GNV News February 20, 2026

In Colombia, the use of children by armed groups has quadrupled over the past 5 years, according to a United Nations verification.

In Colombia, after decades of conflict, a peace agreement was reached in 2016 between the government and the rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). However, since then, factions within FARC that rejected the agreement and other armed groups such as the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) have continued to fight, having a major impact on local residents. The number of people forced to flee and otherwise affected has reached into the hundreds of thousands.

The causes of the increase in child soldiers include violence, poverty, lack of education, and inadequate infrastructure and social services in rural areas. Many children join armed groups after being threatened, in order to protect their families or to escape domestic violence. There are also cases in which children are separated from their families by armed groups and pushed into situations where they have no choice but to join. According to reports, there has also been an increase in social media advertisements in which armed groups recruit minors with false promises of favorable conditions.

Armed groups assign children to highly dangerous missions, abuse them, and kill them if they attempt to escape. The experience of being a child soldier has the potential to cause lifelong trauma. The use of minors as soldiers is a violation of their rights and is prohibited under international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is implementing measures such as making it easier for children to access education and protection, and developing communities that can protect them.

Learn more about Colombia’s history and conflict → “Is Colombia’s peace in danger?”

Learn more news about child soldiers → “World: Increase in the recruitment of child soldiers”

Drawing depicting child soldiers, Bogotá (Photo: nubianomad / Flickr [CC BY-NC-SA 2.0])