Resolution number: 10
Title:
Submitted by: International Federation of Liberal Youth
The Congress of the Liberal International, convened in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 20 October 2012
Noting that more than 250,000 children have been forced to take up arms in conflicts, and that child soldiers are fighting in at least twenty armed conflicts around the world;
Considering that child soldiers are often forcefully recruited or encouraged to join under false pretenses and that, in many situations, children are engaged in direct combat, while others take on auxiliary roles as porters, messengers and spies, while girls also face sexual exploitation by senior level commanders;
Affirming that the life of a child soldier violates the right of the child, denies them an education, and robs them of their childhood;
Noting that UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC) has launched the “Zero Under 18” campaign, aiming at achieving universal ratification in 2012 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) ;
Requests governments and the international community to assure that children who have been recruited or used by armed forces or armed groups have the right and access to assistance for their physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration.
