"Myanmar has ratified the so-called “child soldier treaty”, the Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday. Union Minister for International Cooperation U Kyaw Tin presented Myanmar’s Instrument of Ratification of the treaty—formally known as the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (CRC-OPAC)—to the UN secretary general during the UN Treaty Event of 2019 at the world body’s headquarters in New York on Sept. 27, the ministry said. The instrument was presented via the chief of the UN Office of Legal Affairs. “The significance of this protocol is that while it bars the states from using children under the age of 18 for military purposes, it also requires states to make sure all armed groups distinct from [state] armed forces ensure there is no military use of children under the age of 18,” said U Aung Myo Min, director of Equality Myanmar. The protocol was adopted by the UN General Assembly on May 25, 2000 and entered into force on Feb. 12, 2002. Myanmar is the 169th country to ratify the protocol. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the ratification as a further significant step toward the protection of child rights..."