Encyclopedia > Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers was formed in June 1998 to "advocate for the adoption of, and adherence to, national, regional and international legal standards (including an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child) prohibiting the military recruitment and use in hostilities of any person younger than eighteen years of age; and the recognition and enforcement of this standard by all armed forces and armed groups, both governmental and non-governmental." (source: official website (http://www.child-soldiers.org/report2001/PRE_COALITION.html))
Produced by UNICEF and the Coalition to Stop the Use of ChildSoldiers, this publication is an essential guide to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child related to children in armed conflict.
As part of the Coalition to Stop the Use of ChildSoldiersAmnesty International is campaigning for states to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
A childsoldier is any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to cooks, porters, messengers and anyone accompanying such groups, other than family members.
The event, organised by the international NGO Coalition to Stop the Use of ChildSoldiers and hosted by His Majesty's Government of Nepal, was the fourth in a series of regional conferences aimed at highlighting the worldwide exploitation of children as soldiers and building momentum and effective strategies for a global ban on this abuse.
The Coalition to Stop the Use of ChildSoldiers presented to the conference a draft research report on the use of children as soldiers in Asia and the Pacific.
Although the use of childsoldiers contravenes the "best interest" of the child, one of the core principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the CRC does not prohibit the recruitment of ChildSoldiers over the age of 15 years.
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