Afghan police intercept suspected suicide bomb children
February 21, 2012

(CNN) - Afghan police have intercepted 41 children whom insurgents were planning to use as suicide bombers, an Interior Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

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Somalia’s al-Shabab ‘forced whole classes to fight’
February 21, 2012

(BBC) - Entire classrooms of Somali children – some as young as 10 – have been forced to fight for Islamist militants, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report says.

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10th Anniversary of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
February 13, 2012

(OSRSG) - “Ten years ago, the world said no to the forced recruitment of children under the age of eighteen and to their participation in hostilities,” the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy said on the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.

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Getting children off the battlefield
February 13, 2012

(Human Rights Watch) - 10 years after UN treaty against child soldiers, much work needed to end practice.

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SRSG Coomaraswamy calls on Syria to immediately halt all violations against children
February 9, 2012

(OSRSG) - Following another violent day in Syria, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy reiterated her call to the Syria authorities to stop the killing and maiming of children.

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South Sudan: DDRC, UNICEF Welcome Release of Child Soldiers
February 5, 2012

(AllAfrica) - South Sudan Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (RSSDDRC) and UNICEF welcomed the recent release of 53 children associated with armed forces and groups in South Sudan.

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Driven Away by a War, Now Stalked by Winter’s Cold
February 3, 2012

(The New York Times) - After 10 years of a large international presence, comprising about 2,000 aid groups, at least $3.5 billion of humanitarian aid and $58 billion of development assistance, how could children be dying of something as predictable — and manageable — as the cold?

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Syria uprising has killed 384 children, UNICEF says
January 27, 2012

(Vancouver Sun) – At least 384 children have been killed during Syria’s 10-month uprising and virtually the same number have been jailed, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said last friday

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Myanmar military fuels forced labour, sexual violence -HRW
January 23, 2012

(AlertNet) - Myanmar and its army are continuing a “systematic repression” of citizens, namely in ethnic areas with ongoing conflicts, despite the government’s promise of reform and its ceasefire agreements with some ethnic armed groups, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.

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Al-Shabab Abducts 200 Teenagers in Southern Somalia Town
January 22, 2012

(All Africa) – The Al-Qaeda affiliated militants of Al-shabab have on Saturday forcibly abducted at least 200 young boys in the town of Afgoye, some 30 km away from Somalia capital, Mogadishu, residents confirmed.

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