Armed groups in the region have deliberately killed, tortured, raped and intimidated children, and recruited them to fight as soldiers, despite the safeguards in international humanitarian law which forbid these activities. All over the South Asia region, children can be seen working in factories, mines, brick kilns and brothels. They often work in dangerous and unhealthy environments and are deprived of rights promised them in the CRC such as health, education and recreation. They find themselves trapped in a cycle of poverty, growing up illiterate, unskilled and prone to involvement in crime. Economic disadvantage, social exclusion and political marginalization add to the vulnerability of youth to perpetuate these cycles of abuse.
Girls face particular disadvantage, which compounds the discrimination faced by women.
Amnesty International's campaign report recognizes that delivering on commitments contained in the CRC is an enormous challenge for any government, requiring a combination of legal, economic and social measures, and that the task is especially daunting for many of the countries of South Asia, with large and diverse populations, limited resources and weak institutions. According to Amnesty International, some governments have taken positive initiatives to improve children's rights, ranging from legislation to protect children to human rights education programs, with varying degrees of implementation and success. According to Amnesty International there are several practical measures which governments could take as a first step towards improving the human rights situation of children. Amnesty International's report also contains recommendations to armed opposition groups. Specifically, that they should make clear to all those they command that torture and deliberate or indiscriminate killings will not be tolerated and that all civilians should be treated humanely, that they should prohibit the compulsory or voluntary recruitment into their armed forces of anyone under the age of 18, and that they should ban the use of anti-personnel mines.