By Rachel Stohl and Shannon Dick:
This week, the Obama administration issued the final waivers under the Child Soldier Prevention Act. The waivers will allow seven governments to continue to receive U.S. military assistance and weapons despite evidence of their recruitment and use of child soldiers. While this annual bureaucratic stroke of a pen flies under the radar, these waiver determinations mark a significant moment for the administration’s legacy on protecting children in conflict and promoting strong human rights standards.
The Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) is intended to leverage coveted U.S. military assistance and encourage governments to stop using children in combat. Signed into law in 2008, the CSPA took effect in 2010 and restricts U.S. military support to countries identified by the State Department as having recruited and used child soldiers in their national militaries or government-supported armed groups. If a country appears on the annual CSPA list, it may be ineligible to receive U.S. weapons and military assistance in the following fiscal year.
Conventional Arms, Human Rights & IHL, Human Rights & IHL
Share:
By Rachel Stohl and Shannon Dick:
This week, the Obama administration issued the final waivers under the Child Soldier Prevention Act. The waivers will allow seven governments to continue to receive U.S. military assistance and weapons despite evidence of their recruitment and use of child soldiers. While this annual bureaucratic stroke of a pen flies under the radar, these waiver determinations mark a significant moment for the administration’s legacy on protecting children in conflict and promoting strong human rights standards.
Rachel Stohl is a Senior Associate and Director of the Conventional Defense program. Shannon Dick is a Research Associate with the Managing Across Boundaries initiative.
Photo credit: Loknob via Flickr
Recent & Related
What the Red Sea Conflict Between the U.S. and the Houthis Taught Iran
Iran Conflict Hits Foundations of Gulf Economies
Can Services Replace Manufacturing in Developing Economies?
The Trump-Xi Summit Could Be a Positive Paradigm Shift
Trump–Xi Summit: Expert Perspectives on the Stakes and Strategic Outlook
High Hopes in Beijing About Trump-Xi Summit
Southward Creep: The Sahel Insurgency Reaches Coastal West Africa
Balancing Export-Led Growth and Labor Protections in Morocco
Mali Attacks: Aggravating the Sahel Security Crisis
Iran Applies Different Postwar Approaches to the Persian Gulf Arab States
The EU’s Technocratic Trap in Libya: How Brussels Is Ceding the Mediterranean
The Sovereignty Paradox: Why GCC Security Integration Remains Elusive
การทำเหมืองแร่โดยไม่ได้รับการควบคุมตามแนวแม่น้ำในแผ่นดินใหญ่ของเอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้
ການຂຸດຄົ້ນ-ປຸງແຕ່ງແຮ່ທີ່ບໍ່ຖືກຕ້ອງ ຢູ່ຕາມແມ່ນໍ້າສາຍຕ່າງໆ ຢູ່ແຜ່ນດິນໃຫຍ່ອາຊີຕາເວັນອອກສຽງໃຕ້ Unregulated Mining Along Rivers in Mainland Southeast Asia (Lao Language)
Current Geopolitics Shift Deep-Sea Mining Debates
Navigating Seabed Mining in the Cook Islands: A Conversation with John Parianos
การทำเหมืองแร่โดยไม่ได้รับการควบคุมตามแนวแม่น้ำในแผ่นดินใหญ่ของเอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้
Mining in Mainland Southeast Asia – River Basins Dashboard
Unregulated Mining Along Rivers in Mainland Southeast Asia
Trump’s Critical Minerals Search in Africa Won’t Tip the Scales Against China
Implications of Chinese Influence Operations for South Korea and the US-ROK Alliance
North Korea’s Integration of AI Across Cyber, Economic, and Military Domains
Find an Expert
Home to more than 100 scholars and global affiliates, the Stimson Center is proud to be a magnet for the world’s leading experts on the most pressing foreign policy and national security issues of our time. Explore our experts and their work.