(AFP) – There are up to 500,000 child soldiers around the world, Nobel laureate and child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi said Friday, terming it the worst form of child abuse. Satyarthi, who is attending an International Labour Organization summit in Geneva, said global funding for education — the best means to fight child labour and servitude — had gone down dramatically over the past four years. “There are between 400,000 and 500,000 child soldiers across the world but the actual numbers could be far higher because there are hidden militant groups kidnapping children and forcing them to use guns,” he told reporters.
