Canada played a large role in the push for drafting the Optional Protocol. Canada held workshops and consultations on strengthening the text of the draft. In addition, on my cluster map Canada and South Africa are the only identifiable government websites. The Canadian government and the Canadian International Development Agency move have special pages devoted to “Small Soldiers.”
In 1985 the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland proposed including an article on children in armed conflicts in the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Belgium, Peru and Senegal supported them (Heckel, 12). Later on Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela suggested raising the minimum age of participation in conflict to 18. At the time US, UK, Canada, Bangladesh and the U.S.S.R. opposed this amendment due to their continued recruitment of teenagers as young as 15 (Heckel, 14 and Webster, 238). After the CRC was passed, the Working Group on the Optional Protocol (to raise the age to 18) was composed of 54 states and its chairperson was Ambassador Nils Eliasson of Sweden.
Canada seems to have had the biggest role in the 1990s, but not in the 1980s. The Scandinavian countries supported by the South America countries seem to have played the largest roles in the 1980s.
Heckel, Heather. “Transnational Activism without the hegemon: The cases of child soldiers and child sexual exploitation.” (February 2005) unpublished manuscript
Webster, Timothy. "Babes with Arms: International Law and Child Soldiers." The George Washington International Law Review; 2007; 39,2
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