LAUNCH OF PUBLICATION WHY 18 MATTERS BY CHILD SOLDIERS INTERNATIONAL

That this House supports the work of Child Soldiers International, which campaigned tirelessly to end the military exploitation of children worldwide; welcomes its latest publication Why 18 Matters, a rights-based analysis of child recruitment; condemns the ongoing recruitment of children by 46 states worldwide, including the UK, while recognising the 151 states that no longer do so; urges these 46 states to end the military recruitment and training of children; notes with alarm the evidence of lasting psychological harm caused to adolescent recruits by military training, including the 45 per cent increased suicide rate amongst the army's youngest recruits compared to their civilian peers; and calls on the Government to take swift, decisive action to raise the age of armed forces recruitment to 18.