{"id":3840,"date":"2022-11-22T17:03:30","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T16:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nohumantrafficking.orderofmalta.int\/?post_type=news&p=3840"},"modified":"2022-11-23T18:01:01","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T17:01:01","slug":"3840","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/nohumantrafficking.orderofmalta.int\/en\/news\/3840\/","title":{"rendered":"CHILD SOLDIERS – EVENT ORGANISED BY THE PERMANENT MISSION OF THE KINGDOM OF MOROCCO – 21 NOVEMBER 2022"},"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-3840","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"evidence":"no","focus_on":"no","breaking":"no","news_cover":{"id":3837,"url":"https:\/\/nohumantrafficking.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2022\/11\/ENFANTS-SOLDATS-COE-MV-21-XI-22-rev3.jpg"},"news_content":"

International Children’s Rights Day<\/strong>
\n***** **<\/strong>
\nMeeting in Geneva on :<\/strong>
\n“The recruitment of child soldiers by armed militias”<\/strong>
\nMonday 21 November 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please find the PPT slides \u00a0HERE.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Intervention by Michel Veuthey<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Child soldiers are a subject that deserves more attention<\/strong>, both in humanitarian and security terms.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The 300,000 child soldiers <\/strong>are part of the 50 million contemporary slaves<\/a><\/strong>, as documented by the ILO and IOM in a report in September of this year, ten million more than estimated five years ago.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Child soldiers are often victims of various forms of human trafficking – <\/strong>forced labor, sexual and pornographic exploitation, organ theft and trafficking, and forced crime, including arms and drug trafficking and terrorism.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As you can see, there is a plethora of law…Many <\/strong>international, regional and national legal instruments <\/strong>could be better used to prevent, protect and rehabilitate child soldiers:<\/p>\n

– Human rights<\/strong>, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child<\/a> (1989) and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict<\/a> (2000)<\/strong><\/p>\n

– the African Charter <\/strong>on the Rights and Welfare of the Child<\/a><\/p>\n

– the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

– the ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

– the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their two Additional Protocols of 1977<\/strong><\/a> on the protection of war victims<\/p>\n

– the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court<\/strong><\/a>, which qualifies as a war crime the conscription or enlistment of children under the age of 15 into the armed forces, whether in times of international conflict or not.<\/p>\n

– refugee law<\/a><\/strong>, as former child soldiers, their families, and their former commanders will be able to apply for asylum and be granted – or not – refugee status.<\/p>\n

– the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime<\/strong><\/a> and its Protocol, known as the <\/strong>Palermo Protocol<\/strong><\/a>, to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What to do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Mobilize public awareness <\/strong>through information, training and dialogue with the parties in conflict<\/li>\n
  2. Share good practices <\/strong>from governments, international organizations and civil society, including NGOs such as Geneva Call and faith-based organizations<\/li>\n
  3. Promote action for prevention, protection and rehabilitation<\/strong>. An example is this Action Plan proposed by the UN and UNICEF.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The key word is cooperation<\/strong>, at all levels, international, regional, national, governmental and civil society!<\/p>\n

    Mobilize all stakeholders<\/strong>, governments, other parties to the conflict, civil society, faith-based organizations and spiritual leaders, as well as the private economic sector, the media, universities, the educational and medical system<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    In conclusion, here are four proposals<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Adapt international treaties and national legislation <\/strong>to combat violence against children and their exploitation, particularly online, on social networks and on the Internet in general<\/li>\n
    2. Apply and implement existing treaties and national law <\/strong>and National Plans for the protection of children in armed conflict<\/li>\n
    3. Mobilize public opinion and train state and non-state actors <\/strong>to identify, protect, and rehabilitate child soldiers<\/li>\n
    4. Increase support for <\/strong>Government and civil society efforts to prevent, protect, and rehabilitate <\/strong>child soldiers. These efforts should combine a variety of approaches, including security, humanitarian, medical, psychological, educational, and spiritual; address victims and their families and communities; and adopt restorative justice, reparative justice, and reconciliation approaches.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Thank you for your support of this cause which deserves the attention of all of us!<\/p>\n

      MV DG 21 XI 22<\/p>\n","news_gallery":"no"},"news_categories":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nohumantrafficking.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/3840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nohumantrafficking.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nohumantrafficking.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nohumantrafficking.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/3840\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nohumantrafficking.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}