VI. PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AFFECTED BY ARMED CONFLICT Reaffirming paragraphs 43 to 56 of its resolution 2000/85, 31. Notes the importance of the third debate held by the Security Council, on 26 July 2000, on children and armed conflict and the undertaking by the Council to give special attention to the protection, welfare and rights of children when taking action aimed at maintaining peace and security, and reaffirms the essential role of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council for the promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of children; 32. Notes with appreciation the Agenda for War-Affected Children adopted by the International Conference on War-Affected Children, held in Winnipeg, Canada, in September 2000, and efforts by regional organizations, in particular the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the Organization of American States and the Organization of African Unity, to include prominently the rights and protection of children affected by armed conflict in their policies and programmes; 33. Notes the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (A/CONF.183/9), in particular the inclusion therein, as a war crime, of conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years or using them to participate actively in hostilities in both international and non-international armed conflicts; 34. Calls upon States: (a) To end the use of children as soldiers contrary to obligations assumed under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict and other relevant international human rights instruments; (b) When ratifying the Optional Protocol, to raise the minimum age for voluntary recruitment of persons into their national armed forces from that set out in article 38, paragraph 3, of the Convention, bearing in mind that under the Convention persons under eighteen years of age are entitled to special protection, and to adopt safeguards to ensure that such recruitment is not forced or coerced; (c) To ensure that children are not forcibly or compulsorily recruited into their armed forces; (d) To take all feasible measures to prevent recruitment and use of children by armed groups, as distinct from the armed forces of a State, including the adoption of legal measures necessary to prohibit and criminalize such practices; 35. Calls upon: (a) All States and other parties to armed conflict to respect fully international humanitarian law and, in this regard, calls upon States parties to respect fully the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977; (b) All States and relevant United Nation bodies and agencies and regional organizations to integrate the rights of the child into all activities in conflict and post-conflict situations and to facilitate the participation of children in the development of strategies in this regard, making sure that there are opportunities for children’s voices to be heard; (c) All States and relevant United Nations bodies to continue to support national and international mine action efforts, including through financial contributions, mine awareness programmes, mine clearance, victim assistance and child-centred rehabilitation, taking note of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, and welcomes the positive effects on children of concrete legislative and other measures with respect to anti-personnel mines, and also taking note of the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby Traps and Other Devices (Amended Protocol II) to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain page 8