Population: 4.5 million (1.2 million under 18)
Government Armed Forces: 50,500
Compulsary Recruitment Age: no conscription
Voluntary Recruitment Age: 18 for officers and women; unknown for others
Voting Age: not applicable
Optional Protocol: not signed
Other Treaties: GC AP I, GC AP II, CRC, ILO 138, ILO 182

There were no reports of under-18s serving in the armed forces. There was limited information available on the minimum age for voluntary recruitment. Children between 15 and 18 years old received military training at school.

Government:

National recruitment legislation and practice

The constitution stated that "defence of the union is a sacred duty for every citizen" (Article 43). There was no conscription, and migrants comprised some 30 per cent of the armed forces.1 No information about voluntary recruitment was provided in the UAE's report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in October 2001.

The law on the recruitment of UAE nationals as armed forces officers set the minimum age for recruitment at 18, and required officer recruits to be graduates of the UAE or other recognized military educational institutions.2 The minimum age for recruitment to other ranks remained unclear.

The government encouraged women to join the UAE military.3 Recruitment was open to women between the ages of 18 and 28, provided they had completed middle school.4

Military training and military schools

Military education was part of the secondary-school curriculum for students aged 15 to 18. It aimed at "inculcating values of patriotism, self-denial and readiness to defend one's country in students and thus motivate them to take up military careers". Voluntary professional military training began at the completion of secondary education. Training took place at nine military schools (including two schools for female recruits).5

1 Global Security, "Emirati Forces", www.globalsecurity.org/

2 "Military recruitment law approved", Khaleej Times online, 9 April 2003, www.khaleejtimes.com.

3 US State Department, Human Rights Report 2005, www.state.gov.

4 UAE State report to the International Conference on Education, September 2004, www.ibe.unesco.org/ (Arabic).

5 Ibid.

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