Every year on February 12, the world marks the International Day against the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers, also known as “Red Hand Day”. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (OPAC) prohibits the forced recruitment of children under the age of 18 and their use in hostilities. Currently, 172 UN Member States have ratified OPAC, demonstrating their commitment to preventing this grave violation against children, while 17 countries have neither signed nor ratified the optional protocol. By ratifying the OPAC on April 23, 2022, Rwanda reaffirmed its commitment to increased protection of children in situations of armed conflict. Beyond ratifying international legal child protection frameworks, Rwanda works closely with partners like the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace, and Security to effectively implement these protection frameworks nationally and internationally. One such international framework, The Vancouver Principles on Peacekeeping and the Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers, was launched in 2017 to strengthen normative frameworks for protecting children in armed conflict and to prioritize the prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers within UN peacekeeping missions. Rwanda was the first African country to endorse the Vancouver Principles and is currently leading efforts to implement the principles across the continent. As a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Rwanda has played a leading role in the promotion of a Children, Peace, and Security agenda through the deployment of UN peacekeepers, who have acquired the necessary experience to deal effectively with armed conflict challenges including, but not limited to, interacting with children who have been recruited and used and, protecting civilians as well as preventing mass atrocities. The Dallaire Institute’s Red Hand Day campaign is one that advances the implementation of a children's peace and security agenda and encourages the prioritization of children, their rights, and their protection, especially those who have been involved, most times against their will, in committing violence and atrocities. Despite the existence of several international legal frameworks and national action plans to protect children from the devastating effects of war, children continue to bear the brunt of conflicts waged by adults. Around 420 million children live in conflict-affected areas around the world. As the number of children affected by conflict increases, so does their risk of being recruited and used in armed violence. Over the past 30 years, the risk of children being recruited and used in armed violence has doubled from 5% in 1990 to over 10% today. Yet substantial neglect to the issue remains visible among several countries. The annual report of the United Nations Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict shows a sharp increase in grave violations against children in armed conflict, including killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, the abduction of children, as well as a denial of humanitarian assistance to children. The recruitment and use of children substantially increase the risk that children will be exposed to other grave violations. As such, effectively preventing children's recruitment and use can lead to reductions in other violations against children and act as a lynchpin in further conflict prevention efforts. It is sad to believe that some state armed forces continue to recruit and use children to fight adult wars while armed groups see the use of children as a tactical and strategic advantage. This tragic reality strips children of their childhood and has devastating effects on their future. We need to go back to the basics and put the rights of children at the centre of our peace and security agendas and, most importantly, adopt a whole of society approach, which goes beyond the security dimension, to effectively and comprehensively prevent and combat any forms of violence committed against children. By taking this approach, together we can make the use of children a liability and not just a human rights violation. The Dallaire Institute for Children Peace and Security, in partnership with the Government of Rwanda, has been working for over a decade to reverse the current trends of pervasive and persistent recruitment and use of children as soldiers and end cycles of violence on the continent by taking concrete actions such as accelerating action on the implementation of the Vancouver principles, increasing operational effectiveness of the security sector through training and integrating children’s and community perspectives into security sector responses . In the words of Lt Gen (RTD) Roméo A. Dallaire, Founder of the Dallaire Institute for Children Peace and Security said, “For the past 29 years, I have worked to ensure that the world faces its disgraceful failures to protect the people of Rwanda, and to call upon the world to prevent mass atrocities and Genocide”. The Red Hand Day is a day that demonstrates the hope for the Children on the African continent and for the future of humanity. We will continue to fight until one day we will make recruitment and use of children soldiers unthinkable”. Dr Shelly Whitman, the Dallaire Institute’s Executive Director says, “We can’t achieve peace without protecting children from violence. Countries should step up and fight the recruitment and use of child soldiers. Our work has proved to us that training military and police leads to prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers while our research has also illustrated that preventing children from being recruited as child soldiers means preventing traumatic stress of soldiers in the battlefield” Concluding, it is important to emphasize the gravity and impact of the current dynamics and complexities of the ongoing wars and conflicts on the African conflict on lives of children and youth. The collective solutions to address the issue of children used in conflict require engagement at all levels of national, regional, and international cooperation. Besides, governments should adopt a sustainable investment approach to proper rehabilitation and reintegration programmes of children formerly used as soldiers to avoid potential re-recruitment. In addition, the role of youth in countering recruitment and use of children as soldiers is an opportunity to seize for, they are positive actors of change in our societies but more importantly, perpetrators of these crimes should face justice.
