Editing Children in the military (section)

=== State armed forces ===
The adoption in 2000 of the [[Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict]] (OPAC) committed states who ratified it to "take all feasible measures" to ensure that no child takes a direct part in hostilities and to cease recruitment below the age of 16.<ref name="CSI-2017b" /> As most states have now opted into OPAC, the global trend has been towards reserving military recruitment to adulthood, known as the ''Straight-18'' standard.<ref name="CSI-2017a" /><ref name="CSI-2017b">{{Cite news|url=https://www.child-soldiers.org/international-laws-and-child-rights|title=International laws and child rights|last=Child Soldiers International|year=2017|access-date=25 January 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202005301/https://www.child-soldiers.org/international-laws-and-child-rights|archive-date=2 February 2018|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Nonetheless, {{As of|2018|lc=y}}, children aged under 18 were still being recruited and trained for military purposes in 46 countries.<ref name="CSI-2018a">{{Cite web|url=http://childsoldiersworldindex.org/|title=Child Soldiers World Index|last=Child Soldiers International|year=2018|website=childsoldiersworldindex.org|language=en|access-date=29 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329153356/http://childsoldiersworldindex.org/|archive-date=29 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Most of these states recruit from age 17, fewer than 20 recruit from age 16, and an unknown, smaller number, recruit younger children.<ref name="CSI-2017a">{{Cite news|url=https://www.child-soldiers.org/where-are-there-child-soldiers|title=Where are child soldiers?|last=Child Soldiers International|year=2017|access-date=25 January 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201210707/https://www.child-soldiers.org/where-are-there-child-soldiers|archive-date=1 February 2018|url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref name="CSI-2012" /><ref name="UN SecGen-2017">{{Cite web|url=http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2017/821&Lang=E&Area=UNDOC|title=Report of the Secretary-General: Children and armed conflict, 2017|last=United Nations Secretary-General|year=2017|publisher=United Nations|page=41|access-date=24 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125015450/http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S%2F2017%2F821&Lang=E&Area=UNDOC|archive-date=25 January 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{As of|2022}}, the United Nations (UN) verified that nine state armed forces were using children in hostilities: [[Child soldiers in the Central African Republic|Central African Republic]], [[Child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Mali]], [[Child soldiers in Somalia|Somalia]], and [[South Sudan]] in Africa; Palestine, [[Syria]] and [[Yemen]] in Western Asia; [[Afghanistan]] in Central Asia; and [[Myanmar]] in South East Asia.<ref name="UN SecGen-2022" />

The United Nations (UN) [[Committee on the Rights of the Child]] and others have called for an end to the recruitment of children by state armed forces, arguing that [[Recruit training|military training]], the military environment, and a binding contract of service are not compatible with children's rights and jeopardize healthy development.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC/C/GC/20&Lang=en|title=General comment No. 20 (2016) on the implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence|last=Committee on the Rights of the Child|year=2016|website=tbinternet.ohchr.org|language=en-us|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926052204/https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2FC%2FGC%2F20&Lang=en|archive-date=26 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CSI-2012" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://downloads.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/UnicefChildSoldiersbriefing_UKweb.pdf?_ga=2.190210859.1420289747.1516916352-952164330.1516916352|title=Ending the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict|last=UNICEF|year=2017|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926014225/https://downloads.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/UnicefChildSoldiersbriefing_UKweb.pdf?_ga=2.190210859.1420289747.1516916352-952164330.1516916352|archive-date=26 September 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="UN">{{Cite web|url=https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/children-not-soldiers/|title=Children, Not Soldiers {{!}} United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict|publisher=United Nations|language=en-US|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119171732/https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/children-not-soldiers/|archive-date=19 January 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>