For those children, joining the armed forces could represent the only means for obtaining a home, an education, money, or status. At times, cultural and ideological reasons, such as value systems that glorify military life or peer pressure may push children to join the military. The decision to join the armed forces can also be the result of an intimidating atmosphere towards children’s families, which in turn may press children to join the army “voluntarily”.310 In order to protect the rights and well-being of children associated with armed forces, it is necessary to invest in prevention, norm-setting, and enforcement. Prevention focuses on addressing the factors that lead to the recruitment and the use of children. Efforts must be made to develop norms and standards aimed at ensuring that children associated with armed forces live in a safe environment. Finally, enforcement mechanisms should be in place to prevent and/or punish violations.311 2. International Human Rights Commitments The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, is a comprehensive code of rights, offering the highest standards of protection for children of any international instrument. The Convention sets out these rights in 54 articles and two Optional Protocols, spelling out the basic human rights of children, including the right: to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse, and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural, and social life. The near universal acceptance of the Convention establishes it as a set of international norms that are the basic minimum rights that all children are entitled to. Art. 1 states: “For the purposes of the present Convention, a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.” The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict is among the most important international instruments addressing the recruitment or use of children in armed forces.312 The Optional Protocol sets 18 as the minimum age for compulsory recruitment by governments.313 Forced recruitment is forbidden by all parties and under all circumstances. The same prohibition is affirmed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, which defines the forced or compulsory recruitment of any person under 18 for use in armed conflict as one of the worst forms of child labour.314 The Optional Protocol sets 16 as the minimum age for voluntary recruitment in government forces, with the stipulation that no person under 18 is to take direct part in hostilities. States that accept volunteers aged 16 and 17 are required to make a binding declaration 310  “Child Soldiers”, background material produced by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, October 2006, available at <http://www.dcaf.ch/publications/kms/details. cfm?lng=en&id=26088&nav1=4>. 311  Ibid. 312  Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, adopted and opened for signature, ratification, and accession by General Assembly Resolution A/ RES/54/263 of 25 May 2000, entered into force on 12 February 2002, available at <http://www.unhchr.ch/html/ menu2/6/protocolchild.htm>. Also see the Convention on the Rights of the Child, setting 15 as the minimum age for recruitment and for direct participation in hostilities; this standard is drawn from the two Additional Protocols to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949. 313  Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, Arts. 1 and 2. 314  Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, Convention 182, 1999, Art. 3.a. Among OSCE participating States that are also ILO members, only Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have not ratified this convention. 145 Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel