Child soldiers as a human security issue: a case study of Sierra Leone, 1991-2002

The objective of this study is to examine the phenomenon of children as soldiers in the context of human security. Human security was endorsed in 1994 by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as a concept including not only freedom from conflict and violence or individual security, but also encompassing essential needs and rights to food security, economic security, community security, environmental security, health security as well as political security. It explores some of the links between child soldiering and securitization. International law and human rights standards for protecting children in these situations is described, followed by some concrete recommendations. It analyses the securitization process by Sierra Leone elites arising from their culture of political patronage. The civil war in Sierra Leone’s (1991-2002) represents a good case study of how a rebel group utilized a large population of children below the age of 18 to commit mass atrocities during the war. This research utilizes a case study approach and qualitative method that uses in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis is adopted in this study to enrich the primary data; while the secondary data are obtained from journal articles, textbooks, newspapers, internet source, besides governmental and non-governmental reports. Ten informants are interviewed, including former child soldiers, personnel from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), journalists, military officers and district heads. Research findings show that there are several factors leading to the involvement of child soldiers during the civil war. These factors include illiteracy, poverty, broken family, and coercive conscription. This conscription approach leads to human rights violations, such as amputation, mass murder, destruction of property and sexual abuse. The impact from the conflict has also caused these children to suffer hardship in life, such as high rates of unemployment, involvement in burglary, drug abuses, and broken marriages. With the assistance from international community, the government of Sierra Leone has been successful in providing security assurance to the former child soldiers through the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) Program. The study will assist academic researchers with a provision of dependable data as there is no accurate record on the number of child soldiers in Sierra Leone. This research will also help policy makers to formulate policies that will be able to stop the use of child soldiers during war