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Over 400 children in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were recruited by armed actors in January and February of 2025, a Save the Children report has found.
The international charity organisation said some recruits were as young as 14, with some reportedly picked up from schools and the streets.
Some of the children were reported to have been picked up from their communities and taken to the bushes to be trained to handle weapons against their will.
The recruitment, use, and abduction of children in armed conflict is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and may constitute a war crime, said Save the Children.
“These practices expose them to extreme violence, and cause severe, long-term physical and psychological harm,” the report released on Friday said.
“Children are often targeted for recruitment because they are cheap, easier to control and manipulate, and because they look to adults to protect them.
“Usually unpaid, they are used to do tasks adults do not want to do and may also be coerced into carrying out acts of violence, or have violence perpetrated onto them — for example, as girls recruited to be ‘wives’ of soldiers.”
UNICEF had reported that grave violations including killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and abduction have tripled since the latest escalation of violence in DRC, which began in January.
Last year, Save the Children said it provided psychosocial and economic support to children formerly associated with armed groups in the country.
“The situation is unacceptable, and urgent action is needed to protect the children of the DRC,” Greg Ramm, Save the Children’s country director in DRC, said.
Ramm urged all parties to the conflict to take immediate measures to prevent and end these grave violations.
He also called on the international community to ensure that investigations are conducted and perpetrators be held to account.
