Child Soldiers: A Handbook for Security Sector Actors
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2.1 Children in Armed Conflict – A Military Priority
In focusing solely upon disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) and not upon the complete eradication of the use of child soldiers as a phenomenon, the international community has merely attempted to fix the broken, rather than to protect the whole. Until this issue is elevated within the security agenda, the international community will continue to squander excellent opportunities to prevent the recruitment of children into armed forces and armed groups.
By framing the issue of children in armed conflict as a specific priority concern for security sector actors, the Initiative empowers military and police to develop better strategies and policies to not only prevent or limit child soldier recruitment, but also to improve the security sector’s interactions with children during actual armed conflict, with the ultimate aim of avoiding fatalities on all sides.
While pre-deployment training for military, police and peacekeepers is improving – particularly with respect to children’s rights and the protection of civilians – very little is currently being done to prepare security sector actors for the possibility of confronting child soldiers before and during active hostilities. This presents security sector actors with a serious dilemma, as they are forced to juggle moral considerations and their rules of engagement (ROE) with the basic need to protect themselves, their fellow officers and affected civilians.
This manual urges security sector actors to recognise that preparation for interaction with children in armed conflict is as important as preparation for any other aspect of a mission. It also stresses that there should be strong cooperation and coordination with agencies that usually have primary responsibility for children during armed conflict. Such collaboration enables security sector actors to draw upon the wealth of intelligence that is generated by these civilian organizations and to contribute to the strengthening of child protection in general.