(International Peace Institute) – Fewer than one in five documents related to peace processes and ceasefires include provisions for protecting children, according to Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict research. Watchlist Executive Director Eva Smets said this was despite “repeated high-level political agreement and encouragement to incorporate these provisions.” Link
Read more
(IOM) – This monthly review, produced by IOM, provides a summary of news related to disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) in Colombia, along with statistics on ex-combatant adults and disengaged children. Link
(News Deeply) – Juanita Barragán was recruited by Colombia’s left-wing FARC guerrilla group when she was just 13. She thought revolutionary life would offer an escape from a childhood of poverty and neglect, but the reality of fighting was very different. She is one of thousands of child soldiers who have been used by the different […]
(The Local) – A report by the German Alliance for Child Soldiers and other non-profits on Thursday shows that child soldiers in multiple countries often end up using German-made arms. Michael Davies from Sierra Leone was once a child soldier fighting in the civil war-torn west African country. His weapons of choice: German. “When I had […]
(Colombia Reports) – The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on Colombia’s Marxist FARC rebel group to speed up the release of the child soldiers among their ranks, in an interview with El Tiempo.“We must move from word to action in the case of the FARC children,” Christoph Harnisch said. He added that “[he […]
(Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Dozens of child soldiers are expected to be released from Colombia’s FARC rebel group in the coming weeks as part of a peace deal that ended one of the world’s longest-running civil wars. Under a November peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) ending 52-years of […]
(Colombia Reports) – Colombia’s opposition called on Congress to freeze an ongoing peace process with the FARC after the guerrillas failed to surrender child soldiers as promised. On Wednesday, Democratic Center senator and former President Alvaro Uribe proposed a suspension of the vote on the transitional justice system that is part of a peace deal with […]
(International Organization for Migration ) – IOM released a monthly review of a summary of news related to disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) in Colombia, along with statistics on ex-combatant adults and disengaged children. Link
(Colombia Reports) – Colombia’s FARC rebels will soon provide the government with details of the locations of the child soldiers within their ranks according to a statement made by the High Commissioner for Peace on Tuesday. Sergio Jaramillo confirmed after a meeting with the FARC’s Felix Antonio Muñoz Lascarro, alias “Pastor Alape” that the rebels will […]
(BBC) – The Colombian defence ministry says it has rescued eight child soldiers recruited by the National Liberation Army guerrilla group. The group were found during an army operation in a remote northern region, in which at least 12 rebel fighters were captured. The ELN has been fighting the government for more than five decades. Link
