Bakaki, Zorzeta and Haer, Roos (2023) The impact of climate variability on children: The recruitment of boys and girls by rebel groups. Journal of Peace Research, 60 (4). pp. 634-648. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/00223433221082120
Bakaki, Zorzeta and Haer, Roos (2023) The impact of climate variability on children: The recruitment of boys and girls by rebel groups. Journal of Peace Research, 60 (4). pp. 634-648. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/00223433221082120
Bakaki, Zorzeta and Haer, Roos (2023) The impact of climate variability on children: The recruitment of boys and girls by rebel groups. Journal of Peace Research, 60 (4). pp. 634-648. DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/00223433221082120
Abstract
Environmental changes place severe pressure on individuals and societies. Vulnerable segments of the population, especially children, are likely to be first affected. We examine the impact of climate variability on the recruitment of children by rebel groups during conflict. We argue that changes in climate patterns increase both the supply of children willing to work as soldiers as well as rebel groups’ demand for them. To empirically examine this association, we combine global data on temperature and precipitation shocks with information on child soldier recruitment by rebel groups. Our findings suggest that climate variability shapes child soldier recruitment in systematic and significant ways. Additionally, we show that this relationship is not gender-neutral: it has a strong impact on the level of girls recruited by rebel groups. This research has important implications for our understanding of how climate variability can influence conflict dynamics, how environmental changes may worsen the circumstances of the most vulnerable individuals of conflict-affected societies, and how a non-gender-neutral effect of climate changes may materialize.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | armed conflict; child soldiering; climate variability; gender; rebel groups |
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Government, Department of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 05 Oct 2022 15:43 |
Last Modified: | 16 May 2024 21:08 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/32105 |
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Filename: 00223433221082120.pdf
Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0