A/HRC/39/49 24. Private military and security companies operating in areas affected by armed conflict may risk being involved in unlawfully recruiting children. In this regard, the Committee on the Rights of the Child stresses in its general comment No. 16 (2013) on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights that both home and host States should introduce and implement national legislation that includes a specific prohibition on such companies recruiting children or using them in hostilities; requirements for effective measures to protect children from violence and exploitation; and mechanisms for holding personnel accountable for abuses of children’s rights. 25. In the absence of an international legally binding instrument regulating the activities of private military and security companies, the Working Group reiterates its call for such an instrument to ensure consistent regulation worldwide and adequate protection of the human rights of all affected by the activities of such companies. The Working Group is of the view that regulation of non-State actors, such as private security providers, requires a multidimensional approach that also includes industry-led efforts to improve compliance with human rights standards. In this regard, the Working Group is pleased at the development of self-regulation and voluntary initiatives, such as the Montreux Document Forum and the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers, which have clearly led to improved standards across the industry. For instance, concerning the selection and vetting of personnel, the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers clearly requires the commitment from its signatory companies not to hire individuals under the age of 18 years to carry out security services. B. Mercenaries and foreign fighters 26. Based on its study on the phenomenon of foreign fighters, the Working Group submitted two reports to the General Assembly examining the linkages between mercenaries and foreign fighters and their impact on human rights and the right of peoples to self-determination. While there is no legal definition of foreign fighters, the Working Group analysed the similarities and differences between these two actors in terms of recruitment, motivation and their impact on human rights. In its report, the Working Group concluded that both mercenaries and foreign fighters were external actors that intervened in an armed conflict (see A/70/330, para. 86). The Working Group further asserted that foreign fighters represented a possible contemporary form of mercenarism or mercenaryrelated activities (see A/70/330, para. 88 and A/71/318, para. 77). 27. As part of its study on the phenomenon of foreign fighters, members of the Working Group conducted country visits to Tunisia (see A/HRC/33/43/Add.1), Belgium (see A/HRC/33/43/Add.2), Ukraine (see A/HRC/33/43/Add.3) and the European Union (see A/HRC/33/43/Add.4). During these visits, the Working Group observed that the root causes of individuals, including children, being vulnerable to radicalization were poor social integration, perceived procedural injustice and perceived discrimination in society (see A/HRC/33/43/Add.2, para. 40). C. Recruitment practices 28. Around the world, hundreds of thousands of children are associated with non-State armed groups, including foreign fighters. These boys and girls are forced to serve as combatants, servants, messengers or sex slaves or in other roles. They are associated with non-State armed groups in many different ways. Some boys and girls are abducted, trafficked or forced into conscription; some are born into non-State armed groups; some seem to join these groups voluntarily for various reasons. 29. During its visit to the Central African Republic in 2016, the Working Group learned that children had become increasingly likely to become victims of armed groups as the conflicts of 2003 and 2013 continued. Between 6,000 and 10,000 children had become connected with armed groups, whether forcibly recruited as child soldiers or used for sexual slavery and other purposes (see A/HRC/36/47/Add.1, para. 57). In Tunisia, the Working Group was informed that non-State armed groups recruited foreign children under the age 7