What is the history of child soldiers in Africa?
Child soldiers have been utilized in armed conflicts around the world for much of human history. Due to the substantial amount of civil unrest across Africa since the end of European imperialism, African children as young as eight have been included in armed conflict. Even young girls have been taken for this purpose.
What are the causes of child soldiers in Africa?
In short, there are two primary ways children can become child soldiers:
- they are abducted, or conscripted through coercion or severe threats; or.
- they are born into forces or groups.
When were child soldiers first used in Africa?
The concentrated use of child soldiers seems to have began in Mozambique in the 1980s, but now has been reported in nearly a dozen nations featuring an estimated 120,000 children. They are forcibly taken, or volunteer when no other option exists.
What is the history of child soldiers?
The first modern use of child soldiers in the region was actually during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Iranian law, based on the Koranic sharia, had forbid the recruitment of children under 16 into the armed forces.
How old are the child soldiers in Africa?
Child Soldiers in Africa refers to the military use of children under the age of 18 by national armed forces or other armed groups in Africa.
What was the role of a child soldier?
Their roles would depend upon their age: younger children could have served in support or courier roles, while older children might have been apprenticed to warriors. These youths are examples of child soldiers, children under the age of 18 serving in an armed conflict.
Where are most child soldiers in the world?
While there are incidents of this around the world, one of the most troubling locations is in Africa, where an estimated 40% of the world’s child soldiers live and fight. Large regions of Africa today are engulfed in protracted civil or ethnic wars, and many areas that aren’t currently at war are considered at high risk for violence.
Are there children in the history of Africa?
The historical study of Africa has not provided extensive detail of the lives of children because political history and economic history have been the major strains of that literature, sectors in which children have not necessarily been highly visible.
