Red Hand Day is a great opportunity for young people around the world to show off their activism skills. This international awareness day, held on February 12 every year, aims to raise awareness about the continued use of child soldiers in armed conflicts. While many countries have banned the recruitment of children into armed forces, a large number of armed groups still recruit them. It’s estimated that there are more than 250,000 children serving in armed groups in 20 countries.

There are many reasons that children end up in armed conflicts, but one of the more common is a sense of desperation. Thousands of kids are recruited into armed groups and forced into combat or into other roles such as porters or messengers. These children are often exposed to gruesome violence and severe trauma. In some cases, these children may even be kidnapped from their homes. As a result, there are a number of organizations that work to stop the recruitment of children into armed groups.

The United Nations is one of the organizations that take the lead on the issue of child soldiers. They have been active in raising awareness about the use of children in armed conflicts since the 1980s, but have not yet been successful in stopping this practice. Despite the best efforts of many organizations, child soldiers are still being used in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries.

Red Hand Day has a website that lists a few events and resources you can use to participate. Aside from sharing your own stories, you can also share your own red hand print. Organizers encourage you to post a photo on social media with the hashtag #RedHandDay. For more information, you can also check out the website of Human Rights Watch.

There are also a number of other organizations, including UNICEF, the International Youth Foundation, and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Many of these organizations also hold their own celebrations. Other notable events on Red Hand Day include marches, school awareness programs, and petitions.

The main reason for Red Hand Day’s existence is the fact that many armed groups are using children as combatants, as porters, or to carry messages. This is a human trafficking issue that is largely overlooked, but the consequences are dire. Some child soldiers are as young as nine years old. And if you’re curious, the most common age for child soldiers is fifteen to eighteen.