DISCOVER MOROCCO
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad, Nasser Bourita, called this Thursday in Rabat for the development of a pan-African legal mechanism to effectively combat the phenomenon of child soldiers
Speaking at the opening of the African Ministerial Conference on the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) of Child Soldiers, Mr. Bourita deplored the persistent legislative vacuum and the absence of a common legal basis in Africa to comprehensively combat this scourge
He stressed that it was time for Africa to equip yourself with a legal tool adapted to your reality and capable of filling current gaps. According to the minister, such a mechanism would mark a historic step forward, harmonize existing international standards with the African context, and strengthen the capacity of States to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes
Mr. Bourita recalled the commitment of the Kingdom of Morocco, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, to defend an Africa confident in its potential and protective of its children. He stressed that the Rabat Conference embodies collective responsibility in the face of one of the most urgent moral challenges of our time: the recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts
Evoking the situation Alarmingly, Mr. Bourita indicated that the efforts made were insufficient, with the number of child soldiers on the continent being estimated at 120,000, or 40% of the global total. He warned that continued recruitment by armed groups, particularly separatist and terrorist groups, was undermining all stabilization efforts, stressing that their criminal actions often take place with impunity
The minister stressed that Africa must not remain silent in the face of these atrocities, affirming that responsibility for these heinous acts is absolute and imprescriptible for the perpetrators, the leaders of separatist groups, and the States which harbor and support them. In order to make this initiative a reality, Mr. Bourita proposed the creation of a “Group of Friends of DDR and Children” (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration)
This group would benefit from political leadership and legal expertise with the aim of drafting an African Convention on the Prevention of Recruitment and Reintegration of Children Associated with Armed Conflict
