How Can the International Community Best Respond to the Problem of Child Soldiers?

Abstract

The child soldier phenomenon is not recent and has been manifested throughout centuries; as such the use of children in armed conflicts receives universal condemnation.Currently child soldiers of different age groups are forced to kill and commit other violent acts in many wars and other conflicts around the world; however it is impossible to know their exact numbers.In 1998 The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has criminalized the use of children in armed conflicts, nevertheless to this day minors are being abused indiscriminately in many armed conflicts around the world. This article argues for the creation, use and application of a single universal definition of what constitutes child soldiering, recognition and protection of children as a vulnerable group in armed conflicts, as well as  attempts to put forward ideas how can international community best respond to the problem of the child soldiers