global context
Denise
Child soldiers are a global issue because it’s much more common than what people think. There’s children that join armed violent groups in about every country. The reason why they might not being considered child soldiers is just because they have a different title, but they share similar responsibilities. There are many countries and situations in which children were/are being recruited or were/are used in hostilities. According to the global report during April 2004 to October 2008, Africa has 8 countries, Americas and the Caribbean has 1 country, Asia Pacific has 8 countries, and the Middle East has 2 countries children were/are being recruited (Child Soldiers.org, "Publications:” 2008).
Global Issues are difficult to address because people have their own issues in their own place and don’t see that importance on how these issue can affect them. Child soldiers is important for everyone to know because child soldiers is an issue that almost every country deals with and most of these armed groups recruit or use children to abuse them. Child soldiers is a very difficult topic to explain and difficult to solve. That child soldiers can be solved at a global level but it’s an issue that will take an extremely difficult to solve not only that but it will take a long time.
I believe that every country has to make a huge contribution if child soldiers were a problem that society has to work on. Having a stable economy, changing military policies, and enforcing laws that prevent children from being abused could be factors that can abolish the recruitment of children to armed forces (Landau, "Use of Child Soldiers").
Global Issues are difficult to address because people have their own issues in their own place and don’t see that importance on how these issue can affect them. Child soldiers is important for everyone to know because child soldiers is an issue that almost every country deals with and most of these armed groups recruit or use children to abuse them. Child soldiers is a very difficult topic to explain and difficult to solve. That child soldiers can be solved at a global level but it’s an issue that will take an extremely difficult to solve not only that but it will take a long time.
I believe that every country has to make a huge contribution if child soldiers were a problem that society has to work on. Having a stable economy, changing military policies, and enforcing laws that prevent children from being abused could be factors that can abolish the recruitment of children to armed forces (Landau, "Use of Child Soldiers").
Luis
According to the global report of 2008(Child-soldiers.org),”197 countries document military recruitment legislation and practice, and child soldier use in hostilities by governments and armed groups across the globe.” There is one continent in particular that has greatly contributed to the tragedies of child soldiers; Africa is often considered to be at the epicenter of the child soldier phenomenon. Armed groups using child soldiers cover the continent of Africa and are present in nearly every one of its myriad of wars. For example, a survey in Angola revealed that 36 percent of all Angolan children had either served as soldiers or accompanied troops into combat. Also the United Nations estimates that some 20,000 children served as combatants in Liberia’s war, up to 70 percent of the various factions’ fighting forces, according to the United Nations.
In Africa the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda, renowned, or rather infamous, is known for being made up of almost exclusively of child soldiers. The LRA has abducted more than 14,000 children just to turn them into soldiers. The LRA also holds the global record for having the world’s youngest reported armed combatant, age 5. The Middle East is another area where child soldiers have become an integral part of the fighting. Children today are engaged in fighting in Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Iran (as part of rebel groups now fighting against the regime), Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Tajikistan, and Yemen.
These statistics are shocking enough, but more chilling is the conclusion to be drawn from them: More and more of the world is being sucked into a desolate moral vacuum. This is a space that doesn’t even have a particular quality of the most basic human values; a space in which children are slaughtered, raped, injured, and scarred for life; a space in which children are exploited as soldiers; a space in which children are starved and exposed to extreme brutality. Such unregulated terror and violence speak of deliberate victimization. It is estimated that some 300,000 children – boys and girls under the age of 18 – are today involved in more than 30 conflicts worldwide, according to (Unicef.org, Fact sheet: Child Soldiers). Ending the use of child soldiers can be extremely challenging, especially when children are enlisted for combat by armed, non-governmental groups. Also, modern conflicts are characterized by governmental breakdown, making it difficult to identify and influence those recruiting and using children as soldiers. Basically, it’s hard who to blame or judge because the government, the rebels/soldiers, family, and the child him/herself take part in the influence or manipulation of becoming a child soldier. For the purposes of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes, UNICEF defines a ‘child soldier’ as any child – boy or girl – under 18 years of age, who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including, but not limited to: cooks, porters, messengers, and anyone accompanying such groups other than family members. The definition, therefore, does not only refer to a child who is carrying, or has carried weapons (Based on the ‘Cape Town Principles’, 1997).
In Africa the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda, renowned, or rather infamous, is known for being made up of almost exclusively of child soldiers. The LRA has abducted more than 14,000 children just to turn them into soldiers. The LRA also holds the global record for having the world’s youngest reported armed combatant, age 5. The Middle East is another area where child soldiers have become an integral part of the fighting. Children today are engaged in fighting in Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Iran (as part of rebel groups now fighting against the regime), Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Tajikistan, and Yemen.
These statistics are shocking enough, but more chilling is the conclusion to be drawn from them: More and more of the world is being sucked into a desolate moral vacuum. This is a space that doesn’t even have a particular quality of the most basic human values; a space in which children are slaughtered, raped, injured, and scarred for life; a space in which children are exploited as soldiers; a space in which children are starved and exposed to extreme brutality. Such unregulated terror and violence speak of deliberate victimization. It is estimated that some 300,000 children – boys and girls under the age of 18 – are today involved in more than 30 conflicts worldwide, according to (Unicef.org, Fact sheet: Child Soldiers). Ending the use of child soldiers can be extremely challenging, especially when children are enlisted for combat by armed, non-governmental groups. Also, modern conflicts are characterized by governmental breakdown, making it difficult to identify and influence those recruiting and using children as soldiers. Basically, it’s hard who to blame or judge because the government, the rebels/soldiers, family, and the child him/herself take part in the influence or manipulation of becoming a child soldier. For the purposes of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes, UNICEF defines a ‘child soldier’ as any child – boy or girl – under 18 years of age, who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including, but not limited to: cooks, porters, messengers, and anyone accompanying such groups other than family members. The definition, therefore, does not only refer to a child who is carrying, or has carried weapons (Based on the ‘Cape Town Principles’, 1997).