiers are brought into, and fight against the people who use child soldiers. The international military can combat groups when needed or forcefully keep peace if necessary. Since most of the groups that support the use of child soldiers are governments or independent groups who will not agree to international agreements like the CSPA, this choice is a backup to option 2. However, child soldiers can also be used as human shields, bait, or in combat against the international military. Furthermore, this would require many resources, as well as a lot of time to be able to provide military intervention to all the locations in which child soldiers is an issue.
2. Get more signatures on the CSPA (Child Soldiers Protection Act): As of 2015, there are only around 8 signatures from nations. Once a nation has signed this treaty, they agree to all the aspects of the treaty, and will make efforts to stop any child soldier supporting groups in their country. As a positive, there will be more countries putting their resources towards preventing the recruitment of child soldiers. However, these governments cannot do anything to stop any groups using child soldiers outside of their country. Also, if the government does not have a lot of power, it will not be able to stop the recruitment of child soldiers at all. As a side note, there are other acts and treaties, such as the convention on the rights of the child, that we may also push to be ratified by more.
3. Push to lengthen the statute of limitations on conviction of recruitment of child soldiers in the past 10 years if the case has significant evidence. This means that recruiters can be convicted, and pay a more severe price for the physical and psychological damage they have caused. By making the punishment more severe, we are deterring more from using child soldiers, hopefully with the added threat. Unfortunately, when dealing with caught suspects, there may not be enough evidence to back up a case, even if there is clear truth behind it. Also, this solution only works for recruiters who have already been caught, and not for those currently in need of being caught.
4. Stop giving US military aid to countries that support the use of child soldiers. The US will not be promoting the use of child soldiers, which could lead to other countries doing the same. As of the present, the US provides military aid to many countries whose governments actively use child soldiers, including Nigeria, Sudan, and many more. This shows other countries that despite the fact that the US has been trying to stop the use of child soldiers, it doesn't really care about it that much. If the US were to seriously care about stopping the use of child soldiers, it would not support those governments. However, this could lead to tense relations between the US and the countries it was previously supporting.
Bibliography
"Child Soldiers." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2015. Global Issues In Context. Web. 31 May 2016.
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