Women and children in Africa's conflicts
In some African states tens of thousands of children and teenagers have been killed, wounded, maimed and traumatized during military operations. Millions of children in «hot zones» have becoming homeless, forcibly displaced persons and refugees, subjected to psychological and sexual violence. The phenomenon of child soldiers is a real disaster for African countries According to the human rights organization Human rights watch, almost one third of the world's contingent of child soldiers are those in Africa, and the largest number of «children's» army until recently operated in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The African states are confronted with an urgent task: not only stop as soon as possible all armed conflicts on the continent, but also to reintegrate the children into civilian life. Obviously they would fail to do that without assistance. The international community must play a key role in solving the problem.