Editing Children in the military (section)

==== 1990s ====
In the 1990s NGOs established the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (now Child Soldiers International) to work with sympathetic governments on a campaign for a new treaty to correct the deficiencies they saw in the CRC.<ref name="Becker-2013" /> After a global campaign lasting six years, the treaty was adopted in 2000 as the [[Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict]] (OPAC). The treaty prohibits child conscription, ensures that military recruits are no younger than 16, and forbids the use of child recruits in hostilities. The treaty also forbids non-state armed groups from recruiting anyone under the age of 18 for any purpose.<ref name="ohchr-2000" /> Although most states negotiating OPAC supported a ban on recruiting children, some states, led by the US in alliance with the UK, objected to this.<ref name="Becker-2013" /><ref name="Brett-2005" /> As such, the treaty does not ban the recruitment of children aged 16 or 17, although it allows states to bind themselves to a higher standard in law.<ref name="ohchr-2000" />