An Elusive Mandate: Enforcing the Prohibition on the Use of Child Soldiers

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) defines child soldiers as "any child-boy or girl-under eighteen years of age, who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity." This definition, unfortunately, bears no real connection to the prohibition on the use of child soldiers. Instead, the practice of using child soldiers, while universally viewed as morally repugnant, has only recently been construed as applying to children age fifteen and older. This age limit was established in 2002 by the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (OPAC). Accountability mechanisms have not yet caught up to OPAC, and the contemporary restriction under international humanitarian law (IHL) and international criminal law (ICL) applies only to children under the age of fifteen years. Consequently, the use of child soldiers remains pervasive, and the systems of enforcement designed to remediate the problem have been unable to effectuate the prohibition.