Obtaining commitments from parties to conflicts

Over the past several years, the Special Representative and UNICEF have established the systematic practice of engaging in dialogue with offending parties. The objective of such dialogue has been to elicit from these parties firm commitments, such as refraining from recruiting and using children as soldiers, releasing abducted children, observing humanitarian ceasefires to facilitate feeding and immunization and allowing access for humanitarian relief and protection of displaced populations.

The application of international norms, combined with the political process spearheaded by Member States, particularly in the context of Security Council resolution 1612 (2005), on children and armed conflict, have significantly strengthened the hand of child protection advocates by opening up space for more meaningful protection dialogue with parties to conflict. Such dialogue has begun to yield concrete results in terms of commitments by parties to conflict, which are being translated into tangible protection for children on the ground.

In Côte d'Ivoire, for example, approximately 1,200 children have already been released to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its child protection partners on the strength of the action plan agreed in November 2005 by the Forces armées des forces nouvelles with the United Nations to end the association of children with their fighting forces. The momentum of that initial dialogue also led to similar action-plan commitments in September 2006 by the four major pro-Government militia groups in western Côte d'Ivoire, which has now resulted in the identification of children in their forces and a process of releasing some 204 children, 84 of whom are girls.

Following a number of field visits, action-plan commitments have also been made by parties to conflict. For instance, in June 2007 the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), one of the signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement, agreed with UNICEF the modalities for the identification and release of children associated with its forces and ongoing verification to prevent child recruitment. The anticipated time frame for the implementation of that plan is three months, with the expectation that this initial breakthrough may lead to similar commitments by other parties to the conflict in Darfur.

Also following the Special Representative's visit to Uganda in June 2006, the Government committed to strengthening the implementation of the existing legal and policy frameworks on the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict and agreed to an action plan in that regard.

In Chad, dialogue between UNICEF and the Government of Chad led to the signature in April 2007 of a protocol of agreement on protecting children who are victims of armed conflict and their sustainable reintegration into communities and families. Under that agreement, the Government of Chad and UNICEF commit to working together and with partners in ensuring protection and services for children associated with armed forces.

In the Central African Republic, the Government, the Assembly of the Union of Democratic Forces rebel group and UNICEF signed an agreement in June 2007 for the release and reintegration of some 400 children associated with armed groups.

Another significant political-level initiative is the strong commitment expressed by 58 Member States, including a number of conflict-affected countries, to the Paris Commitments and the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated With Armed Forces or Armed Groups, which provide guidelines on the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of all categories of children associated with armed groups.