Source description last updated: 23 March 2020

In brief: Child Soldiers International, formerly known as the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, was a London-based non-governmental organisation working to end the military use and exploitation of children worldwide.

Note: Child Soldiers International closed office in June 2019, its international work has been taken over by the Child Soldiers Initiative (Child Soldiers International: Farewell and onwards, undated, accessed 23 March 2020, as quoted by the Internet Archive). The rest of this source description is as of 16 November 2018.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Reports, Briefings, Child Soldiers Global Report

Covered monthly on ecoi.net for countries of priorities A-C.

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

“Child Soldiers International is an international human rights organisation. We exist to work for a world where children are not used in war. For this to be possible, we work to prevent the recruitment of children by military forces. […]

Child Soldiers International was formerly known as the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. We were established in 1998 by a group of leading human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Save the Children. […]

Since our days as a Coalition we have evolved, and now work as an independent UK registered charity, connected with a network of community and national child rights and child protection organisations across the world.” (Child Soldiers International website: Our history, undated)

“The organization seeks to fulfill its purpose through: advocating for durable prevention mechanisms to prevent child soldiering; seeking the release and reintegration of children recruited or used in hostilities; contributing to obtaining redress for, and relieving the needs of, such children; carrying out research and monitoring on the above issues; and supporting local and national nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working with and for children in affected regions.” (Child Soldiers International: Annual Report and Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 March 2018, p. 2, undated)

Funding:

Individual donations and grants from organisations including charitable trusts, corporate foundations, government entities of several European countries and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Child Soldiers International: Annual Report and Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 March 2018, undated, pp. 13 and 28)

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: countries in which child recruitment by armed forces or armed groups occurs

Thematic focus: issues relating to child soldiers (accountability, child imprisonment, child recruitment, psychosocial issues, non-state armed groups, reintegration, sexual abuse) (Child Soldiers International website: Resources, undated)

Methodology:

Relevant publications may be based on public sources exclusively (see, for example, Child Soldiers International: Alternative report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Syrian Arab Republic, 2018) or on interviews conducted in target areas with selected participants such as children formerly associated with armed groups, teachers and local authorities and NGOs (see, for example, Child Soldiers International: Former girl soldiers in DRC go back to school, June 2017, p. 6).

Language(s) of publications:

English, French

Further reading / links:

Child Soldiers International: How we work, ohne Datum
https://www.child-soldiers.org/how-we-work-1

 

Child Soldiers World Index:
https://childsoldiersworldindex.org/opac-status

 

All links accessed 16 November 2018, if not indicated otherwise.