From September 6-9, members of the Air Force Judge Advocates Generals Department convened at Capital University Law School, Columbus, Ohio to attend a Symposium entitled United Nations Peacekeeping & the Law: International Humanitarian Law*. The conference was sponsored by the Center of Excellence in collaboration with the United Nations and the law school to address a range of legal issues in peace-keeping operations.

Among the topics was a special seminar on the problem of child soldiers. In the wake of post cold war civil conflict, current and former child soldiers have become a focus for many international and non-government humanitarian organizations. Although there are a number of formal legal documents that prohibit the use of child soldiers, it is tragically clear that the principle of law is far easier to write than enforce.

Around the world there are at least 250,000 children under the age of 18 who are engaged in armed conflict, many in early adolescence. Noted child soldier researcher Michael Wessells has observed: "The problem is especially severe in developing countries, in which children constitute nearly half the population and in which children are often reared in a system that mixes war, poverty, violence, hunger, environmental degradation and political instability." As a result, many current and former child combatants suffer broad-based develop-mental problems. Without structured intervention, most are condemned to a life of psychological disability, deprivation and continued violence. At the national level these problems are reflected in a vastly increased need for civil police, a functioning judiciary, and social services. Usually these needs arise in the face of a decimated economy and scarce human resources. The gap between needs and resources is an almost certain formula for a return to the cycle of violence.

To illustrate these issues, conference attendees participated in a child soldier exercise, which asked them to identify essential needs and develop a response plan. The exercise culminated with a debate on issues including the best methods for demobilization, the response to drug and alcohol addiction, strategies for school development, and the thresholds and venues for possible prosecution of human rights violators. Activities concluded with a consensus observation that the rejection of child soldiering is a marker for the moral integrity of national governments.

* MG Lewis MacKenzie (Ret) of Canada delivered a lively keynote address titled "A Message To America: Stay Off the Front-Line of Peacekeeping." Paul Larose-Edwards, Chairman of Canadian Resource Bank for Democracy and Human Rights (CANADEM) and author of UN Human Rights Intervention spoke on Human Rights Issues in Peace Operations. Peter Leentjes conducted seminars on: Mandate Development- the "Perm 5" Role; Complex Emergency Environments and Intervention Issues; and the Law and the Future of Peacekeeping. The conference also featured a special seminar on the Reintegration of Child Soldiers: Psychosocial & Legal Issues.