United Nations - International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers (12 February 2018)

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On the occasion of International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers, France reaffirms its determination to protect children in armed conflict.

Children continue to bear the brunt of conflict. In order to pursue this international mobilization, France and UNICEF hosted the “Protect children from war” conference on February 21, 2017, which notably provided an opportunity for new states to support the Paris Principles and Commitments aimed at protecting children from recruitment by armed groups, bringing the number of signatory states to 108. We urge the states that have not yet done so to lend their support to this text.

France also wishes to draw the international community’s attention to new threats against children: in addition to the recruitment of children by armed groups or forces, we must now be vigilant with respect to efforts at early indoctrination and the use of children as human bombs by terrorist groups. That is why we made this subject a priority of our Security Council presidency in October 2017.