Search for Common Ground Launches the Child Soldiers Initiative to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers

The goal of the Child Soldiers Initiative of Search for Common Ground is to prevent the recruitment and use of children as soldiers. It is estimated that 300,000 children are being used in thirty countries worldwide, as soldiers, human mine detectors, porters, spies, messengers, and as a part of suicide missions. Girls are subject to being used as sex slaves and may be taken as involuntary "wives." This is one of the moral tragedies of our time.

Children living in countries experiencing conflict are physically vulnerable and are easily intimidated and manipulated. Most are abducted or recruited by force while others join armed groups out of desperation -- perceiving armed groups as their best chance for survival, an escape from hunger, or for protection. Many have witnessed or were forced to take part in acts of unbelievable violence, often against their own families or communities.

Many child soldiers are left physically disabled and/or emotionally traumatized, and most struggle to adapt to life as a civilian in a peaceful society. Without adequate help or intervention, these children are often drawn to aggression and crime, and are at high risk of re-recruitment.

Unfortunately this is not a new issue -- it touches many sectors, including peacekeeping, state and non-state military, humanitarian, human rights, inter-governmental, development, religious, diplomatic, and civil society groups. They have largely worked independently and have often found communication and collaboration difficult. Search for Common Ground started the Child Soldiers Initiative in 2006 to fill this void. The Child Soldiers Initiative is unique because it is broadly inclusive of all sectors involved, including both state and non-state military groups who recruit or kidnap child soldiers.

Last year SFCG brought together more than 100 experts from around the world to find practical news ways to deal with this pressing problem. The next meeting will be held in Ghana this summer, that will bring together a smaller group of experts, including former child soldiers, some from countries where recruitment is a current ongoing problem. CSI will then develop and implement a full engagement program in a country to be determined. The Initiative is fortunate to have the leadership of Lieut.-Gen (ret.) The Honorable Senator Romeo Dallaire, Canada, who gained international recognition as Commander of the United Nations Observer Mission in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. His book about the genocide, Shake Hands With The Devil -- the Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, was made into a documentary film, with a feature film currently in production.

Senator Dallaire and Ishmael Beah, former child soldier and author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, have begun working together to bring more visibility to this issue, and to raise funds for the Child Soldiers Initiative.

Please click here to visit the Child Soldiers Initiative website.

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