child soldiers

A total of 894 children, including 106 girls, were released from the ranks of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Maiduguri, north-east Nigeria as part of its commitment to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children.

In South Sudan’s Yambio county, child soldiers who were forced to fight during the country’s long civil war are being demobilised. Some struggle with all that they have experienced. Médecins Sans Frontières is running a mental health support programme to help the children come to terms with their experiences as they reintegrate in their communities.

When children are murdered, let us call each child by name and name what has been done to her in the name of some cause she will never know or understand. To call a murdered child a suicide bomber is to violate her all over again, says Professor Tina Beattie, in the wake of Boko Haram's deadliest yet attacks in northern Nigeria.

The Defence Select Committee has increased the pressure on the MoD to stop enlisting minors, in a report published today (6 March).