Understanding and addressing the phenomenon of 'child soldiers': the gap between the global humanitarian discourse and the local understandings and experiences of young people's military recruitment

This study takes on both global and local levels of analysis and draws upon a wide array of literature, including those from the fields of human rights, child development, political economy, anthropology, as well as various policy documents and reports of humanitarian and human rights organisations.

The aim is to investigate how the well-intentioned global humanitarian discourse on child soldiers may be disregarding the complex local understandings and experiences of military recruitment. In doing so, the author seeks to present a compelling case for a wholesale re-conceptualisation of the phenomenon of 'child soldiers' so as to devise aid programmes that can better reflect and respond to local understandings, priorities, and needs.