Despite progress, efforts to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers are too little and too late for many children.
The Child Soldiers Global Report 2008details how a near global consensus that children should not be used as soldiers and strenuous international efforts have failed to protect tens of thousands of children from war. When armed conflict exists, children will almost inevitably become involved as soldiers.
This is the third edition of the report and covers the period April 2004 to October 2007.
Girl soldiers and others gathered at a Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist) event in Tila, Rolpa district, Nepal (Marcus Bleasdale 2005)
Former girl soldier with a child she gave birth to whilst in an armed group, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Amnesty International 2006)
Mural in a youth centre in Dheisheh refugee camp, Bethlehem, the West Bank (Coalition 2007)
Former child soldier talks to a professional counsellor at a rehabilitation centre in Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Christian Relief Network 2005)
Ethnic Wa child soldier in the ceasefire group, the United Wa State Army, at a Wa region checkpoint, Shan State, northern Myanmar (Private source 2004)
Drawing by a former child soldier of the armed group National Liberation Forces, Burundi (Coalition 2006)
Uganda Coalition launch of a training event on child protection for local authorities, Pader district, Uganda (Uganda Coalition 2007)
Children in a local community group beside a military camp in Bouake, northern Cote d'Ivoire (Coalition 2006)
Peace monument in Kono, former stronghold of the armed group the Revolutionary United Front, Sierra Leone (Coalition 2005)
Mural in a youth centre in Dheisheh refugee camp, Bethlehem, the West Bank (Coalition 2007)
Children play near a checkpoint manned by government soldiers, Puerto Asis, Putumayo, Colombia (Jason P. Howe 2005)
Female government soldier puts camouflage cream on a boy's face during a 'Soldiers for a Day' session at school, Colombia (Jason P. Howe 2005)
Former girl soldier, abducted by the LRA, sitting with two of her children in the army's Child Protection Unit before being handed over to a reintegration organization, Gulu, northern Uganda (Jonathan Hyams 2007)
Former child soldier, handicapped after stepping on a land mine, World Vision rehabilitation centre, Gulu, northern Uganda (Jake Price 2005)
