Governments involved in the use of children as soldiers may no longer be eligible for US military assistance under a law enacted in December 2008. The legislation, introduced by Senators Richard Durbin and Sam Brownback, restricts US military training, financing, and other defense-related assistance to countries that recruit children into their armed forces or support militia groups that use child soldiers. Human Rights Watch advocated for the measure for three years, helping craft the language in the bill, providing expert testimony and organizing witnesses for Senate and House hearings, lobbying members of Congress to co-sponsor the bill, working with other organizations to generate grassroots support for the bill, and producing an advocacy video that was seen by tens of thousands of people. The new law, which could affect Afghanistan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Uganda, creates a powerful incentive for governments to end the exploitation of children during conflict.
Read more: https://www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/children%E2%80%99s-rights
