The Latin American and Caribbean Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers, held in Montevideo, Uruguay, from 5 to 8 July 1999:
Appalled that more than 300,000 children under 18 years of age are currently participating in armed conflicts worldwide;
Recalling the principles of the best interests of the child, non-discrimination and comprehensive protection promoted in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by 191 states;
Recalling that the UN Commission on Human Rights, in its resolution 1999/80 on the Rights of the Child, has reaffirmed "the urgent need to raise the current minimum age limit set by article 38 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the recruitment and participation of any person in armed conflicts" and that the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, among other recommendations, "strongly supports the adoption of an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child aimed at prohibiting the recruitment of children under 18 years of age into the armed forces and armed groups and their participation in armed conflict. She further urges States to take immediate unilateral action to raise the age of enlistment to 18 years."( E/CN.4/1999/39, para 97);
Recalling that the forced or voluntary recruitment of children under 18 years of age and their use for direct or indirect participation in international and non-international armed conflict, as well as in situations of internal violence, whether by the armed forces or any armed group, constitutes a violation of the human rights of boys and girls;
Taking into account the economic, social, political and cultural causes of the phenomenon of child soldiers and considering that the recruitment of children under 18 years of age, whether by national armed forces or by armed groups, can in no circumstances be considered "voluntary";
Welcoming the adoption of the Statute of the International Criminal Court which makes "conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into the national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities" a war crime, both in international and internal armed conflict, whether by armed forces or armed groups, and hopeful that in future the minimum age will be raised to 18 years;
Welcoming Convention No. 182 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, adopted unanimously by the International Labour Conference in June 1999, which includes "forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict" as one of the worst forms of child labour;
Welcoming the proclamation by the United Nations General Assembly of the year 2000 as the International Year for a Culture of Peace;
Welcoming and supporting the work of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to prohibit the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict;
Welcoming the presence as participants or observers at this Conference of diplomatic delegations and defence ministry representatives from several Latin American and Caribbean countries and from other regions of the world, as well as that of inter-governmental organisations and national and international non-governmental organisations;
Determined to put an end to the use of children as soldiers;
1) Solemnly declares that the use of any child under 18 years of age by any national armed force or armed group is, without exception, in peacetime as in war, contrary to the spirit of comprehensive protection promoted in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, even where the child under 18 years claims or is claimed to be a volunteer;
2) Considers it a priority aim to achieve the eradication of forced or voluntary recruitment of children under 18 years of age by the armed forces and any armed group, or their use for direct or indirect participation in international and non-international armed conflict, as well as in situations of internal violence;
3) Urges all national armed forces and all armed groups operating at the instigation of the State or with its consent or acquiescence to stop recruiting children under 18 years of age or using them to participate directly or indirectly in armed conflict or in any situation of internal violence;
4) Urges all armed opposition groups and dissident armed forces to stop recruiting children under 18 years of age or using them to participate directly or indirectly in armed conflict or in any situation of internal violence;
5) Urges all Latin American and Caribbean States:
- a) in compliance with their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to promote an environment that favours the full, safe and healthy development of children and to take all necessary measures to ensure that no child under 18 years of age participates in international or non-international armed conflict, nor in situations of internal violence;
6) Calls upon the Organization of American States and its member states to promote an end to the forced or voluntary recruitment of children under 18 years of age and their use for direct or indirect participation in international and non-international armed conflict as well as in situations of internal violence, by the armed forces or any armed group across the continent, and in particular calls upon:
- a) the Permanent Council to take up the issue of children under 18 years as soldiers in its work;
7) Calls upon all States around the world:
- a) actively to support the adoption of an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child setting 18 years as the minimum age for all military recruitment and participation in international and non-international armed conflict, as well as in situations of internal violence;
8) Calls upon the United Nations system to provide adequate assistance to ensure the implementation of the above aims, in particular by:
- a) providing financial, technical and other resources so as to offer alternatives to children under the age of 18 induced by circumstance to join armed forces or armed groups and to facilitate the demobilisation, rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers;
9) Calls on civil society and non-governmental organisations, particularly those in Latin America and the Caribbean:
- a) to commit themselves to work for the fulfilment and implementation of this Declaration and to disseminate it broadly; and,
10) Calls on non-governmental organisations to submit alternative reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in order to foster a constructive dialogue with States parties and other international organisations dealing with issues relating to the promotion and protection of the rights of the child and to transmit information to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict;
11) Calls upon Latin American, Caribbean and international media to support efforts to end the use of children under 18 years of age as soldiers, bearing in mind the imperative need to protect children from stigmatisation and to preserve their dignity, safety and self-respect;
12) Decides to present this Declaration to the Organisation of American States and to request the Secretariat of the Organisation to forward it to the Foreign Ministries of member states;
13) Expresses its warmest appreciation to the people and government of Uruguay for hosting this Conference.
Adopted in Montevideo, Uruguay, on 8 July 1999.