A Critique of the Legal Regime Governing the Protection of Children During Armed Conflict

Moderninternational and non-international military conflicts have catastrophic consequences for children. The nature of armed conflicts, their causes, and consequences have changed dramatically over the last threedecades,asseenintheBalkansandthePersianGulf,orintheCentralAfricanRepublic,theDemocraticRepublicoftheCongo,Lebanon,Libya,Mali,Nigeria,Syria,Somalia,Sudan,andSouthSudan.Inthisenvironment,questionsconcerningtherespect,protection,andrealizationofeconomic,social,andcultural i1rights i1havebecomeinevitablecomponentsofanythoroughassessmentoftheexpandinglegalframeworkfortheprotectionofchildrenininternationallaw. Armed conflicts are estimated to have killed over two million children and physically injured six million more in the last decade alone. Children are deprived of their parents, caregivers, essential social services, health care, and education as a result ofconflict.Therearearound 120milliondisplacedandrefugeechildren,aswellasonemillionorphans,withothersbeingheldhostage,abducted,ortrafficked.TheConventionon theRightsoftheChild(CRC)hasbeenratifiedvirtuallyglobally,althoughitisfarfromuniversallyapplied.Particularlyinsituationsof armedconflict,childrensufferdisproportionately,inavarietyofways,andwithlonglastingeffects.Theprimarygoalofthisstudyistoexploreandassesstheregulationsgoverningtheprotectionofchildrenamongcivilians,whoareamongthemostvulnerablesegmentsofsociety,sufferingfromseverehumanmiseryasaresultofarmedconflicts. This section of the research examines the study's history, problem statement, research objectives, literature review, study methodology, and chapter synopsis.