Combatting Child Soldiering: A Pernicious Form of Child Trafficking
Announcement
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:
Co-Chairman, TLHRC
Co-Chairman, TLHRC
In conjunction with:
The Congressional Human Trafficking Caucus
Participants
Opening Remarks
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Rep. James P. McGovern, Co-Chair, TLHRC
Written remarks -
Rep. Randy Hultgren, Co-Chair, TLHRC
Written remarks
Panelists
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Roméo Dallaire, founder of the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, Dalhousie University
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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
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Jesse Eaves, Policy and Government Relations Director, Humanity United