1. Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo Every Child Has a Right to a Childhood Jade Roberts Carleton Social Justice Campaign March/April 2009

3. Introduction The topic for our Social Justice Campaign is Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a very important issue, and it is affecting over 300,000 kids in over 30 countries, but I’m specifically going to talk about the DRC. I hope you learn something new through this presentation, and find out how you can make a difference. Child Soldier: any person under the age of 18 that is a member of the armed forces.

8. Children are manipulated and used for thing beyond army positions . Female child soldiers deal with extreme sexual exploitation, as well as domestic slavery. Female child soldiers often return home pregnant, or with sexually transmitted infections, that is if they return home. Child soldiers are often manipulated into being sex slaves for adult soldiers. In most communities in Congo, for some female child soldiers, rape is a regular part of life, as it generally goes unpunished. About 40% of child soldiers are female Out of nine child soldiers that were brought home, three of them were pregnant, according to Save the Children.

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14. What you can do There are a number of organizations working and helping and child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Make a donation, write a letter, or call. If you want to make a difference, you can contact one of these organizations, such as…

16. Conclusion As you’ve hopefully learned, there are thousands and thousands of children all over the world that live extremely difficult lives, that no child should ever have to unwillingly go through. Think of a regular day in your life. It doesn’t involve being kidnapped, living in fear of being kidnapped, being raped, shooting at people in war, being used as bait, and going through therapy because you’ve seen multiple people shot to death (some of which, children as young as 8 years old), or killing people, as young as 8 years old. I can only imagine how terrible that would be, and by learning so much about Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo I know I will try to make a difference, and I hope you’ve learned something through this presentation. Thank you for listening, I hope you’ll consider taking my recommendations on how you can help and make a difference. And remember, Every Child Has A Right To A Childhood