ANGOLA:

Child soldiers were used extensively during the civil war by both government forces and the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola. As many as 30,000 girls were abducted. An estimated 16,000 children required demobilisation at the end of the war in April 2002.

U.N. protocol prohibiting use of child soldiers: not signed

SOMALIA:

There was widespread use of children as soldiers by all warring factions. An estimated 200,000 children - or five percent of Somali children - have carried a gun or worked for militia groups.

U.N. protocol prohibiting use of child soldiers: signed September 2005

SUDAN:

In 2004 there were 17,000 children in government forces, allied militias and opposition armed groups. In addition there were between 2,500 and 5,000 in the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). The SPLA claimed to have demobilised over 16,000 children, but re-recruitment of children continued to take place in SPLA-held territories.

U.N. protocol prohibiting use of child soldiers: ratified July 2005