In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where child soldier recruitment and use is an entrenched feature of ongoing armed conflict, Mai Mai are among the most prolific recruiters and users of children. The Mai Mai - a collective term referring to a range of local militias - may not be as militarily or politically significant as other armed groups in the region, but they have been active throughout the Congo?s two wars and since. Their patterns of child soldier recruitment and use have not significantly been impacted by successive peace agreements, attempts

Dans l'est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), où le recrutement et l'utilisation d'enfants soldats sont une caractéristique profondément ancrée du conflit armé persistant, les Maï Maï font partie des groupes qui recrutent et utilisent le plus grand nombre d'enfants. Les Maï Maï - terme collectif désignant un ensemble de milices locales - ne sont peut-être pas aussi importants sur le plan militaire ou politique que d'autres groupes armés de la région, mais ils ont été actifs tout au long des deux guerres du Congo et depuis lors. Leurs

November 9, 2009, New York, - As international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) committed to protecting the rights of children in armed conflict, we welcome the conclusions by the UN Security Council Working Group (SCWG) on Children and Armed Conflict on Myanmar and call for their immediate implementation in accordance with UN Security Council Resolutions 1612 and 1882.

(Goma, October 13, 2009) - The Congolese government's military operation in eastern Congo, Kimia II, backed by United Nations peacekeepers and aimed at neutralizing the threat from a Rwandan Hutu militia group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), has resulted in an unacceptable cost for the civilian population, said 84 humanitarian and human rights groups in the Congo Advocacy Coalition today.

The coalition urged diplomats and UN

Background

For more than 25 years the Government of Sri Lanka has been involved in an armed conflict against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The conflict has been marked by numerous serious human rights abuses by both sides. A ceasefire that began in February 2002 effectively ended with the resumption of military operations against the LTTE in mid-2006. The conflict escalated in the intervening years reaching its final phase between January and 18 May 2009 when the

As you prepare for the forthcoming Security Council debate on children and armed conflict, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (the Coalition) would like to draw your attention to a number of key issues.

The Coalition welcomes the continued efforts of the Security Council to protect children in situations of armed conflict. This has contributed to some important progress. However, the impact is still to be felt by many tens of thousands of children who are, or are at risk of becoming, child soldiers.

The Coalition has documented a decrease

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The research reported here was undertaken with the aim of allowing the voices of children and youth who had been abducted by the armed group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to be heard when planning takes place for the reintegration of future returnees from the LRA. One hundred and sixteen children and youth abducted by the LRA in 2003 from what is today called the Amuria district in the Teso region, eastern Uganda, were interviewed and participated in focus group discussions.