On February 7, 2025, Morgan Garnhart (JD 2025), a student of the International Human Rights Center, travelled to Geneva to present a parallel report on Colombia to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The report, jointly prepared by the IHRC and the non-profit organization Children Change Colombia, was co-authored by Morgan Garnhart and Marilynn Escún Yac (JD 2024), a recent LLS alum, as part of Colombia’s combined sixth and seventh periodic review on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The report focused on the prevention and elimination of child recruitment by non-state armed groups under the Convention (Articles 4, 6, and 38), emphasizing that insufficient data collection on victims and inadequate resources in rural areas heighten children’s risk of recruitment by non-state armed groups. The presentation before the Committee highlighted the devastating impact of recent armed attacks on education in Colombia and the increased risk of children dropping out and being recruited by armed groups. It recommended urgent measures to repair infrastructure, improve safety protocols, and address disparities in rural education, emphasizing the provision of sufficient resources, opportunities, and quality education to prevent the recruitment of children by non-state armed groups.
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