Exploitation of child-soldiers peaked in 2014, Vatican envoy tells UN

March 26, 2015

“The year 2014 marked the worst year in the modern era of children being used as soldiers in armed conflicts,” a Vatican representative pointed out in a March 25 address to the UN Security Council.

“In Syria and Iraq alone, we have seen more than 10,000 children forced and coerced into becoming child soldiers,” reported Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the permanent representative of the Holy See at UN headquarters in New York, speaking to a session on children in armed conflict. The archbishop said that despite an international consensus against the use of children as soldiers, terrorist groups and “other non-state actors” have continued the practice.

“The international community already has many of the tools necessary to confront the use of child soldiers,” Archbishop Auza said. “However, it lacks the political will and moral courage to take the steps needed to address the challenge.”

 

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Further information:

• Intervention of H.E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza (Holy See Mission)