A/70/162 Somalia 46. The Special Representative travelled to Mogadishu and Kismaayo from 16 to 20 August 2014, where she interacted with senior officials from the Federal Government of Somalia, the Interim Jubba Administration, the African Union Mission in Somalia and the United Nations. She stopped in Nairobi on 21 August to meet with Nairobi-based stakeholders, including the country task force on the monitoring and reporting mechanism. The objectives of her visit were to assess at first hand the impact of conflict on children and to follow up earlier discussions with Somali officials relating to the implementation of the two action plans on killing and maiming and on recruitment and use, both signed in 2012. She appreciated the commitment and efforts of the Federal Government of Somalia to protect children and the progress in the implementation of the action plans. She took the opportunity to call upon her interlocutors to take all measures necessary to minimize the impact of conflict and military operations on children, includ ing responding to the threat posed by armed groups in line with international humanitarian and human rights law. She also advocated for the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols thereto, particularly the Optio nal Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. She also engaged with the African Union Mission in Somalia leadership to enhance the protection of children in the context of military operations. In Mogadishu, the Special Representative visit ed the Serendi Rehabilitation Centre for disengaged combatants including children, particularly from Al-Shabaab. The Special Representative raised concerns regarding the lack of a clear and transparent legal framework concerning those held in the Centre an d other similar centres in Somalia, particularly regarding the right to challenge the lawfulness of the deprivation of liberty. The Special Representative highlighted that children should only be deprived of their liberty as a measure of last resort and fo r the shortest possible period of time. She called on the Federal Government of Somalia to ensure that children in the rehabilitation centres are handed over to child protection actors as soon as possible. Nigeria 47. Following the inclusion of Nigeria as a new situation of concern on the children and armed conflict agenda, with the listing in 2014 of Boko Haram/JAS for killing and maiming and attacks on schools and hospitals, the Special Representative visited the country from 11 to 17 January 2015 to evaluate the impact of conflict in the north-east on children, support the roll-out of the monitoring and reporting mechanism and engage with the Nigerian authorities. The Special Representative also travelled to Yola, where she met with State authorities and internally displaced persons who had fled from attacks by Boko Haram/JAS. 48. The Government agreed to formalize collaboration with the United Nations on children and armed conflict through an interministerial committee in Abuja and decentralized committees in three conflict-affected states, and through the appointment of focal points at the federal and state levels. In her meetings with government and military officials, the Special Representative raised concerns relating to allegations of grave violations committed by the Nigerian defence and security forces, the “civilian joint task force” and other vigilante groups in the course of their operations against Boko Haram/JAS. Her interlocutors committed to investigate the allegations. Following a commit ment made during her meeting with the Minister of Justice, a legal advisory was issued by the Government in January 12/17 15-12221

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