Our History

Child Soldiers International (formerly known as the Coalition to Stop the use of Child Soldiers) was established in 1998 by a coalition of leading human rights and humanitarian organisations: Amnesty International; Defence for Children International; Human Rights Watch; International Federation Terre des Hommes; International Save the Children Alliance; Jesuit Refugee Service; the Quaker United Nations Office – Geneva; and World Vision International.

Its original purpose was to campaign for a human rights treaty to prevent the military recruitment of children or their use in hostilities. That treaty - the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC) - entered into force in 2002. The effective implementation of OPAC forms a core part of our work today.

Child Soldiers International became an independent human rights organization in 2011, although we continue to have close links with many of our founding organisations and with members of its former national and regional coalitions.

Child Soldiers International is a charity registered in the UK and governed by a Board of Trustees composed of six independent experts:

  • Demelza Hauser (Chair) – former Program Director, Asia and Pacific Region, Amnesty International, International Secretariat.
  • Duncan Barnet – (Treasurer) – former Senior Finance Manager, Amnesty international.
  • Professor Paul Gready - Director of the Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York.
  • Anna Stuttard - Chief Executive of Home-Start Worldwide and former Director of Publications, Amnesty International.
  • Veronica Yates – Director of Child Rights Information Network (CRIN).
  • Julie Light - former Human Resources Director of Amnesty International.