Last week I attended a lecture on child soldiers in Africa at Georgetown University. The speaker was Ms. Veronica Eragu Bichetero, a lawyer for the Courts of Judicature of Uganda. Bichetero is also a Senior Fellow with the United States Institute of Peace and studies the role of women in peacekeeping in Africa, specifically the Great Lakes region. She spoke about the factors that led to the use of children in armed conflict and how things have changed. Men used to fight the wars, while women played a role as peacemakers. Civilians were not involved in the conflicts. The conditions changed after independence. Presidents started writing their own constitutions and staying in power longer and longer. Clashes between tribal groups and the lack of a proper definition of a "child" have also contributed to the unrest. While international norm states that a child cannot be a soldier until age 18, many of these cultures have differing views of adulthood.read more

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