Red Hands Day is celebrated around the world every 12 February to commemorate the signing of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This protocol prohibits the use of children and adolescents in armed conflicts. Colombia ratified the Convention in 2003 through Law 833. The objective of Red Hands Day is “to raise awareness and make visible the damages suffered by children and adolescents in armed conflicts. It also seeks to avoid the repetition of these acts of violence”.
As CPT Colombia, we have continued to witness an increase in violence and the worsening of armed confrontation between different armed groups in territories where the communities we accompany live. Without a doubt, the children of these territories, Middle Magdalena, Northeast Antioquia and the South of Bolivar, are at high risk of being recruited and used for the armed conflict. The National Human Rights Ombuds Office has already reported on the matter.
Many girls, boys and adolescents have been recruited and used in the armed conflict by illegal armed groups, and even by state forces. They have also been victims of different crimes. Historical state abandonment in many of these communities has created a lack of opportunities, which armed groups use as an opportunity to entice children and young people into their ranks through different strategies.
According to figures from the Human Rights Ombuds Office, “In the last four years, child recruitment grew by 1,005% in Colombia: from 37 cases in 2021 to 409 in 2024 … In 31 days of 2025, nine minors died in combat, the same number as in 334 days last year.”
UNICEF Colombia “calls on all parties to the conflict and all those who influence them to take ut action to end the suffering of children, ensure respect for their rights and fulfill their obligations under International Humanitarian Law.” We invite you to read the ‘Report of the Secretary General of the United Nations on children and armed conflicts 2023, Colombia Chapter’.
We are concerned that this risk for children in Colombia is increasing, and we hope that the different state efforts do not leave rural children in Colombia, who are always the most vulnerable and affected, forgotten. We ask you to pray that the children of Colombia to be cared for and have all possible opportunities for a dignified future in line with their dreams.
