[1] Internally issues related to children are mostly under the Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar, or the ICBF, which is translated as the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare.
The numerous internal conflicts in which Colombia has been involved, has used children for combat related duties throughout the years, as well as political, social and economic instability have pushed for child labor.
More recently the current internal armed conflict, while the government enforces the enlistment of adults in the military under the legal age, 18-year-olds, the guerrillas and paramilitary groups resort to the recruitment, sometimes forced, of children for combat.
According to Human Rights Watch, "Approximately 80 percent of child combatants in Colombia belong to one of the two left-wing guerrilla groups, the FARC or ELN.
Children are mainly affected by poverty and end up in local brothels; others are placed into regional and international prostitution trade networks.