Council: Human Rights Council
Issue: The Military Use of Children
Country: United States of America
The Human Rights Council,
Recalling Article 38
of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child (UNCRC), "State parties shall take all feasible measures to
ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a
direct part in hostilities",
Bearing in mind the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) which criminalizes
leading a military force which recruits child soldiers in the United States,
defining child soldiers as "any person under 18 years of age who takes a
direct part in hostilities as a member of governmental armed forces",
Deeply disturbed that the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers report that
approximately 300,000 children in over 40 countries worldwide are engaged in
military conflict,
Alarmed
by the advantage taken of
children due to their emotional and physical immaturity, such as but not
limited to being used for suicide missions, sex servants and spies, exposing
them to not only physical but also emotional assault,
1. Encourages cooperation with NGOs such as Child Soldiers International and
Amnesty International to deal with poverty in countries at war by:
a). Organizing funds so
as to provide refugee camps
with daily necessities by:
i).writing plans to well known business
enterprises that include a list of the countries that will benefit from the
donations, local situations and what help we hope to receive,
ii). Encouraging tax reductions for donors,
b). Recruiting volunteers
worldwide to adopt
children who have lost their families by:
i). putting up advertisements on well
known websites and on television,
ii). Providing volunteer certificates
for those who have accomplished the tasks which grants them discounts and other
privileges from governmental business,
c). Raise social
awareness of the situation through mass media by:
i). Filming movies and video clips
based on true stories in countries with the problem of child soldiers,
ii). Making records, graphs and tables looking into the issue public on
leading newletters;
2. Recommends an international organization called the Child Defense
International (CDI)
whose mission shall include:
a). Promoting
justice among LEDCs
by:
i). Encouraging and funding the establishment of local schools,
ii). Seeking cooperation with military arms manufacturers worldwide so as to
discourage the provision of arms used by child soldiers,
b). Setting up
orphanages to provide child care, primary education and spread the knowledge of child protection,
c). Guiding
children to developing talents for later career life,
d). Aiding
underage victims of war to overcome possible depression and emotional harm by requesting help from psychologists
to research depression resulting in over contact of war violence;
3. Calls upon
promoting education
in countries:
a). with child soldiers to:
i). Discourage children from joining
the military underage and make clear the current situation in military conflict
and the hostility they face by joining,
ii). Include lesson on morals
emphasizing the basic human right of life,
b). without child soldiers to:
i). Encourage students to engage in
charity and carry out solutions to global crisis,
ii). Encourage schools to hold charity
activities such as but no limited to fairs and bake sales, the money made
donated to NGOs devoted to solving the problem of child soldiers;
4. Further
suggests an International Covenant on Child Protection (ICCP) be signed
requesting member states to:
a). Provide full time or part time job vacancies annually from
local business for people in states at war such as but not limited to:
i). Teenagers (15 and above) ,
ii). Parents with over four children under their care,
iii). Orphans or those who have lost family members at war,
b). Pass laws banning child participation in the military
such as but not limited to:
i). Direct contact in military conflict as child soldiers,
ii). Indirect contact in military conflicts as drummer boys, porters
or messengers,
iii). Taking advantage of children by using them for suicide missions
or as human shields.
