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SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- [Vulnerabilities and risks faced by children who are internally displaced during armed conflict – addressing their rights]: Ultimately, displacement should be a temporary condition and a durable solution should be secured where all those who were internally displaced no longer have any specific protection and assistance needs linked to their displacement and can enjoy their human rights without discrimination. States have a responsibility to create the conditions for a durable solution to displacement, either through voluntary return, integration or resettlement. The best interests of a child – determined through participatory, age-appropriate and gender-competent assessments – should always be the primary consideration when seeking a durable solution.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2016, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Armed conflict has resulted not only in human casualties and physical destruction, but also in forced displacement. In the course of the past year, an ever-growing number of people have fled conflict zones and sought refuge in safer places. UNHCR reports that, globally, one in every 122 persons is now either a refugee, internally displaced or seeking asylum. In many situations, as in the Central African Republic, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic, children, many of them unaccompanied or separated from their families, represent a high proportion of the displaced population and have been at a particularly high risk of human rights violations and abuses. Children can be victims of grave violations inside and around refugee camps or camps for internally displaced persons. Armed groups take advantage of the vulnerability and concentration of displaced populations in camps to recruit children and commit other violations, including sexual violence and human trafficking.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2016, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The right to education is a fundamental human right. It is key for the development of children, but also critical for peacebuilding, economic growth and sustainable development for society as a whole. In times of conflict, infringements of the right to education in the form of targeted attacks on and obstacles to safe access to schools, threats to children and teachers and the military use of schools have a negative impact reaching beyond the education sector alone. Moreover, education is often interrupted due to a general climate of fear and insecurity or because of the displacement of school children, teachers and school personnel. Not only is there a large financial cost to rebuilding schools, repairing infrastructure, replacing equipment and training new teachers, there is a significant individual and societal cost. The loss of educational opportunities owing to war has long-lasting effects on the social and economic development of a country, which in turn increases the likelihood of new cycles of violence and conflict.
- 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
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Over the reporting period, the increased use of screening of civilians by government security forces or pro-government militias in situations such as those in as Iraq and Nigeria has been an emerging concern related to the deprivation of liberty of children. Centres have been established by parties to conflict in order to process civilians fleeing from armed groups. This practice has resulted in mass deprivation of liberty of civilians, including children, due to long processing times but also due to a presumption of affiliation with the very armed group from which they are fleeing. Screening has been undertaken by parties to conflict, including militias, who are poorly trained and, in many instances, lack the neutrality and capacity required to engage in a child-sensitive manner. Presumptions of affiliation have been based on broad categories, such as the age, gender or ethnic affiliation of the people being screened, and screening has also been used for intelligence gathering. This practice of screening and subsequent detention often violates the right to challenge the lawfulness of the deprivation of liberty before a court or another competent, independent and impartial authority. In some instances, the presumption of affiliation can also amount to a form of collective punishment. While the Special Representative is cognizant of the need to ensure the safety of civilians, she reminds Governments in conflict-affected countries of the importance of using civilian actors with child protection expertise to carry out screening and of adhering to the last resort and shortest possible time provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Screening without clear legal oversight also leaves children open to other violations, such as extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance and torture. In this regard, the Special Representative welcomes the continuing attention that the Human Rights Council has given to the issue of deprivation of liberty in its country-specific and thematic resolutions, which has included calls for accountability in instances of secret detention, torture and practices tantamount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including under the pretext of countering terrorism.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
- Paragraph type
- Other
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.
- 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 type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2012, para. 14a
- Paragraph text
- [At the consultation, in which governmental experts and representatives of United Nations agencies, international and regional organizations, human rights bodies, academia and civil society participated, a set of practical recommendations to assist States and other actors in the development of a violence-free justice system for children was drawn up. Those recommendations, included in a joint report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/21/25), address the following issues:] Preventing the criminalization and penalization of children. The prevention and reduction of situations leading to the deprivation of children's liberty is a critical strategy for decreasing the risk of violence in the criminal justice system. States should pursue this goal by: (i) decriminalizing "status offences", such as begging, vagrancy, truancy and loitering; (ii) preventing the detention of unaccompanied migrant children and asylum seekers on the basis of their status; (iii) ensuring that children with mental health and substance abuse problems are appropriately cared for, rather than dealt with by the criminal justice system; (iv) ensuring universal birth registration, raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 12 years and continuing to raise it further, and ensuring non-custodial options for children below that age; and (v) supporting the prevention of criminalization and penalization through a robust and well-resourced child protection system, with effective coordination between the justice, social welfare and education sectors.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- [Vulnerabilities and risks faced by children who are internally displaced during armed conflict – addressing their rights]: The rights of internally displaced children are expressly guaranteed and firmly entrenched in international humanitarian law and human rights law – the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. These instruments obligate State and non-State actors alike to protect children from the harmful effects of armed conflict, to prevent arbitrary displacement, to protect and assist persons who are displaced, and to facilitate durable solutions to displacement, paying special attention to the particular vulnerabilities and risks faced by internally displaced children.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- [Vulnerabilities and risks faced by children who are internally displaced during armed conflict – addressing their rights]: In situations of internal displacement, the freedom of movement of the affected population, including their right to move freely in and out of camps and settlements should be respected. For children, it entails the right to move freely with their family. Few threats to a child’s well-being equal that of being separated from his or her family during conflict, and for these children all possible action should be taken to prevent separation from their families and to ensure rapid reunification in the case of separation. To this end, displaced children, in particular separated and unaccompanied minors, should have their own identity documentation in order to enjoy their full legal rights and to have access to basic social services, such as health care and education.
- 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
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- First, there is a need to ensure a well-coordinated monitoring and reporting mechanism, which is able to pull the various country-specific strands of information together in order to develop a comprehensive view of the trends and patterns of violations perpetrated by armed groups. This is critical in order to ensure that appropriate practical measures are taken to protect civilians in affected areas. For instance, during the reporting period, with the support of the Office of the Special Representative, UNICEF enhanced its capacity to facilitate coordination and information-sharing on LRA between child protection teams in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sudan and Uganda.
- 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
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Paragraph type
- Other
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.
- 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 type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2016, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- The study is a high priority for the mandate of the Special Representative, and she has facilitated the initial coordination and planning efforts in the lead-up to its development, in partnership with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. To prepare the ground, the Special Representative has spearheaded efforts to establish an institutional framework, including a United Nations inter-agency task force, a civil society forum and a cross-regional academic research network.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2014, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The partnership with the Central American Integration System was further advanced with the participation of the Special Representative at the Ministerial Meeting of the Commission on Security, held in May in the Dominican Republic. The meeting provided a strategic platform to discuss the impact on children of armed violence, drug trafficking and organized crime, including in the context of migration to identify measures to address these serious manifestations of violence. One important outcome was the agreement to include these dimensions in the Central American Strategy on Security.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2014, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- The Special Representative also commends the pilot mobile court scheme initiated by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to improve access to justice for refugees who have been victims of crime. Such projects have recently been initiated in Uganda, in collaboration with the Government of Uganda, and aim to address the lengthy wait that refugees face before their cases are heard, and to encourage victims of sensitive crimes including rape, sexual assault and domestic violence to report allegations.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- [Vulnerabilities and risks faced by children who are internally displaced during armed conflict – addressing their rights]: On several of her missions in recent years, the Special Representative has witnessed the deeply distressing and precarious conditions of IDPs, the vast majority of whom are children and women. For instance, in November 2009, the Special Representative visited Sudan where she met with communities who were internally displaced. Many children have been displaced for years, with some of them having been born during displacement, while others were newly displaced in 2009 because of continuing armed violence. In these camps, the concerns include tensions caused by the presence of armed groups and the increase in incidents of gender-based violence. Due to lack of security, livelihoods and basic services, few internally displaced families manage to return to their place of origin. Further, during her last visit to Uganda in May – June 2010, the Special Representative spoke with victims of armed conflict and displacement in Gulu, northern Uganda, where many women and children were forced to flee in search of safety and livelihoods. Upon return to their villages, they faced multiple challenges, such as the absence of clean water, health care and education. Schools struggled with a lack of teachers, classrooms and teaching materials. Another major concern was the protection of children and young women against sexual and gender-based violence, caused by a frequent lack of rule of law in IDP return areas.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2016, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- As implementation of the 2030 Agenda starts, countless children are already being left behind. This includes children deprived of their liberty. Children in vulnerable situations, including those who have run away from domestic violence, those who live on the street and those who are victims of trafficking, prostitution, organized crime or conflict situations are at special risk; still others may end up in detention as a result of mental health and drug abuse, or because of their status as migrants or asylum seekers.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- In the previous report of the Special Representative to the General Assembly, concerns related to internally displaced children were highlighted and the report included an annex specifying the rights and guarantees for this vulnerable group (A/64/254, annex I). The Assembly acknowledged the guarantees in its resolution 64/162 on the protection of and assistance to internally displaced persons. These rights and guarantees include the principle of non-discrimination, the right to documentation, protection from violence and abuse, the right to essential services, and the requirement that when dealing with internally displaced children the best interest of the child must prevail.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- A number of regional legal instruments also affirm the rights of internally displaced children, most notably the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (the Kampala Convention), which was adopted in October 2009. It includes specific provisions reaffirming the right of internally displaced persons to personal documentation, education, protection against recruitment and use in hostilities, kidnapping, abduction, sexual slavery and trafficking, and protection that addresses the special needs of separated and unaccompanied minors, as well as of mothers with young children. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child emphasizes the responsibility of States to ensure that internally displaced children receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance and pays special attention to the importance of reuniting families separated by displacement. Furthermore, the Council of Europe has adopted a number of recommendations concerning internal displacement, including the right of internally displaced children to education.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
- Paragraph type
- Other
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.
- 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 type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2013, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- If a peace agreement exclusively refers to the separation of child combatants, many children and youth, especially girls and those serving in so-called support functions, in particular victims of sexual violence, are at risk of being excluded from adequate reintegration assistance. Peace agreements should acknowledge the special needs of girls and provide for the establishment of rehabilitation programmes, health-care and counselling services for all boys and girls separated from armed forces and groups. Specific consideration should also be given to concerns regarding the protection of vulnerable children, such as refugee and internally displaced children, children separated from their families, unaccompanied minors and children orphaned by war.
- 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
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2015, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Despite the challenges, agreements have been reached with a number of governments to ensure that detained children are handed over to the United Nations. In March 2014, a standard operating procedure for the handover of children formerly associated with armed forces and groups was adopted by the Government of Somalia. An agreement for the handover of children formerly associated with armed forces and groups was also reached with the African Union Mission in Somalia. On 10 September 2014, the United Nations and the Government of Chad signed a protocol on the handover of children associated with armed forces and groups, which includes specific provisions regulating detention. Those procedures build on the progress made with protocols for the handover of children formerly associated with armed forces and groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Mali signed in 2013.
- 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
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2010, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- As highlighted by those meetings, child victims of violence are still too often criminalized and not protected as children, including as a result of trafficking and sexual exploitation. Marginalized children, including migrant and asylum-seeking children, are often subject to physical, psychological and sexual violence, denied access to legal assistance and placed in detention as a substitute for care arrangements. Thousands of children are subjected to deprivation of liberty, frequently used as a first option rather than a measure of last resort; they risk torture, abuse and humiliating treatment, including when placed in pretrial detention, and endure violence as a form of control, discipline or punishment; in some countries, sentencing can include caning, flogging, stoning or amputation, as well as capital punishment and life imprisonment without possibility of release.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2013, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Children engaged in domestic work, most of them girls, are highly vulnerable to violence. According to ILO estimates contained in the publication Ending Child Labour in Domestic Work and Protecting Young Workers for Abusive Working Conditions, there may be as many as 100 million domestic workers worldwide, 15.5 million of whom are children. Most of them work as housekeepers, nannies or caregivers, and many are also migrants who hope to support their families through their remittances. Often isolated, with no formal protection structure, child domestic workers are highly vulnerable to labour exploitation, through having to work long hours without rest, being denied holidays or being deprived of wages, as well as to serious manifestations of violence and abuse.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2013, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- In November 2012, the Special Representative participated in the UNICEF conference on "A better way to protect all children: the theory and practice of child protection systems", co-hosted with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Save the Children, and World Vision. The conference, held in New Delhi, brought together policymakers, academics and practitioners to review and consolidate lessons learned, explore new ideas and outline an agenda for the future, within which the protection of children from violence has a central place.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2016, para. 100
- Paragraph text
- Children on the move, including refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and victims of trafficking or smuggling may be placed in detention centres or cells in military bases or confined in restricted areas in airports, harbour facilities and islands. They may also be subject to involuntary transportation in vehicles, aeroplanes, boats or other vessels. Girls may be deprived of liberty supposedly for their own protection, including when they are at risk of honour crimes, trafficking or other forms of violence and, while detained, exposed to the risk?of?further?abuse and exploitation.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Since the previous report of the Special Representative submitted to the Human Rights Council, the child protection commitments made by the Government of Nepal and the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army have been translated into concrete actions by these parties. New action plans to cease recruitment and use of children as well as to secure their release were signed by the United Nations and the Sudan Liberation Army/SLA-Free Will on 14 June 2010; the Sudan Liberation army/SLA-Mother Wing (Abu Gasim) on 15 August 2010; and the Government of Afghanistan on 30 January 2011, respectively.
- 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
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces and groups continues to be hampered by the lack of economic opportunities in already poor regions and insufficient long-term funding, such as is the Philippines. In many countries, ongoing fighting and insecurity make children vulnerable to re-recruitment and limit the access of actors delivering reintegration support. Inadequate sequencing between the implementation of an action plan on the one hand, and the rate of funding for reintegration of children on the other, may lead to instances where reintegration programmes are not able to absorb the caseload created by the successful implementation of an action plan. The establishment of regional coordination mechanisms to respond to reunification and reintegration of children abducted across borders, in particular by the Lord’s Resistance Army, presents an additional challenge.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2014, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- [Children’s access to health care in times of armed conflict]: These incidents are of grave concern, and constitute a complete disregard for the special status of medical facilities, persons and functions, and a failure to protect the civilian population, including children. Concerted action by the international community is needed in order to highlight and tackle this issue, by strengthening the engagement of Member States, the United Nations, humanitarian and human rights organizations, civil society partners, the global health community, and above all, the parties to conflict. Medical professionals in neighbouring countries also need support, in order to respond to the urgent medical needs of persons fleeing conflict, the majority of whom are women and children.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2014, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The Special Representative is particularly pleased to note the efforts of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to increase access among refugees and internally displaced persons to education, even in the emergency phases of its operations. The UNHCR focus on access to education as a protection tool to prevent forced recruitment, sexual violence, child labour and early or forced marriages is a step in the right direction. With 51 million persons under its mandate, UNHCR has gone a long way, alongside host authorities, to ensure that education brings a brighter future for young people in difficult circumstances.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Youth
- Year
- 2014
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2016, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Conflict continues to cause displacement as civilians seek safety and refuge. The Special Representative noted, in her 2014 report to the Human Rights Council, that the number of displaced persons globally was the highest since the Second World War, including millions of children (see A/HRC/28/54, para. 6). That situation has not improved, as the number of protracted and new conflicts continues to grow. In June 2015, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) indicated that there were more internally displaced persons and refugees than ever before. This has led to vulnerable persons, including many children, losing their lives while taking perilous journeys to perceived safety.
- 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
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2016, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Armed conflict has resulted not only in human casualties and physical destruction, but also in forced displacement. Over the course of the past year, an ever-growing number of people have fled armed conflict and sought refuge. The most recent estimates by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees indicate that an unprecedented 65.3 million people around the world have been forced from their homes. Among them are nearly 21.3 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18. In addition, unaccompanied or separated children submitted 98,400 asylum requests in 2015, most of whom were from conflict-affected countries, which is the largest number ever recorded. Displacement has a critical impact on children, since parties to conflict take advantage of the vulnerability and concentration of displaced populations to recruit children in camps and commit other violations, such as abduction, sexual violence, forced marriage and human trafficking.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
Paragraph