Worldwide, more than 5000 children are, on a daily basis, displaced due to armed conflict. Many of these children are able to run away from violence together with their families, but an increasing number may loose track of their loved ones and find themselves alone in a threatening situation. Among these, some will be recruited into armed groups. Whereas some children have been abducted and forcefully separated from their families, others have been driven to volunteer as a result of social exclusion, and family breakdown, or after witnessing atrocities.
Children, both girls and boys, even under the age of 15 are cynically included and used as cheap and expendable tools of war, and too many are also exposed to sexual abuse and exploitation in the context of armed groups. Over the past decade we have seen the number of child soldiers increasing. And as small arms and light weapons become more accessible the children are readily armed, forming part of the ongoing violent conflicts in the different and often forgotten corners of the world. Despite strong international focus on preventing and bringing the active participation of children in war to halt, there is a long way to go. And at the same time, the work to help children out of this, to provide them with safety, education, rehabilitation and social networks, represent an extremely important and complex endeavor. In the following, practical work and experiences, along with international conventions and regulations are presented in order to inspire and strengthen this necessary work among children and young persons who have been exposed to loss, violence and lost childhoods.