Youth, Poverty and Blood: The Lethal Legacy of West Africa's Regional Warriors

The findings of this report are based on in-depth interviews with some sixty former combatants who collectively represented fifteen armed forces - including both rebel insurgencies and governments - active at various times since 1989 within Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea.

The regional warriors interviewed for this report clearly point to the inextricable link between the level of economic deprivation and the continuing cycle of war crimes throughout the region. For that reason, improving the severe socio-economic conditions which in large part give rise to armed conflict in the region is vital. Tackling the root causes of this impoverishment is critical to putting an end to the phenomenon of mercenaries in West Africa; however it is a long-term process which necessitates sustained political will and effort on the part of governments and the international community.