US Stands Against Child Soldier Use

Last week, US Congress unanimously passed a law which reduces aid to countries with governments who use child soldiers.

The legislation could impact six countries currently receiving military aid from the US –Afghanistan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Sri Lanka, and Sudan. In 2008 alone, these six countries received $3.5 million in US military training, $800,000 in US military financing, and $6 billion in US military sales.

Child rights advocate Jo Becker of Human Rights Watch had this to say –

US weapons should not end up in the hands of children nor should US taxpayer dollars finance the exploitation of children in armed conflict.

According to the 2008 Child Soldiers Global Report recently published by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, at year-end 2007, children were involved in 17 armed conflicts around the world.