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United Nations: The number of conflicts in which child soldiers were involved dropped sharply from 27 in 2004 to 17 at the end of 2007, according to a report on Tuesday by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.
But despite the decline, the report said tens of thousands of children remain in the ranks of militias and other armed groups in at least 24 countries.
It also said the number of governments that use children to fight fell only slightly from 10 in 2001-2004 to nine in 2004-2007.
Myanmar remained the most persistent government offender, the report said.
Myanmar's armed forces, engaged in counter-insurgency operations against a range of armed ethnic groups, forcibly recruit boys under the age of 18 and contain thousands of children, some as young as 11 years old, the report said.
Children also took part in hostilities in government forces in Chad, Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen, it said. Israel's Defence Forces used Palestinian children as human shields on several occasions and a few British under-18s were deployed to Iraq up until mid-2005, the report said.
The 2008 Child Soldiers Global Report documents military recruitment and use of child soldiers in 197 countries including their release and reintegration into society.
It covers the period from April 2004 to October 2007 and considers anyone below the age of 18 in a government or non-government armed group a child soldier, whether or not an armed conflict exists.
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