Monitoring and reporting

Monitoring and reporting on children affected by armed conflict addresses itself to six grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict:

1. Killing or maiming of children;
2. Recruitment or use of children as soldiers;
3. Rape and other grave sexual abuse of children.
4. Abduction of children;
5. Attacks against schools or hospitals;
6. Denial of humanitarian access for children;

Security Council resolution 1612 (2005), by which the Council requests the implementation of a mechanism specified by the Secretary-General in his fifth report on children and armed conflict (A/59/695-S/2005/72) to monitor and report on these six grave violations, has broken new ground in terms of the institution of practical measures towards the ending of impunity of violating parties. As such, the resolution represents a critical element of the collective efforts of the international community to secure the “era of application” of international protection standards for children.

Following the adoption of resolution 1612 (2005), the Office of the Special Representative has been tasked with the coordination of reports from the Secretary-General to a Working Group of the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict, consisting of all its members. It is intended that reports to the Working Group should serve as “triggers for action” by the Council and other relevant policy level actors, resulting in pressure upon parties to conflict to halt violations against children.

The Security Council requested the implementation of the mechanism in a phased approach, beginning with five situations of concern for children that are also on the country-specific agenda for the Security Council, namely: Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, and the Sudan (these situations are listed in annex I to the report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on children and armed conflict (ibid.)). In addition, the first phase has also seen the implementation of the mechanism in two other situations of concern — Nepal and Sri Lanka — which are drawn from annex II to the Secretary-General’s report, which lists situations of concern that are not on the country-specific agenda of the Security Council.

It is important to stress that the practice of monitoring and reporting on grave child rights violations is not a new initiative. Over the past several years in particular, the United Nations system and NGO partners have gained valuable experience in monitoring and reporting, which forms the basis of the current efforts to strengthen this critical practice.

Finally, it must be stressed that an effective monitoring, reporting and compliance regime depends largely on the collaboration of a number of critical stakeholders, particularly Member States, United Nations system partners, NGOs and local civil society, in situations of concern. The success of this protection initiative will depend on how effectively collective will, resources and expertise are mobilized and deployed at the multiple levels of the mechanism — country level, United Nations Headquarters level, and the level of policymaking bodies that may undertake specific actions for the protection of children, on the basis of timely and reliable information emanating from the monitoring mechanism. The Special Representative is committed to ensuring that the space and opportunity exist for the full participation of all partners and stakeholders.