Africa/Global: Why do adolescents join armed forces and groups?

In many of today’s conflicts, adolescents represent the majority of children who fight or are associated with armed forces and groups; however, they are often ineligible for demobilisation programs for child soldiers as they become adults in the ranks of armed groups, missing the opportunity for rehabilitation and reintegration into a peaceful community. Lingering wars can destroy most of the economic and social infrastructure of countries and exacerbate the privation of the populations involved, leading to voluntary recruitment of adolescents. As greater and greater portions of the Gross Domestic Product of countries go to war efforts, less and less of the public budget is allocated to education or health. For an increasing number of youngsters, there is no other school than a military training camp and the only way for them and their families to thrive or to be safe is to be associated with armed groups.