2000　“Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict”

At that time, in many parts of the world, children were being forced to participate in combat as soldiers or were being abused and sexually exploited in the armed forces. In 1994, the UN Human Rights Committee decided to establish a Working Group to consider a draft Optional Protocol on the Prohibition of the Participation of Children in Combat and on Raising the Minimum Age for Voluntary Recruitment into the Armed Forces. The draft prepared by the Working Group was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000 as the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Article 38 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits children under the age of 15 from being drafted or used in the military, but the Protocol expands this scope to include children under the age of 18. Japan ratified the Optional Protocol in 2004, and as of 2022, 172 countries are parties to the Optional Protocol.