Child soldiers, recruitment process and post-war issues: A case study of Sierra Leone

Abstract

War creates an atmosphere of insecurity with devastating aftermath. Sierra Leone was plunged into over a decade civil war which resulted in the gross violation of human rights, most importantly the rights of children. This article explores the issue of child soldiers in the civil war as well as the results of the war on the social facilities. In addition, the article examines some fundamental issues that came to the fore after the civil war and how such issues affect the survival of the society. The research found that the civil war resulted in wanton destruction of educational facilities which culminated in inadequacies in school facilities. The research also found that those children recruited into child soldiers were the vulnerable ones, whose parents were not potent enough to send to schools. In conducting the research, I employ the use qualitative methodology by using textual mining to assess data from various sources like internet, library, observation and interview transcripts.