The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers works to prevent the recruitment and use of children as soldiers, to secure their demobilisation and to ensure their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

In approximately 17 countries around the world, children are direct participants in war. Denied a childhood and often subjected to horrific violence, many thousands of children are serving as soldiers for both rebel groups and government forces in current armed conflicts. These young combatants participate in all aspects of contemporary warfare. They wield AK-47s and M-16s on the front lines of combat, serve as human mine detectors, participate in suicide missions, carry supplies, and act as spies, messengers or lookouts.

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (2000) The protocol sets 18 as the minimum age for direct participation in hostilities, for recruitment into armed groups, and for compulsory recruitment by governments. States may accept volunteers from the age of 16 but must deposit a binding declaration at the time of ratification or accession, setting out their minimum voluntary recruitment age and outlining certain safeguards for such recruitment.

BÉOUÉ VILLAGE, Côte d'Ivoire, 15 May 2007 -- Béoué, 18, is slender and looks rather small for his age. When he is carrying the mud for the chicken coop that he and his friends are building, it becomes clear how strong he actually is. He is obviously used to organizing activities and delegating responsibility, so the coop is built quickly. In 2002, Béoué's life changed drastically when war broke out in Côte d'Ivoire and an armed rebellion split the nation in two, drawing in warlords and fighters from neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone. Béoué's village was attacked and burned. Those who were fit enough managed to escape and hide in the bush. Béoué, who was 13 at the time, decided he wanted to join the fighting forces. He felt he had nothing to lose, since most of his relatives had been killed in the attack.

We meet the child-soldiers in rehabilitation, still haunted by their nightmares. This classic film paints a very human picture of the devastation of war. What can Liberia do to protect its future?

One former child soldier tells us of the horrors she experienced.

These are Child Soldiers in Africa.

This girl is riding a bike with a wapen on her back

These children are Child Soldiers

While I did find this book painful to read, I am very glad I stayed with it. Ishmael tells his story in casual language, almost as if he were sitting next to you, sharing his experiences over (many cups of) tea. He relays his life to us chronologically, beginning in his home village. He and some friends took a several day trip to a neighboring village to show off their hip-hop skills at a talent show. Little did they know, that little trip probably saved their lives. For while they were away, the rebel army attacked their home village.

War is so terrible that sociopathic leaders in some parts of the world use child soldiers, ages 12 - 18, to fight their wars. This book tells the terrible story. This is not a new problem. Even in the American Civil War about 100,000 soldiers were age 15 or youngr. Many parts of this book are shocking as it explains the recruitment, training, and discipline of these young children as they are developed into brutal soldiers at the same time that they are robbed of their childhood.

Although children have never been fully excluded from acts of war, the rates of child participation in armed struggle has increased dramatically in the past decades. As such, a growing literature is emerging on the subject and drawing light to a growing global problem. Riggs work spans the developing world in the search of personal accounts of children at war.