Obtaining commitments from parties to conflicts

Over the past several years, the Special Representative, DPKO, DPA, ILO 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 strength of the Security Council's proactive process in the context of resolution 1612 (2005), combined with the application of international standards, has considerably enhanced the work carried out by child protection advocates. In the last three years of the mandate of the Special Representative, political-level child protection advocacy dialogue has resulted in tangible outcomes in the form of commitments by parties to conflict, which has also translated into specific results for the protection of children on the ground in several situations of concern. For example, the last report of the Special Representative to the General Assembly (A/62/228) underscored the accomplishments achieved by child protection partners with parties to conflict in Côte d'Ivoire through implementation of action plans to secure the release of children associated with fighting forces. In 2007, momentum culminating from continuous dialogue resulted in the Forces Nouvelles (FDS-FN) and four pro-Government armed militia groups ceasing recruitment and taking measures to identify and release all remaining children from their ranks. As a result, all five parties were delisted from the annexes of the Secretary-General's annual report.

There has also been progress on action plans with armed forces and groups in the Central African Republic, Burundi, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Sudan and Uganda. In Chad, the Government signed an agreement with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to demobilize child soldiers from its armed forces.

As an independent moral voice and high-level advocate, the Special Representative has engaged in child protection dialogue with parties to conflict, including non-State actors, without prejudice to their political or legal status and with the consent of the Member States concerned. In the Central African Republic, the Special Representative engaged in discussions with the Armée populaire pour la restauration de la République et de la démocratie (APRD) securing their commitment to release all children associated with their forces. The dialogue with such actors, with the approval of the Governments concerned, is essential to ensure the release of children. In view of the fact that the vast majority of parties to conflict listed in the annexes of the Secretary-General's annual report are non-State actors, it is crucial that Member States facilitate contact and dialogue between the United Nations and these groups for the purposes of developing and implementing action plans to halt recruitment and use of children and to address without prejudice all other grave violations committed against children.