Colombia: Children affected by armed conflict

This Alternative Report was submitted by Human Rights Watch at the 25th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which concerns children affected by armed conflict in Colombia. Political violence continues to harm children, both as victims and as child soldiers, some of whom have been forced to take part in hostilities or targeted by armed groups for perceived allegiance to armed groups. All armed groups use children in some way to fight. According to the Colombian Institute of Family Well-Being (Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar, ICBF), the government’s child welfare agency, as many as 4,000 children may currently be involved in Colombia’s armed conflict.