COLOMBIA - Child recruitment and use OVERVIEW

According to secondary sources and key informant interviews (KIIs), the number of verified cases of NSAG recruitment and use of children in Colombia began increasing Distinguishing between child recruitment and use by NSAGS and organised some years after the Colombian Government and FARC-EP signed a peace agreement in crime groups .................................................................... [...] 6 for the period 2021–2023, and describes the main ways NSAGs and organised crime groups recruit and use children, including differences between both urban and rural settings and Child recruitment and use in urban and rural contexts .......................................................... [...] Between 2018–2023, the Ombudsman’s Office of Colombia issued 251 early warnings on the risk of child recruitment and use, with Antioquia and Chocó yielding The consequences of child recruitment and use by nsags and organised crime groups .... [...] This report follows, to a large extent, the definitions of recruitment and use outlined in • Sexual violence against children is a means of control and domination in NSAGs and the Colombian legal framework, as presented by the IOM and ICBF (IOM 17/03/2022; ICBF organised crime groups. [...] CHILDREN AT PARTICULAR RISK OF RECRUITMENT AND USE BY NSAGS AND ORGANISED CRIME GROUPS IN CHOCÓ, NORTE DE SANTANDER, AND ANTIOQUIA Unaccompanied and separated children are particularly at risk of recruitment and use by NSAGs and organised crime groups, as they are not in school and may travel in groups with adults who are not their caregivers or parents (R4V 15/02/2023).