Better than Cure: Preventing the recruitment and use of children in the Chadean National Army

The use of child soldiers by the Chadian armed forces may have ended but children continue to risk being recruited and used for military purposes. The report “Better Than Cure: Preventing the recruitment and use of children in the Chadian national army”, published by Child Soldiers International finds that many of the conditions that made children vulnerable to military exploitation during the armed conflict are unchanged and that the recent, stark reduction in the number of child soldiers could simply be attributable to the end of hostilities. Thus, if security conditions were to deteriorate, unchecked recruitment and use of under-18s would almost certainly resume. The report highlights in particular key difficulties in the organization of Chad’s armed forces, the verification of the age of new recruits, the persistence of informal recruitment and lack of accountability for members of the armed forces.