wfn.org | LWF Welcomes UN Ban on Child Soldiers

["Frank Imhoff" <franki@elca.org>]

Churches Asked to Urge National Governments to Ratify Protocol

GENEVA, 21 February 2002 (LWI) - The General Secretary of the Lutheran
World
Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko, has welcomed the entering into
force
of the United Nations ban on the deployment of children in armed conflict. 

Noko said that the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child concerning their participation in armed conflict is a milestone
in
the struggle to eliminate the use of children and youths under 18 years of
age as soldiers.

Accompanied by symbolic actions, the UN ban took effect February 12 after
its ratification by 14 states. The protocol was developed between 1994 and
2000 and adopted by the UN General Assembly. It forbids member states to
enlist under-18-year-olds for fighting or to force them to serve in the
military. But voluntary military service remains possible from the age of
16.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, said that the
optional
protocol was a new, promising mechanism to protect minors, and that it was
now important to implement the ban worldwide. Speaking in Geneva, February
12, she said she would try to convince as many states as possible to accede
to the new protocol.

The coalition against the deployment of child soldiers had set up a
thousand
red hands, its symbol, on the Geneva UN headquarters park. According to the
group, an estimated 300,000 minors in some 35 countries are fighting in
armies or with non-governmental militias.

The goal now must be to achieve a general ratification of this important
international instrument, Noko said. Pointing to the significant role the
churches could play in this regard, he urged LWF member churches to appeal
to
national governments to ratify the optional protocol as soon as possible.
The
churches should also hold their governments accountable for the full,
comprehensive implementation of the obligations set out by the protocol, he
noted.

He encouraged the churches to actively support this issue and work to
ensure
that no child would be exposed in future to the brutality of armed
conflict.

The German child soldier coordinating group, of which the LWF National
Committee in Germany is a member, has called upon their national government
to "ratify this important international instrument as soon as possible and
without any reservations and age restrictions." 

The group considers February 12 as an important date for all children and
young people growing up in conflict and crisis areas. They now have better
protection against recruitment and engagement in war. As the protocol
enters
into force, recruitment of children and young people will become more
difficult, according to the coalition. 

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 133 member
churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5 million of the 64.3 million
Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas
of common interest such as ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission
and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the
Lutheran
World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material presented does
not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units.
Where
the dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be
freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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