This is a big problem in africa, at least, where the wars have spilled over into mining areas where children mine for diamonds in between the wars, and, children are fighting the wars of adults. If there was no diamond market for these stones, then there would still be wars with children in them, and, if there was no war there would still be people fighting over the diamonds, so these can be treated like two separate incidents or problems. First, the wars. when a child reaches puberty, they want to be respected like adults, or, even before that. this means that they will fight their friends, fight their parents, and, fight other tribes kids. this is because they emulate the actions of their elders and what they hear about. the way to stop children fighting is by getting them into the city, where they can be safe, but you will not tell them they are there to be safe as much as you tell them they are there to look after their mothers. if they die, their mothers will be left helpless and then they will die too - it is a better tactic to defend as then you get a warm bed to sleep on each night to relax your muscles. if you are out in the wilderness or assaulting a city, then you will be weary and will not fight so well, of course. with the farmers, who are the usual offence with the political spectrum, will return home if they run out of supplies and then the war will stall, maybe even be over with some dialogue. if the children would, with a code of honour - something they are more likely to have with all the influence on them from movies from the west - they could mediate the terms of peace, unarmed, and, running consort to the elders. The diamonds will always have a market as they will simply be moved from place to place, then eventually sold at the right price. having people fight over them is not such a good idea as letting the enemy mine them and buying them for a lesser price, only to sell them at a higher price - leaving them to mine would be a peaceful and profitable social outcome.
There has been a long history of using child soldiers in Africa, eons before the diamond trade. The African Union should enforce this policy. They should arrest, convict and execute any leader of any African nation that uses child soldiers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_Justice_of_the_African_Union So far, the International Courts have been very soft on these child molesters. One of these convicted monsters will be released in the year 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Lubanga_Dyilo
Europe's problem, not America's problem. Colonial Europe is responsible why Sub Sahara Africa is a complete basket case today. During the 1950's and 60's Europe granted independence to their African colonies without preparing their colonies for independence. America spent over 40 years preparing the Philippines for independence.
