(f)
Its support for the recommendations of the General Assembly and the International Conference
of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, that whenever sanctions are imposed in the context of armed conflict, their
impact on children be assessed and monitored and, to the extent there are humanitarian exceptions, they be
child-focused and formulated with clear guidelines for their application;
(g)
The urgent need to raise the current minimum age limit set by article 38 of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child on the recruitment and participation of any person in armed conflicts with the aim of
reaching a higher standard of protection of children and of coming to an early conclusion of the work of the
Working Group on a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict,
especially in view of the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention;
16.
Calls upon all States:
(a)
And other parties to armed conflict to respect fully international humanitarian law and, in this
regard, calls upon States parties to respect fully the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949
and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977, while bearing in mind resolution 2 of the twenty-sixth International
Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent of 1995 entitled “Protection of the civil population in period of
armed conflict”, and to respect the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which accord
children affected by armed conflict special protection and treatment;
(b)
And other parties to armed conflict to end the use of children as soldiers and ensure their
demobilization, and to implement effective measures for the rehabilitation and reintegration into society of child
soldiers and combatants, child victims in cases of armed conflict or foreign occupation, and invites the
international community to assist in this endeavour;
(c)
And other parties concerned to continue to cooperate with the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General, to implement the commitments they have undertaken, and to consider carefully all the
recommendations of the Special Representative and to address the issues identified;
(d)
In accordance with the norms, rules and provisions of international human rights instruments
and international humanitarian law, to integrate in the training and gender-sensitized education programmes of
their armed forces and civilian police, including those for peacekeeping, instruction on their responsibilities
towards the civilian population, particularly women and children, and training to address the particular needs of
children in armed conflict;
(e)
To address the impact on children of the use of weapons in situations of armed conflict and to
address the problem of the impact of small arms and light weapons on children in armed conflict situations, in
particular as a result of their illicit production and traffic;
(f)
And relevant United Nations bodies to continue to support national and international mine
action efforts, including by continuing to contribute to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance
in Mine Clearance, and to take further action to promote gender- and age-appropriate mine-awareness
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