Children and adolescents in armed conflicts in Colombia

In 2025, in five of the departments where the ICRC is present, 65 cases of missing minors related to recruitment were documented. These cases highlight the link between the involvement of minors in armed conflicts and disappearance as a humanitarian consequence. For families, the loss of all contact with their children, without knowing whether they are alive or dead or where they are, creates profound uncertainty and prolonged suffering.
 

Most of these cases involved adolescents between the ages of 15 and 17. However, there were also cases involving boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 14. Moreover, 49 per cent of missing minors were girls, which shows that this issue affects both men and women.
 

In addition to cases of disappearance, the ICRC became aware of 58 incidents related to the recruitment, use and participation of children and adolescents in hostilities, each of which may involve one or more minors. Although this information does not reflect the full scale of the phenomenon, it does help identify some of the ways in which the involvement of minors occurs.
 

Both documented cases and known facts show that these practices do not occur in isolation. Most of the time, such practices are preceded by various forms of contact with minors that create the conditions for them to take place. In 43 per cent of the situations analyzed, the first type of contact was linked to the possibility of accessing employment or engaging in a productive activity. In areas where educational, economic and social opportunities are limited, such proposals can be presented as a real alternative.