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Swaziland

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Kingdom of Swaziland
Population: 
1.0 million (514,000 under 18)
Government Armed Forces: 
not known
Compulsary Recruitment Age: 
conscription not enforced
Voluntary Recruitment Age: 
18
Voting Age: 
18
Optional Protocol: 
not signed
Other Treaties: 
GC AP I
GC AP II
CRC
ILO 138
ILO 182

There were no reports of under-18s in the armed forces.

Government: 

National recruitment legislation and practice

Recruitment was regulated by the 1977 Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force Act, which set the minimum age for conscription and voluntary recruitment into the armed forces at 18 years. Conscription was not, however, currently in force.1

Developments: 

In October 2006 the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed a number of concerns relating to the protection of child rights, including Swaziland’s lack of a systematic review to bring domestic legislation into line with the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the lack of clarity in minimum ages for criminal responsibility and marriage, low birth registration and the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on children in Swaziland. The Committee recommended that Swaziland ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.2

The Committee welcomed the fact that the constitution enacted in 2005 included provisions affording special protection to children.

1 Initial report of Swaziland to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. CRFC/C/SWZ/1, 16 February 2006.

2 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Consideration of report submitted by Swaziland, Concluding observations, UN Doc. CRC/C/SWZ/CO/1, 16 October 2006.

3 Ibid.