María Stefania Cataleta*
The enrollment of children to use as soldiers is a widespread phenomenon. Africa is the most involved continent of the child-soldiers problem, with more than 100 thousand minors that are being used in wars between different States, even if the biggest army composed of children is present in Myanmar. This issue was faced for the first time in 1977 with the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Convention of 1949, relating to the protection of victims in international armed conflicts. The International Con venation on the Rights of Child of 1989 provides that States Parties shall refrain from recruiting any person who has not attained the age of fifteen years into their armed forces. In 1996, the report, titled "The impact of armed conflicts on children", has become an official document of the UN. After that, the UN Resolution n. 1261 of 1999 has formally put the problem of children involved in military operations on the agenda of the Security Council because it is a matter concerning the maintenance of peace and international security. But only in 2002, the Optional Protocol to the International Convention on Children's rights has been enacted in relation to the use of children in armed conflicts. It prohibits the use of children and adolescents under 18 in any hostility and requests to the States to bring to eighteen years the age limit for enrollment or direct involvement in conflicts, rising the age for voluntary enrollment above 15 years old like it is today. Also the UN Resolution n. 1612 of 2005 ordered a monitoring and communication activity to the Security Council on the use of child-soldiers and on other abuses inflicted on minors in times of war. Furthermore, article 8 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court includes among war crimes, the conscription and the enrollment of children under 15 years old in armed forces and their active participation in hostilities. Moreover, notwithstanding all these important initiatives, today the legal protection of children involved in armed conflicts remain still fragile and ineffective.