All articles

Sun

Apr

2023

Veterans Push Back Against Military Recruitment in Schools

Submitted by Gary

Tue

Oct

UK: Under-18s in army 'face greater injury, death and mental health risks'

Submitted by antimili-youth on Tue, 18/10/2016 - 13:52

Amelia Hill, The Guardian

Public health charity uses damning report to call for minimum recruitment age to be raised to 18.

Recruiting children aged 16 and 17 into the British army places them at greater risk of death, injury and long-term mental health problems than those recruited as adults, according to a new report.

Thu

Oct

How much is child soldier's lost youth worth? ICC asks

Submitted by antimili-youth on Thu, 13/10/2016 - 09:27

AFP

The Hague - "How do you calculate a lost childhood?" That was the question on Tuesday before war crimes judges trying to set the amount of landmark reparations to be paid to former Congolese child soldiers.

After years of hearings, trials and appeals before the International Criminal Court (ICC), the victims of former Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga are "tired of this battle", said lawyer Luc Walleyn.

Read full article here.

This is an article by the AFP which appears on News24

Photo: Julien Harneis

Tue

Oct

David Gee at Movement for the Abolition of War Youth Conference

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 11/10/2016 - 10:27

David Gee, from Child Soldiers International, gives a talk on British militarism.

Sat

Oct

Video: 'How Can you Tell If You're Becoming Militarized? Doing a Feminist Audit' By Professor Cynthia Enloe

Submitted by antimili-youth on Sat, 08/10/2016 - 09:59

In this public lecture at the University of Westminster (London), world renowned feminist scholar Professor Cynthia Enloe explores the militarisation of our everyday lives and how this socio-political process is gendered.

Cynthia Enloe is Research Professor in the Department of International Development, Community, and Environment at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Video: 'How Can you Tell If You're Becoming Militarized? Doing a Feminist Audit' By Professor Cynthia Enloe

Wed

Oct

UK: Michael Fallon launches army cadets scheme at 'Trojan horse' school

Submitted by antimili-youth on Wed, 05/10/2016 - 11:11

Jessica Elgot, The Guardian

Defence secretary announces 150 new units, with the first at Birmingham school at centre of row over alleged extremism

Michael Fallon has announced 150 new army cadet units for state schools, with the first launched on Tuesday at the Birmingham school at the centre of the“Trojan horse” row over alleged attempts to introduce a hardline Islamist ethos.

Tue

Oct

‘Bunker-buster’ bombs in eastern Aleppo mean children not even safe underground, UN experts warn

Submitted by antimili-youth on Tue, 04/10/2016 - 14:32

The killing and maiming of children in eastern Aleppo by the Syrian Government and its allies is not only a brutal abdication of international human rights obligations, it will have a long-lasting impact on the young victims for generations to come, United Nations child rights experts warned today.

“Even if the war were to end today, it will take decades to recover from the destruction wrought on Aleppo and across Syria and the psychological wounds to heal from the trauma inflicted on these children,” said Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

“We are probably not talking of a lost generation, but quite possibly of lost generations,” he added in a news release.

Thu

Sep

Scottish Parliament asks for more information on military visits to schools after hearing from ForcesWatch

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 22/09/2016 - 16:52

ForcesWatch comment

Things have really moved on since ForcesWatch and Quakers in Scotland lodged a petition earlier this year with the backing of over a thousand signatures at the Scottish Parliament concerning military visits to state schools.

Back in March we asked Holyrood to ensure ‘guidance is provided to schools', ‘information is collected to provide public monitoring’ and ‘parents/guardians are consulted’ when it comes to visits by the military.

This reflected the work done with the Welsh Assembly in 2015 when Assembly Members in Cardiff agreed to support, in principle, greater oversight, guidance and balance in relation to how the armed forces operate in secondary schools. This decision was made in recognition of the unique nature of an armed forces career.

Sat

Aug

Education Not Militarization

Submitted by Gary on Sat, 27/08/2016 - 23:13

Project YANO's video of students sharing their personal goals and talking about the pressure they feel from military recruiters.

Education Not Militarization

Sat

Aug

Call for Articles: Examples of Youth Militarisation in Different Countries/Regions

Submitted by antimili-youth on Sat, 27/08/2016 - 12:22

War Resisters' International is organising the third International Week of Action Against the Militarisation of Youth this year. The week is going to take place between November 14-20 with the participation of groups and individuals from different countries. See our call out here.

Alongside events and actions, this year we are also planning to share examples of youth militarisation, and resistance to it, from different countries via a series of articles. The articles will be published on our website www.antimili-youth.net. If you'd like to write to us about your country and/or community please contact us via cmoy@wri-irg.org.

Tue

Aug

Soldiers' Mothers of St. Petersburg introduce mobile app "Draftee Online" to help draftees

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 02/08/2016 - 11:34

The Android application "Draftee Online" is an aid to any draftee, whether he intends to do army service or has the right to an exemption.

The app provides advice based on the rich experience of the lawyers at the human rights organization Soldiers' Mothers of St Petersburg, who help draftees to figure out the most pressing and complex questions of the military draft, and to defend their rights independently.

"Draftee Online" is set up so that a young person who suffers a violation of the law can find a case related to his own situation and receive concrete recommendations as to the actions he can undertake to protect his rights.

The application describes the most frequent situations that draftees encounter, as well as giving templates of the necessary declarations and complaints.

The application unites a large number of useful functions, which every draftee should have at the ready:

Languages

Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.