Use of Child Soldiers and Sex Slaves by ISIS and Taliban

A Child Soldier refers to any individual below the age of 18 (according to the Convention on the Rights of a Child) who is or has been enlisted or used by an armed force or military organisation, including, boys and girls used as combatants, cooks, cleaners, couriers or spies. Girls are often forced into sexual slavery. It is estimated that around 300,000 children are involved conflicts in at least 20 countries from around the world, and every 4 in 10 of them are girls.

The State of Israel understands the urgency of discussing the protection of children, particularly in times of armed conflict on this council. It is estimated that around 300,000 children are involved conflicts in at least 20 countries from around the world. The main reason why armed forces choose children over adults is because of the ease by which children can be manipulated. Children are naive, innocent, unconscious of danger and are “inexpensive.” They tend to obey and do not challenge authority. Some of them voluntarily enlist into a military organisation as a route out of poverty, for refuge, or to compensate for the loss of their families or a lack of education. UN has reported that there are over 40 million people living as sex slaves in the world today.

The State of Israel has been striving to eradicate the use of children in armed conflicts, both domestically and internationally, despite difficulties faced due to non-governmental organisations in the country. The State of Israel ratified to the Convention on the Rights of the Child by 3rd of October, 1991. However, we hold that the Convention does not apple in the West Bank. We signed to the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC) on 14th November, 2001, and ratified it on 18th July, 2005.

Minimum age for military conscription is 18 years (17 years on request). Israel Defence Forces training requires recruits, including those under the age of 18 years, to patrol and defend military bases, but do not come under direct danger. Children aged 15 years and above participate in the ‘Civil Guard,’ whose role includes operating checkpoints, and protecting settlements from attack.

There were numerous reports by UN Agencies and NGOs that Israeli forces used Palestinian children as human shields and informants during the conflicts between 2004-2014 and in 2016. To oppose these beliefs, the Israeli High Court prohibited the practice of using Palestinian civilians and children as human shields, thus complying Article 51 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. 'You cannot exploit the civilian population for the army's military needs, and you cannot force them to collaborate,' said the Israeli chief justice, Aharon Barak. 'Based on this principle, we rule it illegal to use civilians as human shields.' Israel has not been listed by the UN for child recruitment

Israel is a firm believer in the fact that children are the face of our future, and therefore must be protected at all costs to ensure their welfare, so that, when they become the leaders of tomorrow, they may be able to contribute to world peace, and build a better future for generations to come. In Israel, unlawful recruitment of children in armed conflict and the usage of child participation in hostilities is criminalised.

To end child recruitment, Israel and Palestine authorities propose suggestions to:

• Educate military forces with clear guidelines on the recruitment of combatants of certain ages
• Ensure guidelines are followed through enforcement.
• Make the dishonour of such laws a punishable law.

Israel believe that discussing possible solutions to these issues will be instrumental to the members of the council, and will shed light on the desires and incentives of each country on this topic. We look forward to cooperating with similarly responsible nations from around the world to work towards a safe treatment of children and respect of their rights worldwide. A good attempt however there is a lot of room for improvement. Paper seems to focus solely on child soldiers, barely touching upon sex slaves.

Delegate has not talked about children soldiers with respect to the terrorist organisations in question. Stance of nation on the usage of child soldiers would be more meaningful if points are added to show nation’s response to usage of child soldiers by ISIS and Taliban. Please stay relevant to the topic and link your points to it otherwise they serve no purpose. Point has been repeated (underlined for reference).

Solutions are once again very general with little to no relevance to ISIS and Taliban.