Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict for the United Nations, Olara Otunnu. He is a former Ugandan diplomat who is now heading the effort to see that guerrilla armies do not use children as soldiers, and that children are protected in wartorn areas. Experts say that the number of children in combat is on the rise, and that as many as 300,000 children in at least 30 countries are directly involved in conflict as soldiers, porters, or slaves.