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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 08/04
U.S. Military Assistance to 1460 Report Countries: 1990–2005
Victoria Garcia
Center for Defense Information
April 2004
Abstract
On Jan. 30, 2003, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted resolution 1460, which reaffirms the council’s previous resolutions (1261, 1314, and 1379) on children and armed conflict and calls on all parties to armed conflict to stop using child soldiers. Resolution 1460 also requests that the UN secretary general list the progress made by the 23 parties to conflict on the Security Council’s agenda (S/2002/1299), including governmental armed groups that continue to use or recruit child soldiers. In response to Resolution 1460, and in advance of the Security Council’s fourth open debate on children in armed conflict, the Coalition to stop the Use of Child Soldiers published a report that lists 17 countries where child soldiers were being used from January 2003 through September 2003. While the report does not cover every situation where children are being deployed, it specifically includes all of the countries covered on the Security Council’s agenda, as well as other situations deemed critical by the coalition.
Of the 17 countries listed in the coalition’s report, 14 receive, or are poised to receive, military assistance from the United States. In countries such as Sri Lanka and Colombia, government allied militias and paramilitary forces frequently use child soldiers, yet the United States provides these governments with extensive International Military Education and Training (IMET) assistance for professional education in military management and technical training on U.S. weapons. In other countries, such as Nepal, the United States significantly stepped up its military assistance since Sept. 11, 2001, despite the fact that both government and rebel forces actively use child soldiers. Below is a list of the countries covered in the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers’ 1460 Report, a brief explanation of the child soldier situation in each country, and the amount of military assistance and hardware being provided to these countries by the United States.
