The special U.N. envoy for children and armed conflict has called for sanctions against some countries and groups that use child soldiers.
Olara Otunnu said Wednesday the number of child soldiers around the world has dropped by about 80,000 in the last 18 months.
But he said the use of children in war is still unacceptable and called for instituting a system of international compliance. A new U.N. report lists 11 countries where children are used in war, either by the government or by rebel groups.
They are Burma, Burundi, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Nepal, the Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda. Mr. Otunnu called for a U.N. system to monitor and list all governments and rebel forces guilty of child abuse in armed conflict, and and he said the United Nations should impose sanctions in cases of widespread and unacceptable violations.
Information for this report is provided AP.