CRIN - Child Rights Information Network

www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/children_armed_conflict_statement.pdf

Second Substantive Session of the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session of the General Assembly in 2001

For Follow-up to the World Summit for Children

Oral Statement by the NGO Caucus on Children and Armed Conflict 31 January 2001

Madam Chair, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates

In the time since the first Preparatory Committee meeting in May 2000, we have seen some positive steps forward at the international level for the protection of children in armed conflict. This has been reflected in the priority given to this issue in many governments’statements at this meeting.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child which establishes 18 as the minimum age for participation in hostilities was adopted by the General Assembly and signed by 76 member states. The UN Security Council, in Resolution 1314, again called for specific actions to safeguard children in times of war and for effective measures targeted at those responsible for the exploitation and abuse of children. The International Conference on War-Affected Children in Winnipeg in September 2000 saw governments, experts and NGOs set specific goals in preparation for the forthcoming Special Session. The International Criminal Court is closer to creation which will help to end impunity for those guilty of crimes against children. Steps have been taken to establish a special court in Sierra Leone to try those who have targeted and recruited children for war crimes.

In the same period however, we have seen contempt for these international norms on the ground, from Chechnya to Colombia, from Sierra Leone to Israel and the Occupied Territories. For all the statements, declarations and resolutions mentioned earlier, these grave violations have all too often been met with silence and inaction on the part of the international community.

It is critically important, therefore, that the Special Session on Children (1) consolidate and institutionalise the gains that have been made in recent years in elaborating norms and strategies, (2) tighten systems for monitoring their implementation, and (3) sharpen the tools for holding all responsible parties accountable for their actions (and inaction) with respect to children.

To this end, the caucus of NGO’s working on children and armed conflict here at the Preparatory Committee meeting would like to stress the following issues as priorities for the outcome of the Special Session.

Education is child protection

Education should be recognised as the very foundation of child protection and as a fourth pillar of humanitarian assistance, along with food, shelter and health care. Every effort must be made to ensure that children’s education is not interrupted and that education services, formal or non-formal, are extended to refugee, internally displaced and other vulnerable communities. Schools and other community institutions should be treated as “zones of peace”, not military targets or means of indoctrination and militarisation.

Youth participation in humanitarian response and peacebuilding

Youth should be given a leading role in peacebuilding initiatives and holding their local community and the international community accountable to its commitments. Children and their civil society advocates should be heard within peace processes to develop specific proposals for child-focussed demobilisation and post- conflict programs. More resources need to be allocated to communities for long-term physical and psycho-social support programs, designed for girls as well as boys.

Universal adoption of norms and standards

The Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict is a strong expression of the international consensus against the use of children as soldiers. The success of our efforts to implement a global ban on child soldiers will turn on universal ratification of this standard by all member states, without reservations and setting at least 18 as the minimum age for all forms of military recruitment.

Improve monitoring and reporting on violations

The Committee on the Rights of the Child plays an important role in reviewing the performance of member states against the Convention, but its current reporting system (once every five years) is inadequate for situations in which the very survival of children is threatened. Work should begin on the development of a complaints process under the Convention and its Optional Protocols, similar to those for other international human rights instruments. Monitoring and reporting on child rights violations should therefore be included explicity in the mandate of all UN field and peacekeeping operations; child rights and child protection advisors should be deployed before, during and after conflicts; and inter-agency task forces (involving NGOs) be established on specific situations to develop child-focussed analysis and effective strategies.

Mechanisms for accountability

Ending impunity is essential if children’s rights are to be protected. Support should be given to the development of local, national, regional and international mechanisms before which those responsible for violations against children can be held to account. States should move quickly to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court so that it may begin prosecuting crimes against children.

Institutionalise action by UN Security Council

In the past two years, the UN Security Council has endorsed a range of practical measures for the protection of children in armed conflict. It should now seek to develop and institutionalise these recommendations in operational terms by ensuring that information, analysis and recommendations on child protection are included in all of its reports, deliberations, missions and resolutions, including on country-specific situations; that states and armed groups targeting or abusing children (and those who support them) face appropriate sanction and censure; and that progress in implementation of this agenda is reviewed on an annual basis.

Special Session process

The NGO caucus calls for children and armed conflict issues to be given a special and explicit place on the agenda of the Special Session, including through a panel discussion focussed on the situation of children in armed conflict and positive ways that communities and governments can hold parties accountable for their actions.

Second, the caucus urges that children and armed conflict issues be included on the agenda for the Special Session on Small Arms and the Second World Congress on Sexual Exploitation.

Previous Statement items

Organisation Contact Details:

Children in Armed Conflict Caucus for the 2001 UN General Assembly Special Session on Children
Women's Commission for Refugee
Women and Children / NGO Working
Group on Children in Armed Conflict

Allison A. Pillsbury
Tel: 00 1 212 551 3107
Email: allison@theirc.org

Last updated 22/03/2001 11:35:13

Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.

Oral Statement at Second PrepCom from Children and Armed Conflict Caucus

Previous Statement items

Have your say!