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	Children not involved in an armed conflict face a whole range of dangers by ICRC, Red Cross, Red Crescent Movement   Children are especially vulnerable in armed conflicts. Despite the protection provided by law, they continue to be recruited by armed forces and armed groups. They are often separated from their families, driven from their homes, killed, maimed, sexually abused or exploited in other ways.   Children in war benefit from the general protection of international humanitarian law as civilians or combatants. But there are also special provisions that recognize their particular vulnerability and needs in armed conflicts.   Children are still recruited by national armed forces. Over the past few decades the recruitment of children by armed groups, especially in Africa, became a serious humanitarian problem. In many situations children carry arms and actively take part in the fighting. But they can also be used in supporting roles, such as carrying supplies or providing military intelligence, that puts them in great danger.   The 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions were the first international treaties to try and tackle these situations. They prohibit the recruitment and participation in hostilities of children under the age of 15. In international armed conflicts, the first Additional Protocol also requires military recruitment of 15 to 18 year olds to prioritize the oldest.   The 1989 Convention on the rights of the child, which has achieved almost universal ratification, also included the 15 age limit. An optional protocol to this Convention, in May 2000, lifted the age for compulsory recruitment to 18 and called on States to raise the minimum age for voluntary recruitment above 15. It insisted that armed groups should not use children under 18 in any circumstances and called on States to criminalize such practices.   Recognition of a universal age limit of 18 by the international community has still not been achieved. The ICRC and its partners in the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are pressing for such a limit through further development of both international and national law.   In the field, the ICRC assists the demobilization of child soldiers and provides psychological and other support to enable their reintroduction to a normal child’s life.   Children not involved in an armed conflict face a whole range of dangers for which IHL and relevant children''s rights instruments provide special protection. They are guaranteed the general protection of non-combatants, but their special needs for medical help, food, shelter and clothing are recognized by the Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Protocols.   Children who are orphaned or separated from their families must be identified, protected and provided with special facilities that ensure their physical safety. Their educational needs must also be provided for. At the same time, all appropriate steps must be taken to facilitate the reunion of families temporarily separated.   Children who are detained as the result of an armed conflict must be treated humanely. They should be kept with their family group. If this is not possible, they should be separated from adult prisoners or detainees.   IHL aims to limit the impact of war on children. Regrettably, the very nature of today’s conflicts means that even greater efforts need to be made on the ground, by the ICRC and others, to save children from the horrors of war and to help them rebuild their lives once the conflict is over. Visit the related web page
	Kampala Declaration calls on African Governments to support Community Paralegals by Global Rights, Namati, Open Society Justice Uganda   Kampala, Uganda – More than fifty organizations from twenty African countries are urging governments to strengthen access to justice and accountability across the continent by embracing the potential of community paralegals.   The Kampala Declaration on Community Paralegals, issued today, reflects a new push to seek wider government recognition of the role of paralegals in resolving conflict, supporting access to state services, and fighting corruption.   The declaration, which follows a meeting in Kampala from July 9-11, calls on governments to do three things: to recognize the role community paralegals play in providing primary justice services, to invest in the scale-up of paralegal efforts, and to protect the independence of paralegals.   Community paralegals use knowledge of law and government and tools like mediation, organizing, education, and advocacy to seek concrete solutions to instances of injustice. Paralegals are connected to lawyers who offer guidance and who can resort to litigation when other methods fail.   “Community paralegals are the frontline of our struggle for justice,” said Donald Rukare, country director of Global Rights Uganda, which co-hosted the meeting with the Open Society Justice Initiative and the legal empowerment organization Namati. “Paralegals make the law work for people.”   Namati is an international organization dedicated to legal empowerment. Legal empowerment is about the capacity of all people to exercise their rights and to participate in the process of governing. In partnership with civil society groups and governments, Namati implements and evaluates innovative interventions along several themes, including environmental justice, community land protection, and the accountability of essential public services. Namati also hosts the Global Legal Empowerment Network. For more information, visit www.namati.org   The declaration points to recent legislation including a legal aid law passed in Sierra Leone in May of this year, which calls for a community paralegal to serve in every chiefdom of the country.   “Government recognition is crucial for the legitimacy and sustainability of paralegal efforts,” said Namati’s Sierra Leone team leader Sonkita Conteh, who advocated for the new legal aid law. “But state recognition should not entail state control, because paralegals play an important role in holding governments accountable.”   Signatories to the declaration also commit to strengthening the quality and consistency of paralegal efforts, through better training, supervision, and community oversight.   At the meeting in Kampala, Nomboniso Maqubela shared the experience of the National Alliance for the Development of Community Advice Offices (NADCAO) in South Africa, which represents 230 paralegal offices across the country. NADCAO seeks to secure lasting support for paralegal efforts through a combination of government spending, foundations, and community contributions. Community paralegals have been active in South Africa since the 1950s, when paralegals began assisting black South Africans to navigate and resist the codes of apartheid.   Descartes Malasi of the Congolese NGO Action des Chrétiens Activistes des Droits de l"Homme à Shabunda (ACADHOSHA) described paralegals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who assist communities to hold mining firms accountable for environmental damage and unpaid compensation.   “Law and government should not be abstractions sealed in books or courtrooms,” said Namati CEO Vivek Maru. “Paralegals in Africa are part of a growing global movement for legal empowerment.”   The workshop brought together representatives of some 50 community-based paralegal programs from over 20 countries.   Participants explored and compared the role of paralegals in national legal aid policies; innovative strategies for addressing common challenges such as gender based violence, conflicts over land and natural resources, and accountability of basic services.   “Paralegals are critically important for making justice accessible in Africa,” says Mary Wyckoff, Global Rights’ Director of Programs, who oversees Global Rights’ paralegal capacity-building programs in northern Nigeria and western Uganda. “With limited numbers of lawyers in many African countries, and fewer still outside of urban areas, community-based paralegals help to fill the justice gap. They raise awareness in their communities and provide services like legal counseling, mediation, and court accompaniment.”   Participants from Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo analyzed paralegals’ efforts to work with local communities to demand accountability from large companies in the extractives industry, as well as government service providers.   “This workshop marks the first time that so many leaders from paralegal programs across Africa have come together to reflect on existing experience, debate collective goals, and explore new and meaningful directions for the region’s paralegal efforts,” said Abigail Moy, Namati’s Program Director for the Global Legal Empowerment Network.   * Global Rights is an international human rights capacity-building organization that partners with local activists in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to increase access to justice for the poor and marginalized, promote women’s rights, and advance racial and ethnic equality, see http://www.globalrights.org/   The Open Society Justice Initiative seeks to use law to protect and empower people around the world. The Justice Initiative promotes human rights and works to build legal capacity for open societies, see http://www.soros.org/about/programs/open-society-justice-initiative
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