In-Depth: Fighting for the rights of child soldiers Since IRIN
published its first Child Soldiers In-depth in 2003, legal
efforts to curb the practice have been stepped up significantly,
but still, up to 300,000 children are involved in more than 30
conflicts worldwide, according to the UN Children’s Fund
(UNICEF). Efforts by the UN to "name and shame" governments and
rebel groups into abiding by the applicable international and
domestic instruments have had a limited effect; the Secretary-
General's annual report lists dozens of groups that continue to
recruit or use children. The largest numbers of child soldiers
are in Africa, despite the 1999 African Charter on the Rights
and Welfare of the Child, the only regional treaty in the world
that outlaws child involvement. Most observers agree the
practice continues because children make for cheap and obedient
fighters, easily frightened or brainwashed into compliance. The
accessibility of light weaponry has also contributed by making
it possible for very young c