New Report on Children and Armed Conflict — The Use of Child Soldiers

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CLC’s Sydney Greenberger

July 23, 2024

By Sydney Greenberger, CLC

 

A 16-year-old is forced to join an armed group on his walk to school. Girls are kidnapped into being “wives” for soldiers. Children are visited by recruiters at schools and pressured to join the war effort. Otherwise, they are regarded as unpatriotic.

On June 3, 2024, the UN Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) released its annual report. This disturbing report details the terrible treatment of children who are forced into either fighting themselves in wars or being forced to support their governments in various ways when they are at war.

On June 26, the UN Security Council held its annual open debate on children and armed conflict in New York. There, the council discussed the CAAC and heard the personal testimony of a former child soldier from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He explained that some children were forced to join armed groups, and others were abducted to hold their families to ransom. The head of the UN Security Council needs to protect children affected by conflict, helping them gain access to education and healthcare, and protecting them from living in environments where their rights are violated.

February 2002 marked the release of the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which aims to eliminate the recruitment and use of children in war. The Optional Protocol requires that governments ensure children under the age of 18 are not forcibly recruited to the armed forces and requires them to prevent children from taking a direct part in the hostilities of war. The protocol has been ratified by 173 countries, including the United States.

Some governments in violation of the treaty were forced to demobilize their child soldiers, prosecute officers who recruited children, and change their deployment practices. Although the treaty has been in effect for over two decades, child soldier recruitment and engagement in conflict continues to occur in many places around the world.

The 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) allows the U.S. government to restrict arms sales and military assistance to countries whose security forces or government-supported armed groups recruited or used child soldiers in the previous year. Since the U.S. is the top arms exporter in the world, the CSPA creates an incentive for countries to put an end to the recruitment and use of child soldiers if they want American assistance.

Between 2005 and 2022, more than 105,000 children were verified as recruited by armed groups in their communities, with some being as young as 8 years old. The actual number is believed to be much higher. Yearly, thousands of children are used as soldiers, cooks, and spies, among other roles, in armed conflict around the globe.

There are a variety of reasons why children might become part of an armed group. Limited educational or employment opportunities and poverty can increase the pool of available children and motivate them to volunteer for armed groups. Children might be abducted, threatened, coerced, or manipulated by a member of the group. Children may believe they must associate with an armed group to survive. Children who come from impoverished families may join armed groups to generate income. Regardless of why a child becomes a member of an armed group, the recruitment and use of children by armed forces is a violation of child rights and international humanitarian law.

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Farmworkers Need Heat Protections – I Know Because I Grew up Working in the Fields

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By Luz Vazquez-Hernandez

Intern, Child Labor Coalition

Luz Vazquez-Hernandez, at age 14, harvesting blueberries in Michigan.

 

Coming from a background of farmwork, I know the struggle against heat. At 14 years old, I began, picking blueberries in Michigan during the summer and from there on I learned to pick a variety of crops all over Michigan and my home base in Florida. I spent my weekends and any school days off, including summers, picking strawberries, squash, pickles, peppers, and jalapeños.

I learned to push my body and to handle extreme weather conditions. I suffered pains, and aches that my parents felt every day. Complaining to my parents was not an option, and my body adapted.

Working in the fields during intense heat were the worst moments. Covered in layers from head to toe, with pants, a long-sleeve shirt, hoodie, and bandana was my daily attire. Covering most of my face, the bandana made it hard for me to breathe in extreme heat; at times, I felt my body, head and eyes just shutting off. I felt I could not go any longer, but seeing my parents endure the heat and hold it in, I tried to do the same and distract myself in my thoughts.

It was common to see workers faint, as taking breaks in the shade and drinking water, was not enough. I witnessed my mom, dad, and brother faint more than twice in 100-plus degree weather. Which always made me scared; somehow, we all managed to continue our 12–13-hour shifts because our paycheck depended on how many crops we picked.

We could not afford to take long lunch breaks–we often had a bite or two of lunch and a Gatorade, and then immediately went back into the fields. Before I turned nineteen, I stopped working as a harvester because I knew that I had greater opportunities than my parents and that farmwork was not the only job I could have.  I have made it a goal of mine to share my story and continue my education so that I can help create the changes that my community needs.

I am now a rising senior at Michigan State University, and I am interning here with the National Consumers League (NCL) and the Child Labor Coalition (CLC). I am grateful because I get to work closely on policies affecting my community and interests. However, knowing that I get to work inside an office with air-conditioning, makes me feel guilty because I know that my parents and younger siblings are in Michigan picking crops in this summer heat, sweating, thirsty, and hoping for a cloud to bring shade to them.

Luz Vazquez-Hernandez has overcome the challenges of child labor in agriculture and is rising senior at Michigan State University.

As a nation, the United States needs to take immediate action to protect farmworkers from extreme heat exposure. As temperatures rise, farmworkers’ suffering is increasing. Farmworkers feed America and deserve protection.

A current legislative effort in addressing heat protection is the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act, which sets standards needed to protect workers from heat, such as having drinking water accessible, requiring rest breaks, and providing access to shade. The bill would require employers to educate and train workers to recognize and prevent heat illness and mandate emergency protocols.

In a separate initiative, the Biden administration recently proposed a set of regulations to protect workers in extreme heat. The rules focus on including heat safety regulations at work, and they direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to help establish a nationwide protection standard. These two initiatives are vital if we want to protect farmworkers from heat illness.

After years of and seeing my parents toil in the fields and working beside them, I feel the need to be an advocate for my community. Interning here with the National Consumer League (NCL) and the Child Labor Coalition (CLC), I have become acquainted with numerous congressional bills, but the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act is one that would affect me and fellow farmworkers. The work of NCL and CLC and groups like the National Heat Network, organized by Public Citizen, gives me hope that soon farmworkers and other outdoor workers who work in extreme heat will have safer working conditions.

U.S.DOL News Release: U.S. Department of Labor Announces 2024 Iqbal Masih Award Winners; Recipients in Egypt, Ghana Lauded for Contributions to End Child Labor

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News Release/June 5, 2024 [from USDOL]

Wadi El Nil Association, Andrews Addoquaye Tagoe recognized for stellar efforts

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the recipients of the 2024 Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor, presented annually to recognize exceptional efforts by an individual, company, organization or national government to end the worst forms of child labor.

The recipients are an Egyptian civil society organization, Wadi El Nil Association and a leading trade unionist in Ghana, Andrews Addoquaye Tagoe.

“The recipients of the 2024 Iqbal Masih Award are champions in the fight against child labor,” said Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Thea Lee. “Their unwavering efforts and achievements in the ongoing campaign to eliminate child labor have rescued children from the dangers of hazardous work and created economic opportunities for families to help derail the cycle of child labor in Egypt and Ghana.”

A pivotal force in combating child labor in Egypt’s limestone mining sector for more than two decades, Wadi El Nil Association rescues children from hazardous quarries, offering them pathways to education and skills development. The association seeks to break the connection between poverty and the cycle of child labor by providing microloans to families to help them to achieve economic stability. In recent years, Wadi El Nil has extended additional support to vulnerable families and collaborated with community organizations and volunteers to reduce the impact that the pandemic had on families in need.

As Deputy General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union of the Ghana Trade Union Congress, Tagoe has played a significant role in advancing child and workers’ rights and been a powerful force in the country’s efforts to end child labor in the agricultural industry. By organizing and formalizing the agricultural economy in rural areas and working with communities to eliminate child labor, Tagoe has helped thousands of children move from child labor into school. His passionate and effective advocacy has helped to create a strong network of anti-child labor champions in Ghana and beyond.

A non-monetary award established in 2008 by Congress, the Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor is presented each year by the Secretary of Labor. The award honors its namesake, a Pakistani child sold into slavery at age four to work a carpet weaver. After escaping at age 10, Masih became an outspoken public advocate against child exploitation. Two years later in his native Pakistan, he was killed tragically. Iqbal Masih was 12 years old.

Learn more about the award and past recipients.

Learn more about the department’s international work.

Agency
Bureau of International Labor Affairs
Date
June 5, 2024
Release Number
24-1055-NAT
Media Contact: Christine Feroli

Facts about Human Trafficking in Commemoration of World Day Against Human Trafficking, July 30, 2024

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  • There are nearly 28 million victims of human trafficking worldwide, up from 24.9 million in 2016. (Women on Guard, International Labour Organization)
  • According to 2022 estimates, 49.6 million people are living in “modern slavery” conditions, which includes both forced labor (27.6 million) and forced marriage (22 million). (Walk Free)
  • Overall, 17.3 million are exploited in the private sector, 6.3 million in forced commercial sexual exploitation, and 3.9 million in forced labor imposed by the State. (ILO)
  • In 2021, an estimated 3.3 million children were exploited by forced labor globally on any given day, with 1.7 million trapped in forced commercial sexual exploitation. About a quarter of all victims of modern slavery are children. (ILO, Walk Free)
  • Migrants face a three-times greater risk of forced labor than non-migrant workers. Out of every 1000 migrant workers, 14 are believed to be in forced labor conditions. (ILO, Walk Free)
  • More than half of all forced labor occurs in either upper-middle income or high-income countries. (ILO)

  • According to the 2023 Global Slavery Index, the countries with the highest prevalence of modern slavery, in order, are North Korea, Eritrea, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye. The geographical diversity of these countries demonstrates modern slavery’s global reach. (Walk Free)

  • Forced labor in the private economy generates $236 billion USD in illegal profits per year, a $64 billion (37%) increase compared to a decade prior. Some current estimates are as high as $245 billion. (ILO, Hope for Justice)
  • 658 persons were convicted of a federal human trafficking offense in the US in 2020. Most of the federal human trafficking prosecutions in the U.S. involve sex trafficking, despite forced labor being the most prominent form of human trafficking worldwide. (S. State Dept. TIPS)
  • In the US, there is no vacating of federal-level criminal records for human trafficking victims. Out of 467 surveyed victims, 62% stated they had been cited, arrested, or detained by law enforcement at least once, and a further 71% of those said that they had or have a criminal record as a result. 90% of those convictions were for crimes directly related to their trafficking. (S. State Dept. TIPS)

Data updated by Mimi Koenig, July 2024.

10 Facts about Women and Girls (2024)

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  1. Of the 160 million children trapped in child labor, 63 million are girls. [source]
  2. 29 million women and girls are in modern slavery—71 percent of the overall total of enslaved individuals. [source]
  3. Women represent 99.4 percent of the victims of forced labor in the commercial sex industry. [source]
  4. Women and girls represent 84 percent of the victims of forced marriages, now categorized as a form of modern slavery. There are an estimated 15 million individuals in forced marriages. [source]
  5. Worldwide, there are an estimated 75.6 million domestic workers—76.2 or approximately 3/4 are women. [source]
  6. 129 million girls are out of school, including 32 million of primary school age, and 97 million of secondary school age. [source]
  7. 89 percent of girls complete their primary education, but only 79 percent complete their lower secondary education and only 61 percent complete their upper secondary education. [source]
  8. In low-income countries, only 63 percent of girls complete their primary education. [source]
  9. At the end of 2023, there were an estimated 117.3 million forcibly displaced people, including 43.4 million refugees—half are women and girls. [source]
  10. More than 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is practiced. [source]

 

Data updated by Tesa Hargis, June 2024.