Recruitment of Boys and Girls: Invisible Phenomenon, Manifest Crime

Over the past 15 years the international community has committed to advocate in favor of the rights of the children and against the phenomenon of child recruitment. All their efforts are now materialized in conventions, protocols and principles for the protection of children and the prosecution of child recruitment as a war crime. In Colombia, thousands of boys and girls are victims of illegal recruitment. The vulnerability that children face on a daily basis and the prevalent impunity of the recruiters. The fact that the international community is watching the developments closely in the fight against child recruitment, places Colombia in a position where it needs to decide whether to continue to expose itself to the legal consequences of ignoring the rights of its children, or to start to comply with its national and international responsibilities with regards to child protection and accountability.