Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 322 entities
Women and armed conflict 1998, para. e
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments and international organizations:] Ensure the physical safety and security of all refugee women and girls and those internally displaced by, inter alia, adequately providing for and increasing their access to the right of return to their country or place of origin, and the participation of women in the committees responsible for the management of the camp(s), and ensure that camps are designed in accordance with the 1995 Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women27 of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; and arrange for gender-sensitive legal, social and medical services in camps, and for the talents and capabilities of refugee and displaced women and girls to be fully integrated in the development and implementation of these programmes while they are in these camps;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 1998
Paragraph
The girl child 1998, para. e
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by the United Nations and Governments:] Create and respect zones of peace for children in armed conflict.
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 1998
Paragraph
Women, the girl child and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome 2001, para. 4h
- Paragraph text
- [Actions to be taken by Governments, the United Nations system and civil society, as appropriate]: Develop and implement as well as strengthen already existing training programmes for law enforcement officers, prison officers, medical officers and judicial personnel, as well as United Nations personnel, including peacekeeping staff, to be more sensitive and responsive to the needs of threatened and abused women and children infected with HIV/AIDS, including intravenous drug users, female inmates and orphans;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2001
Paragraph
Women's equal participation in conflict prevention, management and resolution and in post-conflict peace-building 2004, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Peace agreements provide a vehicle for the promotion of gender equality and the participation of women in post-conflict situations. Significant opportunities for women's participation arise in the preparatory phase leading up to a peace agreement. The content of a peace agreement likewise offers significant scope for ensuring that the rights, concerns and priorities of women and girls are fully addressed. Finally, once a peace agreement has been concluded, its implementation should be pursued with explicit attention to women's full and equal participation and the goal of gender equality.
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2004
Paragraph
Women's equal participation in conflict prevention, management and resolution and in post-conflict peace-building 2004, para. 14d
- Paragraph text
- [In regard to post-conflict peace-building, the Commission on the Status of Women calls on Governments [...] to:] [Concerning reconstruction and rehabilitation:] To ensure the equal access of women to social services, in particular health and education and, in this regard, to promote the provision of adequate health care and health services and assistance for women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations and counselling for post-conflict trauma;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2004
Paragraph
Conclusion On Women And Girls At Risk 2006, para. (p) iv
- Paragraph text
- [Recommended longer-term responses and solutions include partnerships and actions to:] establish mechanisms, where voluntary repatriation for individual refugee women and girls at risk is not a safe option and resettlement is not available, to enable them, where appropriate, to integrate locally and safely in the country of asylum, including by examining possibilities for voluntary relocation elsewhere in the country; for internally displaced women and girls at risk, examine possibilities for allowing them to relocate elsewhere in their own country if they wish and if their safety cannot be ensured where they are; and
- Body
- Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- Document type
- ExCom Conclusion
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2006
Paragraph
Conclusion On Children At Risk 2007, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- Recalling its Conclusions Nos. 47 (XXXVIII), 59 (XL) and 84 (XLVIII), specifically on refugee children and/or adolescents, Conclusion No. 105 (LVI) on Women and Girls at Risk, Conclusion No. 106 (LVI) on Identification, Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons, Conclusion No. 94 (LIII) on the Civilian and Humanitarian Character of Asylum, Conclusion No. 98 (LIV) on Protection from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation, Conclusion No. 100 (LV) on International Cooperation and Burden and Responsibility Sharing in Mass Influx Situations as well as all provisions of relevance to the protection of refugee children set out in other Conclusions, many of which are relevant for other children of concern to UNHCR,
- Body
- Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- Document type
- ExCom Conclusion
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2007
Paragraph
Conclusion on Protracted Refugee Situations 2009, para. (k)
- Paragraph text
- Recognizes that protracted refugee situations can increase the risks to which refugees may be exposed and that, in this respect, there is a need to identify and respond effectively to the specific protection concerns of men, women, girls and boys, in particular, unaccompanied and separated children, adolescents, persons with disabilities, and older persons, who may be exposed to heightened risks, including sexual and gender-based violence and other forms of violence and exploitation; and encourages UNHCR and States to pursue age, gender and diversity mainstreaming and participatory approaches with a view to enhancing the safety, well-being and development of refugees and promoting appropriate solutions for them;
- Body
- Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- Document type
- ExCom Conclusion
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Older persons
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2009
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Under the Convention, States parties' obligations to prevent, investigate and punish trafficking and sexual and gender-based violence are reinforced by international criminal law, including jurisprudence of the international and mixed criminal tribunals and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, pursuant to which enslavement in the course of trafficking in women and girls, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity may constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity or an act of torture, or constitute an act of genocide. International criminal law, including the definitions of gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence, must also be interpreted consistently with the Convention and other internationally recognized human rights instruments without adverse distinction as to gender.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The Committee has previously noted that the Convention applies at every stage of the displacement cycle and that situations of forced displacement and statelessness often affect women differently from men and include gender-based discrimination and violence. Internal and external displacement have specific gender dimensions that occur at all stages in the displacement cycle; during flight, settlement and return within conflict-affected areas, women and girls are especially vulnerable to forced displacement. In addition, they are often subjected to gross human rights violations during flight and in the displacement phase, as well as within and outside camp settings, including risks relating to sexual violence, trafficking and the recruitment of girls into armed forces and rebel groups.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 57b
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties:] Address the specific risks and particular needs of different groups of internally displaced and refugee women who are subjected to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, including women with disabilities, older women, girls, widows, women who head households, pregnant women, women living with HIV/AIDS, rural women, indigenous women, women belonging to ethnic, national, sexual or religious minorities, and women human rights defenders;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 57d
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties:] Provide protection and assistance for internally displaced and refugee women and girls, including by safeguarding them from gender-based violence, including forced and child marriage; ensure their equal access to services and health care and full participation in the distribution of supplies, as well as in the development and implementation of assistance programmes that take into account their specific needs; provide protection against the displacement of indigenous, rural and minority women with special dependency on land; and ensure education and income-generation and skills training activities are available;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations 2013, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The total breakdown of State public and service provision infrastructure is one of the major and direct consequences of armed conflict, resulting in the lack of delivery of essential services to the population. In such situations, women and girls are at the front line of suffering, bearing the brunt of the socioeconomic dimensions of the conflict. In conflict-affected areas, schools are closed owing to insecurity, occupied by State and non-State armed groups or destroyed, all of which impede girls' access to school. Other factors preventing girls' access to education include targeted attacks and threats against them and their teachers by non-State actors, in addition to the additional caregiving and household responsibilities that they are obliged to assume.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Treatment of Unaccompanied and Separated Children Outside Their Country of Origin 2005, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Child soldiers should be considered primarily as victims of armed conflict. Former child soldiers, who often find themselves unaccompanied or separated at the cessation of the conflict or following defection, shall be given all the necessary support services to enable reintegration into normal life, including necessary psychosocial counselling. Such children shall be identified and demobilized on a priority basis during any identification and separation operation. Child soldiers, in particular, those who are unaccompanied or separated, should not normally be interned, but rather, benefit from special protection and assistance measures, in particular as regards their demobilization and rehabilitation. Particular efforts must be made to provide support and facilitate the reintegration of girls who have been associated with the military, either as combatants or in any other capacity.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2005
Paragraph
Financing education and update on education in emergencies 2011, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Resource constraints, however, remain a major barrier to the realization of the right to education. Prospects for achieving the targets of millennium development goals 2 (Ensuring that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling) and 3 (Eliminating gender disparity in all levels of education no later than 2015) are bleak on account of a dearth of resources. The assessment prepared for the 2010 High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals underlined the need for scaling up budgets and providing enhanced resources to accelerate progress in meeting those targets. The Education for All Global Monitoring Reports in recent years have consistently pointed to insufficient funding for education. More recently, public expenditure cuts as a consequence of the global financial crisis have threatened to decrease support to the education sector, possibly jeopardizing recent advances. For instance, 7 of 18 low-income countries reduced spending on education in 2009; those countries alone had 3.7 million children out of school.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- One area of concern is disaster management because climate change is likely to impact the number and severity of extreme weather events. Researches show that in societies where men and women should be impacted indiscriminately in disasters women and girls, as a result of gender based inequalities, are up to 14 times more likely to die in the event of a disaster. This is especially true of elderly women, those with disabilities, pregnant and nursing women, and those with small children, who may have lack of, or limited mobility and resources, and therefore remain most at risk in cases of emergency.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Effective Implementation of the OPSC 2010, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Despite their clear definitions, concepts often overlap. There are many links between the sale of children, trafficking in children, forced labour, child prostitution, sex tourism and child pornography. The exploitation of children for economic purposes often goes hand in hand with their exploitation for sexual purposes. The development of sex tourism almost invariably entails the development of child prostitution and child pornography (some abusers film their victims). In conflict zones, the recruitment of children for armed conflict is very often accompanied by the sexual exploitation of children, especially girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Children trafficked into forced military service perform a variety of combatant and supportive roles. Many children, typically boys, are forcibly recruited or kidnapped for use by armed militias in ongoing conflicts. Children are also used as suicide bombers and human shields. For instance in Iraq, ISIL and other extremist groups traffic boys and young men, including members of the Yazidi minority, into armed conflict, radicalize them to commit terrorist acts using deception, death threats or the offer of money and women as rewards. Others are compelled to work as porters, cooks, guards and messengers or are forced to commit crimes, such as looting and physical and sexual violence. Boys and girls in these situations are often sexually abused and may also be forced to take drugs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Trafficking in persons in conflict and post-conflict situations 2016, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- In addition, the nature and forms of trafficking in persons associated with conflict are highly gendered. For example, abduction into military forces affects males and females differently. Men and boys are typically forced into soldiering while women and girls are generally forced into support roles, and they typically face much greater risk of sexual assault as either a primary purpose or an additional manifestation of their exploitation. As previously noted, sexual enslavement, a practice exacerbated by situations of conflict, is highly gendered in that it disproportionately affects women and girls. Other forms of trafficking-related exploitation particular to or especially prevalent in conflict, including forced and temporary marriage, are highly gendered in their motivation and impact, which underscores the importance of a gender analysis in all trafficking prevention efforts and responses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Reparations to women who have been subjected to violence 2010, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- With this scheme in mind and thinking about women as potential beneficiaries of reparations, the first hurdle relates to the fact that much of the violence that women and girls experience predates the conflict and only continues to aggravate the discrimination to which they are subjected in the post-conflict scenario. Even in non-conflict scenarios, acts of violence against women are part of a larger system of gender hierarchy that can only be fully grasped when seen in the broader structural context. Therefore, adequate reparations for women cannot simply be about returning them to where they were before the individual instance of violence, but instead should strive to have a transformative potential. Reparations should aspire, to the extent possible, to subvert, instead of reinforce, pre-existing structural inequality that may be at the root causes of the violence the women experience before, during and after the conflict.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- In humanitarian situations, including in times of conflict or natural disaster, when water and sanitation sources are at a minimum, the specific needs of women and girls are often not taken into account. It is vital to better understand and share experiences about the kinds of responses that can be deployed across the diverse range of emergencies, including the most adequate and effective adaptations and interventions. It further requires an integrated approach and ongoing coordination among all sectors concerned. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and gender non-conforming people face additional challenges in areas affected by disaster. A recent United Nations assessment found that, in Europe, women and girls who are refugees are vulnerable to violence and lack services that specifically meet their needs, such as private bathing and sanitation facilities. Some women have reported having stopped eating or drinking to avoid going to the toilet where they felt unsafe. The reaction of Governments and others to these situations is considered inadequate and there is an emphasis on the urgent need to scale up such response efforts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2012, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Trial Chamber I accepted the approach taken by the Pre-Trial Chamber and suggested by the Special Representative, according to which both conscription and enlistment are forms of recruitment, in that they refer to the incorporation of a boy or a girl under the age of 15 years into an armed group, whether coercively or voluntarily. The Special Representative argued in her brief to the Court that the distinction between voluntary enlistment and forced recruitment was a distinction without meaning, as even the most voluntary of acts could be a desperate attempt to survive by children with a limited number of options. In such circumstances, any consent given by a child could not be regarded as truly voluntary in the full sense of the word. Whether the child enlisted or was conscripted, the line between voluntary and involuntary recruitment was legally irrelevant and practically superficial in the context of children’s association with armed forces or armed groups in times of conflict.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- 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.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2013
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.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- 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. 35
- Paragraph text
- Sexual violence continues to be a prominent violation of children's rights in most situations of conflict, affecting both girls and boys dramatically. Rape and other forms of sexual violence are committed in the context of attacks against the civilian population and children are usually targeted due to their vulnerability and frequently because of their ethnicity. Violations are also committed in the context of recruitment and use of children and abductions. Girls are particularly vulnerable to abduction or recruitment by armed groups to be used for sexual purposes. Parties to conflict use sexual violence against children as a tactic to instil fear so as to assert control over people and land. It is also an increasing trend used by extremist groups to terrorize populations. For example, Boko Haram has been abducting girls from schools, and reports indicate that those girls have been forcibly married to local commanders.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2015
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
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- 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 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.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Threats faced by boys and girls do not end when they leave their home countries. As they travel onward, often paying their way through dangerous routes by using exploitative smuggling and trafficking networks, children are subject to further violence, abuse and exploitation, including at borders owing to pushbacks and interceptions by border control officials. Unaccompanied children and those separated from their families face heightened risks, both along the route and upon arrival in transit countries.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Children may be compelled to work to sustain themselves or provide for their families’ basic needs, especially where parents cannot work legally or simply cannot find work, legally or illegally. Iraqi and Syrian refugee children in Lebanon, for example, work in textile factories, construction or the food service industry, or as agricultural labour or street vendors in conditions amounting to forced labour. According to UNICEF, in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, shopkeepers, farmers and manufacturers hire Syrian refugee children because they can pay them a lower wage. Children, especially girls, are seen as less likely to be targeted by the police or prosecuted for illegal work than adults, making families more likely to send them to work. These types of child labour, which often mask other forms of exploitation, such as trafficking for forced labour, have dire consequences on children.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Vulnerabilities of children to sale, trafficking and other forms of exploitation in situations of conflict and humanitarian crisis 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Finally, the practice of “temporary” child or forced marriages is one of the dangerous coping mechanisms that girls face while in refugee camps in transit countries. Confronted with the economic burdens brought on by protracted displacement and limited or inexistent work opportunities, some refugee and migrant parents, and often children themselves, turn to those measures because they feel that they are the only option for safeguarding a child’s future or supporting a family’s immediate needs. For example, Syrian refugee girls are often forcibly married by their parents, who view such arrangements as a way of securing their daughters’ safety and ensuring the family’s livelihood through the dowry. Once married, those girls are likely to end up in a situation of sexual and domestic exploitation by a spouse whom they have followed abroad. The use of child and forced marriages to traffic girls into prostitution in another country is also common.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph