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SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- In addition, in November 2010, during the visit of the Special Representative, the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia committed to work towards an action plan to release girls and boys within the ranks of the Government forces and allied militias. In Myanmar, action plan negotiations between the Government and the United Nations to end the recruitment and use of children in the Tatmadaw Kyi are ongoing. In the Sudan, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the Justice and Equality Movement and the United Nations on 21 July 2010, paving the way towards the signing of an action plan. On 22 December 2010, JEM/Peace Wing submitted a draft action plan to the United Nations, to be implemented in West Darfur. In Chad, some 1,000 children were released by 12 armed opposition groups during the reporting period. In April 2011, the Government of Chad prepared an action plan to address the recruitment and use of children by the Armée nationale tchadienne, which is ready for signature with the United Nations.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- [Attacks on schools and hospitals: an emerging concern]: Armed conflict can either directly or indirectly result in the forced closure or the compromised functioning of civilian facilities. Children, teachers and health-care providers can be subject to direct threats and acts of intimidation by parties, which, for example, target Government institutions or medical personnel assisting the other party to the conflict. In other situations, armed elements are opposed to secular and/or girls’ education, or to girls being seen by male medical personnel. The delivery of health-care services to children is also heavily affected by lack of supplies and manpower caused by looting of the facilities and/or access constraints. A general climate of fear and insecurity as a result of armed hostilities can also prevent children, teachers and medical personnel from attending school or seeking medical help. Parents, for example, may find it too risky to send their children to school in a volatile security situation, or children may be denied timely access to hospitals because of checkpoints and roadblocks.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- Despite the significant efforts to end impunity, girls continue to be targeted in incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence, often in order to terrorize, humiliate and weaken their communities. Armed conflicts are also characterized by a breakdown of the rule of law as well as of community structures; this exacerbates the vulnerability of girls to sexual violence, as armed elements can take advantage of the vacuum to commit human rights abuses. Violations of this nature are frequently compounded by an inadequate response to help survivors as well as children born of war. While the provision of dedicated services for girls has improved in recent years, there are still significant gaps in the form of non-existent, limited or disrupted access to essential services in some situations of armed conflict, as a result of a lack of medical workers, supplies and the necessary infrastructure and also due to insecurity and restrictions on movement. For example, the Special Representative notes that in 2016 in Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, girls who have been abducted and suffered sexual violence by armed groups have rarely been able to access services, due to ongoing conflict.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The risk of trafficking from situations of armed conflict is a related issue of concern for the protection of girls, including during displacement. The Special Representative welcomes the Human Rights Council's call to Governments in June 2016 to ensure that the prevention of and responses to trafficking in persons continue to take into account the specific needs of women and girls and their participation in and contribution to all phases of preventing and responding to trafficking, especially in addressing specific forms of exploitation, such as sexual exploitation. The Special Representative has also undertaken a number of initiatives to support that aim, including contributing to the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of measures to counter trafficking in persons and addressing an event on the role of the United Nations in combating modern slavery and human trafficking in conflict, which was hosted in New York in November by the United Nations University.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Beyond the destruction of educational facilities through deliberate targeting or as collateral damage during armed confrontation, attacks against education also present other faces. For instance, there are reports of the use of acid and gas on girl students on their way to or at school, as well as shootings and suicide bombings in school premises. In some contexts, schools are a prime recruiting ground of children by armed groups. Elsewhere, school buildings are used as training centres or as military bases, turning them into high-value military targets.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Another aspect that tends to be underestimated is the trauma boys face as perpetrators or witnesses of sexual violence. They may be forced to commit rapes either directly by their commander or indirectly through peer pressure. Many may be forced to witness sexual violence perpetrated by others. It should be noted that through the jurisprudence of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (1998, Furundzija case), forcing an individual to witness acts of rapes and other sexual violence is considered as sexual torture under international law.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- [Vulnerabilities and risks faced by children who are internally displaced during armed conflict – addressing their rights]: The Guiding Principles assert that children, especially unaccompanied minors, as well as expectant mothers and mothers with young children, are “entitled to protection and assistance required by their condition and to treatment which takes into account their special needs” (Principle 4.2). The Principles also affirm the right of families to remain together and to be rapidly reunified (Principles 7 and 17); protection of children from sale into marriage, exploitation and forced labour (Principle 11); protection of children from recruitment or from taking part in hostilities (Principle 13); the right to documentation in their own names, including birth certificates (Principle 20); and the right to education, including the equal participation of girls (Principle 23).
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2012, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- [Reparations for children and the restoration of children’s rights]: Reparations programmes should bear in mind that victims who were children at the time of the commission of the violation may face stigmatization or marginalization as former child soldiers or forced wives, leading to the social exclusion of, in particular, girl child soldiers. Community members may also resent former child soldiers, who they feel are being rewarded for having taken part in hostilities, thus reinforcing existing divisions. The child perpetrator dilemma tends to be confusing for both the child and those who may have been their victims. Reparations, however, could also assist in signalling that past modes of operation will no longer be tolerated and could contribute to dismantling the relationship between former commanders and their victims. A public statement by community leaders on the legal findings of responsibility, followed by an intensive awareness-raising campaign on the judgement and a declaration to the effect that child victims of recruitment should not be held legally or morally responsible for their actions as combatants during the conflict, would be the best guarantee of non-repetition.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2013, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Attacks on schools, hospitals, teachers, schoolchildren and medical personnel in situations of conflict remain widespread and alarming. Access to education and health care continues to be disrupted by the damage or destruction resulting from targeted attacks on schools and medical facilities and by the use of explosive weapons. Many schools and hospitals are looted by armed groups, used as barracks, operational centres and detention sites, including by governmental forces. Access to education is also hampered, as schools are targeted by armed groups as places for the indoctrination and recruitment of children. In some cases, extremist armed groups also interfere in school programmes. Teachers and medical personnel are often threatened or become victims of targeted killings and abductions. Girls' access to education is particularly affected by all forms of attack on schools.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2016, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- The effect of armed conflict on children during the reporting period was unyielding, with the Central African Republic, Israel and the State of Palestine, Libya, South Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen serving as regrettable examples where the situation worsened to a significant degree or saw no improvement. In the Central African Republic, a breakdown in law and order led to more intense violence between armed groups and the large-scale forced displacement of children, particularly since September. Nearly 2,000 children have been separated from armed groups by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and its partners in the Central African Republic in 2015. These children are now at risk of being re-recruited owing to the persistent instability and lack of appropriate reintegration programmes. In South Sudan, witnesses and survivors of government offensives between May and August 2015 gave horrifying accounts of children being thrown into burning houses, run over by military vehicles and hanged from trees, and of girls being killed if they resisted rape. In several instances, boys were reportedly found castrated and killed after attacks. In Yemen, heavy aerial bombardments and ground operations since the end of March 2015 have dramatically increased the number of child casualties and had a devastating impact on access to education in an already highly precarious environment. Nearly all parties to the conflict on the ground in Yemen have engaged in widespread child recruitment, with information indicating that four times as many children were recruited in the six-month period from March to September 2015 than in the whole of 2014. In the Syrian Arab Republic and Iraq, the increasingly complex conflict and persistent violations of international law are taking an ever-increasing toll on the civilian population, as evidenced by rising displacement and refugee outflows. Libya is also facing worsening instability, violence and localized conflicts, and the rising tensions and violence in the State of Palestine and Israel show no signs of abating at the end of the reporting period.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2013, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Sexual violence remains widespread in many conflict situations, affecting both girls and boys. Although underreported, sexual violence and the forced marriage of girls to members of armed groups continued to be a pervasive threat.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- In her previous reports, the Special Representative has consistently noted with concern the increasing trend of attacks on education. Such acts include the partial or total destruction of schools and other education facilities and threatened or actual targeting of education personnel. Attacks on education undermine the establishment of a protective environment for children and their chances for a better future. In addition, violent attacks on girls and targeted attacks on their education undermine their role in society and prevent them from exercising their rights.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2013, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- A growing body of reporting also contributes to an enhanced understanding of the multiple indirect adverse effects of drone strikes on children. Boys and girls have been the victims of drone strikes on schools, funeral processions and other community gatherings. Drone attacks have also led to weakening of the social fabric and of community protection mechanisms.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2015, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- Recalling that the issue of the reintegration of children is crucial to ensure the long-term sustainability of peace and security, the Special Representative encourages the Member States concerned to take appropriate measures to reintegrate those children, giving special attention to the needs of girls. She also calls on all Member States to provide the necessary political, technical and financial support to reintegration programmes.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2012, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- [Reparations for children and the restoration of children’s rights]: Previous experience with reparations for children, either administrative or court-ordered, has been limited. Past and present initiatives provide useful lessons learned and a sense of the challenges ahead. The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, for example, was the first ad hoc and hybrid court mandated to order reparations to victims, albeit only of a collective and symbolic nature. The Special Court for Sierra Leone had no mandate to award reparations. Instead, the Government established an administrative reparations programme on the basis of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Resource limitations, however, have put a significant strain on the implementation of this reparations process. In Colombia, in the framework of the Justice and Peace Act, the Supreme Court ordered reparations to child victims of forced recruitment in the case against Freddy Rendón Herrera, alias “El Alemán”, who was accused of unlawful recruitment. The Court considered the needs and experience of each victim, in particular girls, to be different, and decided to focus on individual rehabilitation measures rather than collective material reparations.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Sexual violence is often used to achieve military, political and social objectives through, for instance, the targeting of specific ethnicities or terrorizing populations to force displacement. Data indicate that children are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence in and around refugee and internally displaced population settings, and when they are directly associated with armed forces and groups. Child survivors of sexual violence suffer both physical and psychological consequences, which are often debilitating. This is particularly true for girls who have been raped or forced to "marry" combatants, as well as for their children born of rape.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2012, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Where State institutions are weak, prevention must begin at the community level. Establishing and strengthening community protection mechanisms and raising the awareness of families, communities and their leaders of the issue are other critical factors for prevention. Child protection and recruitment prevention policies are unlikely to work in contexts in which the community promotes the association of children with armed groups. Children are also most vulnerable to recruitment when family and community protection systems are weakened. In some contexts, children join armed groups because they are encouraged to do so by their families and/or communities. Abusive family environments can also propel children on to the streets, where they are more vulnerable to recruitment, or directly into the ranks of an armed group. In Colombia, for example, the decision of children, mainly girls, to run away and join an armed group has been found to be closely linked to domestic exploitation and physical and sexual abuse.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2014, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Early consideration of children's issues in peace-making processes can also facilitate the planning and mobilization of resources. For instance, the release and reintegration of children associated with armed forces or groups is strongly linked to security arrangements in peace processes. It is also an integral part of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process, which requires a specific focus on provisions for children, in particular girls. In that regard, the Special Representative commends the General Assembly for its continued call to States and regional organizations to support the inclusion of such commitments in peace agreements (see resolution 68/147). However, this aspect often remains neglected.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2015, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Extremist groups have benefited from advances in technology, which have facilitated their rapid growth and led to the expansion of their territorial control, often across national borders. The military response to the threat has also raised protection challenges for children. Children caught in the middle of counter-terrorism operations have been killed and maimed and their homes and schools destroyed. In some cases, State-allied militias have been mobilized, resulting in boys and sometimes girls being used in support roles and even as combatants. Despite international calls for due process and respect for the rule of law, counter-terrorism operations often lack those elements. The Special Representative recalls that efforts to counteract extremist groups must be carried out in full compliance with international humanitarian, refugee and human rights law and must ensure that children are treated primarily as victims.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- In Afghanistan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen, the right of children to health has been severely compromised by attacks on hospitals and health-care professionals. A number of highly publicized attacks have taken place in 2016, which are indicative of trends that have seen increasing numbers of attacks and threats of attacks on health care in recent years. The right of girls to education has also continued to suffer, with attacks or threats of attacks on schools, teachers and female pupils in situations such as in Iraq, Nigeria and the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as in Afghanistan and Mali.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- In situations of displacement, girls are particularly vulnerable. In addition to discrimination related to race, religion or ethnicity, girls are also often subject to abuses based on their sex, and therefore to multiple forms of discrimination. For example, displaced women and girls face high risks of sexual and gender-based violence, as highlighted in the 2016 report of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly entitled "In safety and dignity: addressing large movements of refugees and migrants" (A/70/59). These specific protection challenges must be recognized in order to mitigate the risks that girls are exposed to in situations of displacement. Member States are therefore urged to ensure that the needs of girls are addressed as part of their response both to refugees and to internally displaced persons. Protection measures should be implemented at all stages of the displacement cycle and girls who have suffered violations should be prioritized in refugee resettlement programmes.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Girls are also significantly affected by recruitment and use, with some estimates indicating that as many as 40 per cent of children associated with armed forces or armed groups are female. In addition to the use of girls in support functions, for sexual purposes or to be forced into marriage, they are also used for combat and to commit violent acts. For example, in a particularly grave example, in Nigeria in 2016, girls were increasingly being forced by Boko Haram to be suicide bombers, and were used for the purpose of avoiding detection by security personnel. Although the advocacy that has taken place since the Machel study has led to increased recognition of the plight of girls associated with parties to conflict, they still face significant obstacles in the process of being released and separated from parties to conflict. For example, it was noted in a recent report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo that out of the 1,004 children who had escaped or been separated from one armed group between 2009 and 2014, only 19 girls had been documented. While there was a significant number of young girls present in camps who were allegedly used as wives, concubines, cooks, and combatants in the ranks, male members of the group claimed that these girls were their daughters. In the light of this repudiation of their role, girls are often less visible and are frequently neglected in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes. When their role is recognized, societal factors have an impact, as girls are sometimes reluctant to join disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes, fearing rejection by their families and communities. Further action is required in order to raise awareness of the needs of girls in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes and also of the risks that they face after separation from armed groups, with special attention needing to be given to their reintegration into families and communities.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Education is a key component of empowerment, however in times of conflict, children's access to education is often severely restricted, with a particular effect on girls as their schools are often directly targeted by attacks. Even when schools are operating in situations of armed conflict where girls' enrolment rates were high prior to the conflict, some parents prevent girls from going to schools due to insecurity, or because the facilities have been used by armed actors. The military use of schools exposes girls to an increased likelihood of sexual violence by armed elements and also increases the likelihood of attack by other parties to the conflict. In addition, girls are sometimes given extra household responsibilities that oblige them to stay home. There is also increased vulnerability to forced early marriage in situations of conflict, which is at times encouraged by families with the aim of providing their child with physical and financial security and results in girls withdrawing from schooling. Forced marriage is another practice that has increasingly been used by armed groups as an expression of power and control over populations. Given these susceptibilities, it is important to develop protection and education programmes for conflict-affected girls in order to provide them with support and avoid long out-of-school interruptions. In this regard, the Special Representative welcomes the call by the Human Rights Council for all States to strengthen and intensify their efforts to realize progressively the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl and encourages a focus on girls affected by armed conflict.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Girls remain the main victims of sexual violence in armed conflict. However, there are increasing reports of sexual abuse committed against boys. This phenomenon is still not adequately understood, and is yet to be comprehensively addressed in advocacy, monitoring, reporting and response. Knowledge about sexual violence against boys continues to be thin, in part because boys are more reluctant to speak out about sexual violence and there is inherently a bias against questioning boys about such abuse.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2015, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Attacks on schools and hospitals are becoming an all-too familiar aspect of conflict, depriving millions of children of their right to education and health. The Special Representative remained deeply concerned by the increasing number of attacks on schools and hospitals, despite their protected status under international law. In almost every situation relating to the children and armed conflict agenda, the right to education and health was gravely affected by attacks on and the widespread military use of schools and hospitals as well as by attacks and threats of attacks against teachers and doctors. In many situations, such as in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Israel and the State of Palestine and the Syrian Arab Republic, parties to conflict destroyed schools and hospitals by indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas or in targeted attacks against education facilities, teachers, school children, health workers and clinics. In 2014, we witnessed attacks on schools and ideological opposition to standard school curricula in places as varied as Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, southern Thailand, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic. Attempts by certain groups to radicalize teachings or exclude girls or minorities from education pose an even greater risk to the fundamental right of all children to an education. Health centres and health workers were also targeted, leading to the resurgence of preventable diseases, such as polio.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- The Special Representative encourages all actors to renew their efforts to address the impact of conflict on girls. In this regard, the Special Representative calls upon Member States to ensure that appropriate services are in place to reintegrate girls associated with parties to conflict as well as supporting communities for the return of those who have been forcibly married and/or have suffered sexual violence and/or have borne children.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- [Vulnerabilities and risks faced by children who are internally displaced during armed conflict – addressing their rights]: Children are disproportionately affected by internal displacement not only in terms of the numbers of those affected, but also in the risks that they face. It is important to recall the challenges faced by internally displaced children, as articulated by Graça Machel, in her 1996 landmark report to the General Assembly on the impact of armed conflict on children (A/51/306): “During flight from the dangers of conflict, families and children continue to be exposed to multiple physical dangers. They are threatened by sudden attacks, shelling, snipers and landmines, and must often walk for days with only limited quantities of water and food. Under such circumstances, children become acutely undernourished and prone to illness, and they are the first to die. Girls in flight are even more vulnerable than usual to sexual abuse. Children forced to flee on their own to ensure their survival are also at heightened risk. Many abandon home to avoid forced recruitment, only to find that being in flight still places them at risk of recruitment, especially if they have no documentation and travel without their families.”
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2016, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- Recalling that the sustainable reintegration of children is crucial for allowing children formerly associated with armed groups to exercise their human rights, the Special Representative encourages Member States to provide appropriate resources to the reintegration of the children recruited and used by any party to a conflict, giving special attention to the needs of girls.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2014, para. 83
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- The Special Representative calls upon Member States and civil society to ensure that particular attention is paid to the plight of girls and boys and to promote specific provisions for children in global efforts to end, prevent and respond to sexual violence in conflict.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
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SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- It should be noted that the focus of international criminal justice and mixed tribunals specifically on crimes against children has also raised the stakes in the fight against impunity. The Special Court for Sierra Leone paved the way for sanctioning individuals for child-specific violations by including such crimes in the indictments of all the individuals charged by the Court. This includes former President of Liberia Charles Taylor on counts of recruitment and use of children. In addition, despite the challenges in the trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo by the International Criminal Court for recruiting and using children, that case has symbolized the will of the international community to act for children and as such has sent a powerful message to perpetrators. As this is the first case before the International Criminal Court on the issue of children and armed conflict, and having filed an amicus curiae, the Special Representative gave testimony before the Court on the need to adopt a case-by-case method in deciding on what constitutes enlistment and conscription in terms of the statute. The Special Representative urged an interpretation that would not exclude girl children, who play multiple roles in many groups, not only as combatants but as wives and domestic aides.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
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