There are many valuable programs to prevent violent conflict before it starts and also to disarm, demobilize and reintegrate (DDR) child soldiers after a conflict has ended. Few focus their efforts on stopping recruitment and securing the release of child soldiers during the thick of conflict or in its immediate aftermath. These interventions are desperately needed to ensure the protection of children, but also to help stop conflict and insecurity. Because it is relatively easy to establish an armed group of children and to maintain it indefinitely, the use of child soldiers increases the probability that a violent conflict will start, that it will spill across national borders, and that it will carry on longer than might otherwise be the case. Despite this, the issue of child soldiers has been viewed almost exclusively through the lens of human rights and child protection; rarely, if ever, has it been considered as the serious and immediate security issue it also represents. This has effectively left out the military and police from efforts to end to the exploitation of children as soldiers. CSI is working to strengthen the ability of military and police actors to respond - in a more cohesive way with all key actors addressing child soldier issues during a conflict and its immediate aftermath. By bringing together all the diverse actors able to influence the recruitment and use of child soldiers, the Child Soldiers Initiative (CSI) aims to foster a process of collaborative thinking and analysis of the problems that allows actors to better understand each other's perspective and builds significant new capacity for collaboration and effective joint action. Working with as broad a range of organizations and individuals as possible, CSI applies rigorous academic research and field-testing to inform programs of advocacy, education, field support training and advisory work.