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Combatting Child Soldiering: A Pernicious Form of Child Trafficking

Date:
Location:
2200 Rayburn House Office Building

Announcement

In conjunction with the Congressional Human Trafficking Caucus

In commemoration of the International Day against the use of Child Soldiers on February 12th, please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a briefing on combatting child soldiering.

Kids have been forced to take active part in at least 21 conflicts since 2001, and tens of thousands of children are serving in armed forces and armed groups today. They are found in government militaries and other government security forces, as well as extremist groups like ISIS and Boko Haram. Of the child soldiers in the world today, many are girls—used in combat roles, as laborers, and as sex slaves or “brides.” The United States has tools at its disposal to fight this crime against the world’s children, but its performance to date has been mixed. 

The briefing will bring together an expert panel to examine the United States’ record and explore ways to improve and deepen U.S. efforts to end the recruitment and use of children as soldiers. 

This briefing will be open to members of Congress, congressional staff, the interested public, and the media. For any questions, please contact Kimberly Stanton (for Mr. McGovern) at 202-225-3599 or Kimberly.Stanton@mail.house.gov or Doug Thomas (for Mr. Hultgren) at 202-225-2976 or Doug.Thomas@mail.house.gov.  

Hosted by:

James P. McGovern
Member of Congress
Co-Chair, TLHRC
Randy Hultgren
Member of Congress
Co-Chair, TLHRC
Witnesses

Opening Remarks

Panelists

  • Roméo Dallaire, founder of the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, Dalhousie University
  • Jo Becker, Advocacy Director, Children’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch and founding Chairperson of the International Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
    Written statement

Moderator

  • Jesse Eaves, Policy and Government Relations Director, Humanity United

Bios

Contact The Commission

Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
4150 O'Neill House Office Building
200 C Street SW
Washington, D.C. 20515
United States of America

Phone: +1 (202) 225-3599
Fax: +1 (202) 226-6584
TLHRC@mail.house.gov

Accessibility

The Commission seeks to make its events, meetings and hearings accessible to persons with disabilities.

If you are in need of special accommodations, please call (202) 225-3599 at least four business days in advance.

Questions with regard to special accommodations in general (including availability of Commission materials in alternative formats and assistive listening devices, sign language interpretation, etc.) may be directed to the Commission.

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