Considerable progress had been achieved in the past few years in obtaining a framework of international norms, standards and commitments that protect the rights and well-being of children affected by armed conflict. In addition, UN agencies and other partners have obtained a number of commitments from various armed groups on the protection of children in situations of armed conflict, notably on the minimum age for recruitment of child soldiers.
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| Former child soldiers wearing civilian clothes walk away from the weapons they once carried, during a demobilization ceremony in a transit camp near Rumbek, southern Sudan. UNICEF photo/Stevie Mann |
Sadly, in spite of these advances, the general situation for children remains grave and unacceptable. Parties to conflict continue to violate with impunity the rights of children. During 2003, this trend has been underscored by the particularly tragic experiences of terror, deprivation and utter vulnerability to which children have been subjected in many conflict situations, including in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Indonesian province of Aceh, Iraq, Liberia, the occupied Palestinian territories and northern Uganda.
International Instruments Protecting Children
in Situations of Armed Conflict
Geneva Conventions (1949) and the two Additional Protocols (1977)
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
on the involvement of children in armed conflict (2000)
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998)
The International Labour Organization Convention No. 182 on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour (ILO-182, 1999)
The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1999)
Security Council Resolutions 1261 (1999), 1314 (2001),
1379 (2001) and 1460 (2003).
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While children are supposed to be protected in armed conflicts by international law, in reality they are not. In the 2003 report of the UN Secretary-General to the Security Council, some of the most egregious violations against children were listed.
These included, but were not limited to: maiming and killing children; subjecting children to grave sexual abuse; depriving children of basic education and health services; illicit exploitation of natural resources; access to internally displaced and refugee children in distress; abductions; and recruitment and use of children as active combatants in armed conflict.
The difficulty to monitor and report on basic violations and the state of compliance on the ground has hampered efforts of several key actors to bring pressure to bear on parties to armed conflict in order to elicit compliance with child protection commitments and obligations. It is critically important to provide decision and policy makers with reliable information on violations of the rights of war-affected children to ensure that pressure is exerted on the perpetrators and that corrective action is taken.
Experience has shown that concerted leadership by United Nations missions and agencies, in particular the country teams, in close collaboration with international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), is crucial for the success of following up on commitments made by parties to armed conflicts. Governments also have a crucial role to play at the national and global levels to ensure that concerned parties respect their child protection obligations and commitments, by using their political, legislative and diplomatic leverage.
At the same time, it is assumed that the present state of the UN monitoring and reporting capacities suffers from ad hoc interventions and poor coordination within its own system and with other actors, in particular NGOs operational in the field. As a result, any attempt to further strengthen the existing monitoring and reporting mechanisms at the global and local levels would have to take into consideration creative and systematic arrangements that allow Governments and governmental organizations to better coordinate their work with other bodies, both public and private, academics and individuals, to address pressing problems affecting children in armed conflict as they arise.
In my capacity as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, I have designed a number of proposals on how to develop a monitoring and reporting network on children affected by armed conflict-composed of various bodies and actors, each of whom brings the value added represented by their respected areas of jurisdiction, competence and expertise—and to strengthen ongoing monitoring activities.
Te respective roles of the key United Nations actors are discussed below.
Security Council: The annual review and debate by the Security Council on this issue should be mainly devoted to a hcomprehensive review of basic violations and the state of compliance on the ground. This should encompass all situations of conflict and the most egregious violations against children. In this context, the Secretary-General's annual report to the Council should serve as an important channel for conveying information gathered through the monitoring framework. Similar reviews of violations and compliance should take place whenever specific country situations are under consideration. For this to happen, it is crucial that the Council receive, on a regular basis, country-specific information emanating from the monitoring framework.
The Security Council's initiative to identify and list parties to armed conflict that violate international obligations on recruitment and use of children in hostilities is critically important and should be continued on a regular basis, in order to publicly identify violators and ensure regular monitoring of progress. Because of the scope of child recruitment and use, this list should encompass all such situations where the practice occur, not only those on the Council's agenda.
The Council should also request the Secretary-General to present a new list, including parties in all situations involved in especially egregious violations, as listed in his 2003 report. Above all, information received by the Council should serve as trigger for action, which might range from calls for compliance to condemnation of violations, to the application of targeted measures. In order to end impunity, it is critical that persistent violations lead to concrete measures by the Council. Security Council fact-finding missions should include in their briefs a checklist of specific compliance concerns.
United Nations field presence: United Nations peace missions and country teams are present and active in virtually all conflict-affected countries and situations. Their presence, expertise and ongoing activities provide unique opportunities for advocacy, monitoring and reporting, which constitute core functions not only for child protection advisers but also for human rights officers and military observers in peace missions. Within the country teams, these functions depend particularly on the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, with UNICEF, as the lead agency for children assuming a special role and responsibility. The capacities of the field offices need to be strengthened for those functions.
In carrying out their respective roles, a specific framework of collaboration, based on complementarity, should be developed between peace mission staff and the UN country team, particularly UNICEF, in countries with peace missions. To facilitate these functions, child protection should be included in the mandates of all peace missions.
The United Nations field staff should work to strengthen local networks and capacities for child protection. Heads of field missions should take concrete steps to ensure that country reports contain specific sections on child protection, in accordance with the stipulation of Security Council resolution 1460 (2003). UN field staff should take specific initiatives and steps to ensure effective follow-up to relevant Council resolutions and concrete commitments made by parties, and should receive training in children's rights. Field manuals should have sections devoted to child protection and monitoring.
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| UN photo |
United Nations human rights regime: This human rights regime provides an important monitoring and reporting framework that should be used with a more systematic and stronger focus on issues of child protection. Whenever special rapporteurs prepare reports on particular war-affected countries, they should include sections on egregious child rights violations.
It is also important that they apply the standards and norms as a basis for proactive advocacy for child rights protection. The Committee on the Rights of the Child should use the occasions of country reports and reviews to promote monitoring and accountability. The Commission on Human Rights should use the various fact-finding mechanisms, as well as its annual deliberations and resolutions, to promote advocacy and demand accountability.
International Criminal Court (ICC): The establishment of the ICC is important both for deterrence and the prospect of actual prosecution. The Court's deterrence role needs to be actively promoted through proactive advocacy and public information. Concrete steps should be taken to ensure the earliest possible prosecution of persons responsible for war crimes against children.
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict: The Office has a key role in facilitating and coordinating the establishment of a monitoring and reporting mechanism, which includes: conducting consultations with all stakeholders, with a view to establishing an appropriate mechanism; ensuring significant inclusion of monitoring information in the annual reports on children and armed conflict, addressed to the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights; monitoring and follow-up on specific Security Council resolutions and concrete commitments, in particular in the context of field visits; outreach for broad dissemination of the standards; and promoting mainstream activities on the protection and rehabilitation of war-affected children, within key institutions and mechanisms, to ensure long-term sustainability.
In conformity with the Security Council's specific request, the roles outlined above have been confined to United Nations-based actors. An effective and concerted monitoring system will necessarily engage important participants outside the United Nations system; in particular, the roles and contributions of national governments, regional organizations, NGOs and various civil society actors will be crucial to the success of this enterprise.
An effective monitoring mechanism, which must lead to action, is at the core of the "era of application" campaign. The proposals have been put forward as a basis for broad consultations among stakeholders. In particular, it is crucial to develop a coordinated framework to ensure the effective flow, integration and reporting on information gathered. |
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