Impact of war on children

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The number of children in armed conflict zones are around 250 million.[1] They confront physical and mental harms from war experiences.

"Armed conflict" is defined in two ways according to International Humanitarian Law: "1) international armed conflicts, opposing two or more States, 2) non-international armed conflicts, between governmental forces and nongovernmental armed groups, or between such groups only."[2]

Children in war-zones may act as perpetrators, becoming child soldiers. It is estimated that there are around 300,000 child soldiers around the world and 40 percent of them are girls.[3][4] Children are also victims of armed conflicts. They are forced to evacuate,[5] suffer from sexually transmitted diseases and are deprived of education opportunities.[6]

  1. ^ "Conflict". UNICEF USA. Archived from the original on 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  2. ^ "How is the term "Armed Conflict" defined in international humanitarian law? - ICRC". www.icrc.org. 2008-03-17. Archived from the original on 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  3. ^ "4 out of 10 child soldiers are girls". United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC). Archived from the original on 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Smith, Deborah (September 2001). "Children in the heat of war". American Psychological Association. Archived from the original on 2018-02-20. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  6. ^ Machel G, Salgado S (2001). The Impact of War on Children: A review of progress since the 1996 United Nations Report on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children. UNICEF. ISBN 978-1-85065-485-8.