poster material first draft.

1. Key facts and statistics Places where we found child
about child soldiers: soldiers to be most common:
•Th e r e a r e a n e s t i ma t e d 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 c hi l d -Chad -Republic of Congo
s ol di e r s i n t h e wo r l d t o d a y.
-Somalia -Sudan -Burundi
•I t i s e s t i ma t e d t h a t 4 0 % o f c h i l d
s o l d i e r s a r e gi r l s .
-Colombia –Liberia -Myanmar
-Uganda
• Gi r l s a r e o ft e n u s e d a s “ wi ve s ” ( s e x
s l a ve s ) o f t h e ma l e s .
•R e b e l gr o u p s ma y u s e c h i l d s o l d i e r s
t o fi gh t t h e go ve r n m e n t , b u t s o me
go ve r n me n t s a l s o u s e d c h i l d r e n i n
a r me d c o n fl i c t .
•N o t a l l c h i l d r e n t a ke p a r t i n a c t i ve
c o mb a t . S o me a r e a l s o u s e d a s
p o r t e r s , c o o ks a n d s p i e s .
•As p a r t o f t h e i r r e c r u i t me n t , s o me
c h i l d r e n a r e fo r c e d t o ki l l o r ma i m a
fa mi l y me mb e r , b r e a ki n g t h e b o n d s
wi t h t h e i r c o mmu n i t y a n d ma ki n g i t
d i ffi c u l t fo r t h e m t o r e t u r n h o me .
What happens to child soldiers after
What are the effects on children? war?
 Drug dependencies  Rape
How are child soldiers recruited?  Physical scars  Beheadings
 Psychologically damage  Amputations as punishment
• Some of them are abducted from
 Teen pregnancy  Lack of education or survival skills
their homes and forced to become
 Lack of education
soldiers.
 Family rejection How can I make a difference?
• A village may be forced to provide a
certain numbers of children soldiers • Adopt a child from a child soldier
in order to be safe from attacks. Why use children as soldiers? country
• Some children are volunteered by  Easier brainwash • Learn where your aid money is
their parents due extreme poverty.  Don’t eat much going
• In some rare cases children  Don’t cost much • Visit helpchildsoldiers.com
volunteer to join the fight because of  Underdeveloped sense of danger
ideological reasons or to avenge the  Due at their size they’re sent into battle
death of their family. as scouts, or in the first wave. Esperanza Barajas & Atty Garfinkel
December 2011,