Child soldiers and security forces (UNV.2016.003)
According to the UN Secretary-General’s 2014 Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, 7 national armies and 50 armed groups operating in 14 countries recruit and use child soldiers. These children and youths are viewed as cheap and expendable labour and are easy to manipulate and control by commanders. They are used as combatants, messengers, porters and cooks and to provide forced sexual services. Some are abducted or forcibly recruited, while others are driven to join by poverty, abuse and discrimination, or to seek revenge for violence enacted against them or their families.
By offering innovative training to security sector actors who encounter child soldiers in the field, UNITAR PTP and the Dallaire Initiative are joining efforts to create a world in which children are no longer used as a weapon of war.
The objective of this course is to advance a better understanding of the phenomenon of child soldiering, as well as the reasons behind the use of children in armed conflicts. The course also aims to provide an overview of the possible options for interactions between police, military and child soldiers and the possible actions to prevent children’s recruitment and re- recruitment.
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Outline the major issues related to the phenomenon of child soldiers;
- Identify legal instruments that discipline the protection of civilians in conflict situations;
- Illustrate possible options for interactions with child soldiers;
- Discuss strategies for preventing the recruitment and re-recruitment of children as soldiers;
he course is structured as four successive modules, defined as follows:
Module 0 – Children and armed conflict
This module introduces the topic of child soldiers by framing it within the broader discussion of contemporary conflict. It describes new methods of warfare and focuses upon the impact that conflict has on children.
Module 1 –Introduction to the issue of child soldiers
The module provides the essential information necessary to understand the complexity of the child soldier phenomenon, by offering an introduction to and an overview of the issue of child soldiers. Module one expands upon the definition of child soldiers – as outlined in the Paris Principles – and discusses how and why child soldiers are used. It explores the driving factors and risk factors that lead children to be recruited.
Module 2 – International legal framework
Module two examines the existing legal instruments that apply to child soldiers. It also discusses the legal consequences for infringement of these provisions and the ensuing accountability mechanisms.
Module 3- Interacting with child soldiers
Module three focuses upon security sector interactions with child soldiers and begins by offering an overview of the different types of interactions that may occur between national and/or international military and police forces and child soldiers.
This module provides substantive guidance on tactics, techniques and procedures to handle armed groups that use child soldiers and offers basic operational guidance.
Module 4- Preventing the recruitment and/or re- recruitment of child soldiers
Module four discusses strategies aimed at preventing the recruitment and re- recruitment of children as soldiers. It elaborates upon the importance of including children in peace agreements and demobilization plans and stresses the importance of cooperation among different actors on the ground for the development of a comprehensive programme strateg y that includes activities at different societal levels. The module concludes by exploring the consequences of failing to prevent the recruitment and re-recruitment of children as soldiers.
By embedding the learning content in a scenario setting, this course enables participants to feel as though they are part of a mission context while enhancing their knowledge on the issue of child soldiers. Through the scenarios, learners are constantly challenged to reflect upon possible strategies to identify child soldiers, to interact with them and lastly to find strategies to prevent their recruitment and re-recruitment.
The e-learning course adopts UNITAR’s approach to delivering learning content in an innovative format. UNITAR optimizes the use of available technologies with the objective of offering multiple instructional settings, catering to personal learning styles. Instructional design methods are applied, which prioritise interaction and support explorative and collaborative learning. Social activities are frequently incorporated to support the learning process, facilitate networking among professionals and encourage the sharing of experience.
The course is open exclusively to United Nations Volunteers, holding a valid contract. Please note that a verfication will be carried out by UNVs Programme prior to the beginning of the course. Only those participants for whom possession of a valid contract is confirmed will be enrolled in the course.
No reimboursement will be possible for participants who enroll without a valid UNV contract.
Technical Requirements
- Minimum hardware and software requirements:
- Platform: Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, ME, XP or superior; MacOS 9 or MacOS X.
- Hardware: 64 MB of RAM, 1 GB of free disk space.
- Software:
- Adobe Acrobat Reader (download for free at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html).
- Adobe Flash Player (download for free at http:/get.adobe.com/flashplayer)
- Microsoft Office (Windows or Apple version) or Open Office (download for free at http://www.openoffice.org )
- Browser: Internet Explorer 8 (download for free at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internetexplorer/worldwide‐sites.aspx; works better with Firefox 3.6 or higher (download for free at http://www.mozilla‐europe.org/en/firefox). Note JavaScript & Cookies must be enabled.
- Modem: 56 K
The course Introduction to Peace Operations has been awarded the 2012 international Open ECBCheck Standards.