Since 1996, the issue of children affected by armed conflict has been placed firmly on the international agenda, beginning with the groundbreaking report of Graça Machel and the establishment of the mandate of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

Since then, a solid body of international legal standards has been elaborated. For example: the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court classifies the recruitment of children into fighting forces as a war crime and a crime against humanity. The International Labour Organization’s Convention No. 182 defines child soldiering as one of the worst forms of child labour. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child outlaws child soldiering, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child established 18 as the minimum age for children’s participation in hostilities.

Here are links to some of the most important documents defining how the world should act to protect its children:

10 May 2002 A World Fit For Children
6 Sep 2000 United Nations Millennium Declaration
25 May 2000 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict
25 May 2000 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
17 Jun 1999 International Labour Organization, Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour
12 Jul 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
25 Jun 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
11 Jul 1990 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
20 Nov 1989 The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
8 Jun 1977 Geneva Convention – Additional Protocol I
8 Jun 1977 Geneva Convention – Additional Protocol II
12 Aug 1949 The Fourth Geneva Convention
10 Dec 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
26 Jun 1945 United Nations Charter