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 Issue
3, 2011
Children and conflict
The use of children in conflicts is abhorrent.
And although it is easy to demand that children have no place in
the world's violent conflicts, the reality is very much different.
The litany of tasks undertaken by children in conflict zones is
well known—as are the physical, mental and sexual scars that
result. While much children's participation in conflicts is forced
at the barrel of a gun, others are forced by cruel circumstances
and lack of alternatives. It is also difficult to extract children
from these conditions. Disarmament and demobilization is made all
the more difficult when the group feeds and clothes you, and when
the commanders you fight under and the soldiers you support are
the closest semblance of community that remains.
Under-Secretary-General Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative
of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, introduces
this issue of Disarmament Forum with a message from her
office. The issue continues with an overview of the legal frameworks
currently in place to protect children in conflict and how the many
different international agencies working to protect children could
be better coordinated. Authors examine ways in which the particular
needs of girls and young mothers should be addressed and explain
which programmes have succeeded and why. The issue concludes by
challenging traditional concepts of childhood and warns of the danger
of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes which
fail to take into account the circumstances which lead children
to participate in armed groups and forces.
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