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"Thanks
again for coming and for such an excellent presentation
with both the PowerPoint and the video. It was
a powerful message, and you delivered it well."
- Mary Crosby, Deputy Executive Director, American
Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
(regarding a presentation to the National Consortium
on Child and Adolescent Mental Health)
YAP
International seeks to make people aware that
the excessive violence of armed conflicts has
left the battlefields and entered the backyards
of civilians. This practice is so common in many
areas of the world that many children believe
this behavior is normal. The physical, emotional,
social, and psychological damage these children
suffer is devastating; nonetheless, many of these
children cannot afford or do not have access to
counseling and rehabilitation programs, and these
services are essential because the learned behavior
contributes to a continuing cycle of violence.
An
estimated 300,000 children are currently involved
in more than 30 armed conflicts around the world.
With some child soldiers as young as seven years
old, boys and girls are being used as porters,
spies, cooks, landmine sweepers, sexual slaves,
and armed fighters. Using children as soldiers
is a fundamental abuse of children’s rights
and considered one of the worst forms of child
labor.
YAP International advocates to prevent
and eliminate the use of child soldiers and for
increased funding for rehabilitation and reintegration
programs for former child soldiers, with the belief
that children, even those exposed to tremendous
violence, are capable of becoming productive adults
when provided with the counseling and assistance
they need and deserve.
- Child Soldiers: Youth who
Participate in Armed Conflict
-
Case
Studies on the Impact of Small Arms on War-Affected
Children
(Prepared for the UN Conference on Illicit
Trade in Small Arms in All its Aspects in
July 2001).
-
Cambodia: Pol Pot's Legacy of Violence
Focuses on the impact of the Khmer Rouge's
genocidal conflict within Cambodia on children
and long-term implications for Cambodian society.
Click
here to download the full report as a
PDF file.
-
Mozambique: The Battle Continues for
Former Child Soldiers
Focuses on use of child soldiers during Mozambique's
long civil war and the efforts made to reintegrate
former child soldiers since the conclusion
of the war.
Click
here to download the full report as a
PDF file.
-
Colombia: No Safe Haven From
War
Examines impact of small arms on children
as violence has moved into Colombian society
in ever-expanding ripples from political conflict
to issues of displacement, drug trade and
general crime. Click
here to download the full report as a
PDF file.
- Special Report on the Convention
on the Rights of the Child in the United States
Click
here to download the full report as a PDF
file.
•
Actively participate in meetings of the U.S. Campaign
to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.
•
Supported the successful ratification of the UN
Optional Protocol to the CRC on the recruitment
of child soldiers and on the use of children in
armed combat.
•
Participated in developing the Valencia Declaration
on Children Affected by Armed Conflict, Spain.
•
In the face of the war on terrorism, advocating
for the special protection of children in Afghanistan
and Iraq, and adoption of government policies
regulating fair treatment of detained child soldiers
worldwide.
•
Successfully campaigned to decrease the flow of
illegal conflict diamonds in Sierra Leone.
•
Continue to campaign to end the brutal mutilations
and amputations that armed factions have carried
out to intimidate civilian populations, including
children.
•
Attended the UN/Showtime debut of the Michael
Douglas (Ambassador to the UN) film on child soldiers
•
Presented sessions on child soldiers to American
University; the American Psychological Association;
the Religious Action Center; and the National
Consortium on Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
•
Consulted with the U.S. Department of Labor -
Children in the Crossfire Conference; the documentary
team producing Poetry in Wartime; and the Oprah
Winfrey show on the issue of Child Soldiers.
•
Developed a continuing education program on Child
Soldiers and Armed Conflict for DC Public Schools.
•
Creating a new curriculum and support materials
on Child Soldiers for use in high schools.
•
Developed a new user-friendly website with information
of the issue of Child Soldiers.
•
Continue to increase attention and financial support
for the issue of Child Soldiers.
YAP
International is a member of the U.S. Campaign
to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. In this role,
we help develop the advocacy strategy for the
Campaign and participate in public events and
meetings with decision makers in Washington, DC.
The U.S. Campaign supports an international ban
on the military recruitment and participation
in armed conflict of children under the age of
18. Campaign goals include:
•
Raise the worldwide military enlistment age to
18
• Worldwide ratification of the child soldiers
protocol of the UN CRC.
• Eliminate U.S. military aid facilitating
use of child soldiers by governments or armed
political groups
• Increase U.S. governmental and non-governmental
support for programs that prevent child recruitment
and provide for the demobilization, rehabilitation,
and social reintegration of child soldiers
By informing the public, utilizing the media,
and educating Congress and the U.S. Administration,
the campaign works to create the political will
necessary to end the use of child soldiers. The
Campaign includes more than 200 national and local
organizations, including human rights, humanitarian,
peace and security, religious, veterans, children's,
youth, labor, student, and professional groups.
The U.S. Campaign is affiliated with the international
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, which
encompasses national campaigns and networks in
over 30 countries around the world.
© copyright - Youth
Advocate Program International 2003-04
Last updated 7/8/2004
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