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In presidential statement following day-long debate, UN SC reiterates its strong condemnation of all abuses against children in armed conflict

Attachments

SC/9398

Security Council
5936th Meeting (AM & PM)

The Security Council today expressed once again its strong and equal condemnation of the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, and of their killing, maiming, abduction, rape and other sexual violence against them, as well as the denial by parties to conflict of humanitarian access to children and attacks against schools and hospitals.

Wrapping up a day-long debate with nearly 60 participants, the representative of Viet Nam read out a presidential statement by which the Council, while acknowledging that implementation of its resolution 1612 (2005) had already led to the release and reintegration of child soldiers, reaffirmed the need for States to comply with their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, and for non-State actors to refrain from recruiting or using children in hostilities.

Welcoming the ongoing implementation of the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism of its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, the Council recognized the important role of education as a means to halt and prevent the recruitment and re-recruitment of children in conflict areas. It called on all parties concerned to continue to ensure that all children associated with armed forces and groups would be systematically included in every disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process, with a particular emphasis on education.

The Council further reiterated the need for those parties, including Governments and the donor community, to provide appropriate resources and technical assistance in support of national strategies or action plans in the area of child protection and welfare, with a view to ensuring the long-term sustainability and success of programmes for the release, rehabilitation and reintegration of all children associated with armed forces and armed groups.

In his opening statement, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the protection of children in armed conflict as a litmus test for the United Nations and its Member States, saying: 'It is a moral call and deserves to be placed above politics.'

Describing the progress made in standard-setting over the last 12 years, he said the international community was now shifting its focus to an era of application. Council resolutions focused in particular on six grave violations: abduction; sexual violence; child soldiers; killing and maiming; attacks on schools and hospitals; and denial of humanitarian access. 'Let us not forget that poverty and underdevelopment can make children more vulnerable to exploitation and violence,' he said, adding that only concerted international efforts, involving all United Nations partners, could meet the needs of children in situations of armed conflict.

Opening the meeting, Council President Pham Gia Khiem, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, spoke in his national capacity, stressing that his country had seen several generations of children suffer from the scourge of war. Viet Nam attached great importance to a preventive strategy with the dual objective of preventing armed conflict by addressing its root causes, and preventing children from being affected by armed conflict. Such a comprehensive prevention approach must include the promotion of sustainable development, poverty eradication, national reconciliation, good governance, democracy, the rule of law, respect for and protection of human rights, and the reintegration and rehabilitation of children associated with armed forces and armed groups.

In a briefing to the Council, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, called for targeted measures against 16 persistent violators, and requested the Council to expand the scope of its Working Group to cover all situations of concern and all grave violations against children, especially sexual violence, which, like the recruitment of child soldiers, was always deliberate, targeted and a direct consequence of criminal intent.

Noting that sexual violence received the Council's special attention in resolution 1820 (2008), she said she looked forward to discussions on the possibility of a new resolution covering all other grave violations or, at the very least, place renewed emphasis on the question of sexual violence against children. Such a resolution should also consider the possibility of setting up a process that would eventually lead to targeted measures against persistent violators.

The Council heard further briefings by Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); Edmond Mulet, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations; and Kathleen Hunt, Chairperson of the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict. The representative of France, in his capacity as Chairman of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, also briefed Council members.

In the ensuing debate, many speakers agreed with the Secretary-General's Special Representative and urged the Council to provide for the inclusion of other violations, especially rape and sexual violence, in the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism. They further asked for the inclusion of children's concerns in all peace processes, and of child protection advisers in all peacekeeping missions. Calling for an end to impunity for perpetrators of crimes against children, many speakers supported the work of the International Criminal Court in that regard.

China's representative warned, however, that the Council should remain focused on its primary responsibility -- the maintenance of international peace and security. By working to prevent conflicts at the root, it would provide children with the best possible protection.

Sri Lanka's representative pointed out that, in order to end child recruitment, it was important that the Council and its Working Group remain focused on that most urgent task, rather than seek to 'broaden the canvas' to include other issues that were not of immediate practical benefit.

Although several speakers asked for targeted sanctions against persistent violators of children's rights during armed conflict, others cautioned against such a step, with Uganda's representative warning that demonizing and condemning Member States with the aim of ending 'impunity' would only delay and often derail an otherwise noble initiative. The fastest and most sustainable means to solve a problem was not emphasizing punishment, but engaging the parties involved in dialogue. Sanctions only punished the most vulnerable in society and, as history had shown, only served to harden an accused State's resolve.

The representative of the United States noted that the recruitment and use of child soldiers persisted in many countries, including Burma, Sri Lanka, where the rebel Tamil Tigers had children among its combatants. The recruitment and use of child soldiers by both Government forces and various armed rebels also continued in the Darfur region of the Sudan, while the recruitment of children from camps for refugees and the internally displaced on both sides of the Chad-Sudan border continued. In Afghanistan, the Taliban and other insurgents engaged in systematic attacks on schoolchildren and school buildings in a deliberate attempt to prevent education for girls. The Taliban had also used children as human shields and suicide bombers.

Other speakers pointed to the situation of children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Iraq. Libya's representative expressed concern over the rising numbers of child victims of suicide bombers, improvised explosive devices or attacks on schools. Children were also victims of arbitrary detention, he said, calling on coalition forces in Iraq to release them immediately.

The representatives of France (on behalf of the European Union), Italy, United Kingdom, Panama, Belgium, Croatia, Indonesia, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Russian Federation, South Africa, Nigeria, Peru, Australia, Canada, Bangladesh, Israel, Republic of Korea, Austria, Nicaragua and Liechtenstein also spoke.

Others speaking today were the representatives of Japan, Norway (on behalf of the Nordic countries), Germany, Ghana, Colombia, Uruguay, Egypt, Rwanda, Malawi, Cote d'Ivoire, United Republic of Tanzania, Afghanistan, New Zealand, Nepal, Philippines, Myanmar, Tonga (on behalf of the Pacific Small Island States), Benin, Ireland, Liberia and Mexico.

Also addressing the Council was the Permanent Observer of the African Union.

The meeting began at 10:10 a.m. and was suspended at 1 p.m. It resumed at 3:10 p.m. and ended at 6:20 p.m.

Presidential Statement

The full text of presidential statement S/PRST/2008/28 reads as follows:

'1. The Security Council reiterates its commitment to address the widespread impact of armed conflict on children and its determination to ensure respect for and implementation of its resolution 1612 (2005) and all its previous resolutions on children and armed conflict, and the Statements of its President on 24 July 2006 (S/2006/33), 28 November 2006 (S/2006/48), and 12 February 2008 (S/2008/6), which provide a comprehensive framework for addressing the protection of children affected by armed conflict, as well as the provisions on children contained in other resolutions, including resolutions 1325 (2000), 1674 (2006) and 1820 (2008).

'2. The Security Council reiterates its strong and equal condemnation of the continuing recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in violation of applicable international law, killing and maiming of children, rape and other sexual violence, abductions, denial of humanitarian access to children and attacks against schools and hospitals by parties to armed conflict, while acknowledging that the implementation of its resolution 1612 (2005) has already generated progress, resulting in the release and reintegration of children in their families and communities, through, inter alia, a more systematic dialogue between the United Nations country task forces and parties to the armed conflict on the implementation of time-bound action plans.

'3. The Security Council reaffirms the need for States Parties to comply with their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols thereto, for armed groups distinct from the State to refrain from recruiting or using children in hostilities, and urges states that have not yet done so to consider ratifying or acceding to those instruments.

'4. The Security Council welcomes the ongoing implementation of the monitoring and reporting mechanism on children and armed conflict,in particular the efforts that have made possible the implementation of the mechanism in all situations listed in the annexes to the latest Secretary-General's report (S/2007/757), and invites the Secretary-General, where applicable, to bring the mechanism to its full efficiency, in accordance with resolution 1612 (2005).

'5. The Security Council welcomes the sustained activity of its Working Group on children and armed conflict, as outlined inter alia in the latest report by its Chair (S/2008/455), and as the monitoring and reporting mechanism is being implemented in a growing number of situations of armed conflict, requests the Secretary General to provide additional administrative support in order for the Working Group to continue to fully carry out its mandate in an effective manner.

'6. The Security Council invites its Working Group on children and armed conflict to continue adopting conclusions providing clear guidance to the parties to armed conflict and relevant international actors on the concrete steps that need to be taken in order to respect their obligations under international law, in particular Security Council resolutions on children and armed conflict, and proposing effective recommendations based on timely, objective, accurate and reliable information, to the Council with a view to promoting the protection of children affected by armed conflict, including through appropriate mandates of United Nations peacekeeping operations and political missions. The Security Council welcomes the efforts by its Working Group to improve its working methods and encourages it to continue to do so with a view to further improving its transparency and efficiency.

'7. The Security Council commends the work carried out by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, and underlines the importance of her country visits in facilitating better coordination among United Nations partners at the field level, promoting collaboration between the United Nations and governments, enhancing dialogue with parties to conflicts in implementing applicable international law, including their obligations under Security Council resolution 1612 (2005), and thereby securing concrete child protection commitments.

'8. The Security Council also commends the work carried out by UNICEF, as well as other relevant UN agencies, funds and programmes, within their respective mandates, the child protection advisers of peacekeeping operations and political missions in cooperation with national Governments and relevant civil society actors, in enhancing the activities of the United Nations Country Task Forces on Monitoring and Reporting and promoting child protection at the field level, including through implementation of Security Council Resolution 1612 (2005) and following-up on the relevant conclusions of the Security Council Working Group on children and armed conflict.

'9. The Security Council recognizes the important role of education in armed conflict areas as a means to achieve the goal of halting and preventing recruitment and re-recruitment of children and calls upon all parties concerned to continue to ensure that all children associated with armed forces and groups, as well as issues related to children, are systematically included in every disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process with a particular emphasis on education.

'10. The Security Council reiterates the need forstronger focus by all parties concerned, including Governments and the donor community, on the long-term effects of armed conflict on children and the impediments to their full rehabilitation and reintegration into their families and communities, through, inter alia, addressing the need for providing appropriate health care, enhancing their exchange of information about programmes and best practices, and ensuring the availability of adequate resources, funding and technical assistance to support national strategies or action plans in the area of child protection and welfare, and community-based programmes, bearing in mind the 'Paris principles to protect children from unlawful recruitment by armed forces or groups', with a view to ensuring the long-term sustainability and success of their programmatic response to the release, rehabilitation and reintegration of all children associated with armed forces and armed groups.

'11. The Security Council looks forward to the next report of the Secretary General on children and armed conflict, and reiterates its readiness to continue to review the relevant provisions of its resolutions on children and armed conflict, building on the provisions of resolution 1612 (2005), with a view to further enhancing the comprehensive framework of the protection of children in armed conflict.'