Trafficking of Child Soldiers: Expanding the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Its Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict

Citation:

Valentine, Sandrine. 2003. "Trafficking of Child Soldiers: Expanding the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Its Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict." New England Journal of International & Comparative Law 9: 109-58.

Author: Sandrine Valentine

Keywords: child soldiers, United Nations, child trafficking, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, causes

Annotation:

This paper discusses the trafficking of children for participation in armed conflicts. The author’s purpose is “to give an international definition of the trafficking of child soldiers, identify the root causes of, and trends in, trafficking and, finally, to give recommendations to prevent and address the trafficking of child soldiers.” The paper focuses on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as the main international legal instrument addressing this issue, and “calls for an approach to the problem of child trafficking that promotes the idea of sharing responsibilities within the society for the complete and healthy development of children and the eradication of the trafficking of child soldiers” (Valentine, 110).

Topics: Armed Conflict, Combatants, Child Soldiers, International Law, International Human Rights, Trafficking, Human Trafficking

Year: 2003