The ongoing use of children as young as eight years old as combat soldiers was protested at a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York Jan. 14 that included representation from the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The ongoing use of children as young as eight years old as combat soldiers was protested at a United Nations Security Council meeting in New York Jan. 14 that included representation from the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Attending the public meeting on the issue and representing the church’s U.N. Liaison Office, Mindi Rahn presented the church’s perspective to other groups attending. The church has often spoken out on such issues and released position statements on children, abuse and violence.
In a “Statement on Well-being and Value of Children,” issued in 2000, the church spoke about exploitation and vulnerability of children when they are used in armed conflicts.
“We stand firm on our Christian principles. As a Christian organization dedicated to values of tolerance, caring and nonviolence, we oppose the use of children as soldiers, destroying their innocence and denying them a true childhood,” said general vice president for the world church Ted N. C. Wilson, who is also the chairman of the Public and Official Statements Committee at the world church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States. Wilson also reaffirmed the Adventist approach “to pursue the path of peaceful resolution of conflicts.”
In addressing the Security Council meeting, Carol Bellamy, executive director of UNICEF (the United Nation’s children’s fund), said “there are 300,000 child soldiers worldwide. Those countries that subject children to conflict need to be held accountable. Children represent the world’s succeeding generations, and we need to take care of our future.” U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan addressed the council and issued a list of countries that currently utilize child combatants during conflict.