§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the numbers of child soldiers in Sudan; what assessment he has made of the number of other countries in Africa where child soldiers are being used in significant numbers; and what steps the Government are taking to alleviate this problem. [112324]
§ Mr. HainThere are no reliable estimates of the number of child soldiers in Sudan. Over the past year, reports of the use of child soldiers in Africa, including internal conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Angola.
We are committed to bringing to an end the use of child soldiers which is in contravention of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Our approach is based on a combination of: support for international efforts in this field, in particular the work of the UN Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict; strengthening international standards; urging the 276W governments concerned to tackle this abuse; and, with the Department for International Development, support for practical measures to address this issue.