Afghanistan sets ‘shining example’ on child soldiers
Afghanistan has won high praise from UNICEF after the nation formally ratified an international agreement to curb the recruitment of child soldiers.
Foreign Minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah today proclaimed Afghanistan’s adoption of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.
Going beyond the age limit of 18 established by the protocol, Afghanistan sets a ‘shining example’ for other countries, according to UNICEF’s executive director Carol Bellamy. Of its own volition, Afghanistan has raised the lower limit to 22 for recruitment into the Afghan National Army.
Ms Bellamy says: ‘It is a brave and symbolic step for a country that was mired in war for more than two decades, where children have not only traditionally been used as fighters, but have even led militia forces.’
‘It spells the determination of the government of Afghanistan to set an agenda of peace, and to set it in stone as a legacy for the next generations.’
Soon after he was nominated as president of the transitional government last August, President Hamid Karzai indicated he intended to stop using child soldiers in Afghanistan. A presidential decree followed in May this year, prohibiting the recruitment of anyone under 22 to the nation’s new National Army.
As well as banning the use of children under 18 in the armed forces, the Optional Protocol makes clear it is the responsibility of the state to rehabilitate and reintegrate children under 18 who were formerly child soldiers. The treaty has won 111 signatories and 59 ratifications.
UNICEF estimates that there are more than 300,000 child soldiers involved in over 30 conflicts around the globe.
