Jonah MorrisCHILD SOLDIERS

A Child Soldier: The internationally agreed definition for a child associated with an armed force or armed group (child soldier) is any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities.

(Paris Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups , 2007.)

WHAT IS A CHILD SOLDIER?

Estimates suggest that as many as 300,000 child soldiers are active in confl icts around the world (as of 2012).

(Chatterjee)Guerilla Groups: Guerrilla warfare is a form of

irregular warfare in which a small group of combatants such as armed civilians or irregulars use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility to fight a larger and less-mobile traditional military.

NUMBER OF CHILD SOLDIERS

Globally, more than 40% of child soldiers are girls. (Choi)Girl child soldiers serve as combatants, spies,

domestics, porters, and “bush wives”. (Analysis: Girl child soldiers face new battles in civilian life.)

GIRL CHILD SOLDIERS

A woman named Grace Akallo was only fi fteen years old when she was abducted by Joseph Kony and the LRA. While she was a child soldier, they were all told by Kony that he knew what they were thinking and when they were thinking of escaping. She recalls being around the younger girls when they were going to be used for sexual purposes and she told them that they were going to be wives unto the men. Today, she is an activist in raising awareness about Kony and helping former child soldiers and communities aff ected by war.

(Former Kony Child Soldier Tells Her Story)

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Joseph Kony was the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) from the 1980s until the early 2000s. Kony claimed that he had spirits come to him in his dreams that led to the murders and raping and the abductions. In October of 2005, he was accused of human rights violations that included around 10,000 murders and over 24,000 abductions of children. Today, he has still not been captured.

(Craine)

JOSEPH KONY

In the book A Long Way Gone written by Ishmael Beah, there were a couple ways in rehabilitating the former child soldiers. The ways were to re-school them, show them compassion, and give them incentives to go have fun as a sort of reward.

(Beah, 141)

LIFE AFTER BEING A CHILD SOLDIER

Paris Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups, 2007.

Choi, Amy S. “Nearly half of child soldiers are girls.” 2007, website article

Chatterjee, Siddharth. “For Child Soldiers, Every Day Is A Living Nightmare.” 2012, website article

“Analysis: Girl child soldiers face new battles in civilian life.” 2013, website article

Beah, Ishmael. “A Long Way Gone” 2007, book“Former Kony Child Soldier Tells Her Story”

2012, website articleCraine, Anthony G. “Joseph Kony” 2014, website

article

CITATIONS