22 U.S.C. § 2370c: Definitions

the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. any person under 18 years of age who takes a direct part in hostilities as a member of governmental armed forces, police, or other security forces; any person under 18 years of age who has been compulsorily recruited into governmental armed forces, police, or other security forces; any person under 15 years of age who has been voluntarily recruited into governmental armed forces, police, or other security forces; or any person under 18 years of age who has been recruited or used in hostilities by armed forces distinct from the armed forces of a state; and includes any person described in clause (ii), (iii), or (iv) of subparagraph (A) who is serving in any capacity, including in a support role such as a cook, porter, messenger, medic, guard, or sex slave. The recruitment or use of children in armed conflict is unacceptable for any government or government-supported entity receiving United States assistance. The recruitment or use of children in armed conflict, including direct combat, support roles, and sexual slavery, occurred during 2016 or 2017 in Afghanistan, Iran, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, Sudan, Burma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. Entities of the Government of Afghanistan, particularly the Afghan Local Police and Afghan National Police, continue to recruit children to serve as combatants or as servants, including as sex slaves. Police forces of the Government of Afghanistan participate in counterterrorism operations, direct and indirect combat, security operations, fight alongside regular armies, and are targeted for violence by the Taliban and other opposition groups. In February 2016, a 10-year-old boy was assassinated by the Taliban after he had been publicly honored by Afghan local police forces for his assistance in combat operations against the Taliban. Recruitment and use of children in armed conflict by government forces has continued in South Sudan with the return to hostilities. At least 19,000 children have been recruited since South Sudan’s civil war began in 2013.”