Reporte Internacional Anual 2012 sobre la Infancia en la Guerra: Los Dos Congos de la Guerra

The International Annual Report 2012 on Children affected by war has been published on the occasion of the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers (12th February), and the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. The report ‘Los dos Congos de la Guerra’, is related to events in Colombia and the Great Lakes Region of Africa, two conflict-ridden regions where children are used to support military activities. Covering the period 2011-2012, the report has been presented to the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) and Save the Children UK, and submitted to International Justice and Human Rights institutions in Geneva, The Hague and New York. It identifies the grave child rights violations in situations of armed conflict that are perpetrated against children – the abductions, the attacks against schools and hospitals, and the deliberate blocking of humanitarian aid in contravention of international law. Many of the combatant children are girls, who rarely are featured in the coverage of armed conflict. Given their invisibility, one might assume that girls are somehow spared involvement in war. Yet, not only are girls commonly targeted in armed conflict, in many ways their lives are more profoundly affected by it than other groups. For example, girl soldiers are often deliberately or inadvertently excluded from DDR programmes (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration), usually regarded as the first step in the transition from war to peace.