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SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2017
- Document code
- A/HRC/34/44
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2015
- Document code
- A/70/162
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2014
- Document code
- A/69/212
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2011
- Document code
- A/66/256
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2010
- Document code
- A/65/219
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2012
- Document code
- A/67/256
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2010
- Document code
- A/HRC/15/58
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2016
- Document code
- A/71/205
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2014
- Document code
- A/HRC/25/46
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2015
- Document code
- A/HRC/28/54
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2016
- Document code
- A/HRC/31/19
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2013
- Document code
- A/68/267
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2012
- Document code
- A/HRC/21/38
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Year
- 2011
- Document code
- A/HRC/18/38
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Document
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.
- 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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The element of dialogue with parties to conflict for the preparation of time-bound action plans to address grave child rights violations represents one of the centrepieces of the United Nations agenda for children and armed conflict. In the past several years, numerous parties to conflict in places such as Côte d'Ivoire, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the Sudan, Uganda and elsewhere, have begun to implement action plans that put in place measures to prevent child recruitment and to identify and release children already associated with their forces. As such practical action to address the issue of children associated with armed forces and groups has gained traction, credibility and momentum, the process is now under way to structure similar dialogue and action plans to address other violations, such as the killing and maiming of children and rape and other forms of sexual violence. For the children, this is where the promises of protection of the international community as expressed in international law and resolutions finally become tangible. As the primary duty bearers for the protection of children, Member States are encouraged to devise ways to enable child protection dialogue with State and non-state parties as necessary.
- 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
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- [Children as victims and witnesses]: With the establishment of the International Criminal Court, it is likely that more children will participate as witnesses in legal proceedings against the violators of their rights. The Rome Statute establishing the Court requires that it “take appropriate measures to protect the safety, physical and psychological well-being, dignity and privacy of victims and witnesses”, and “have regard to all relevant factors, including age, gender [...] and health, and the nature of the crime, in particular, but not limited to, where the crime involves sexual or gender-based violence against children.” Victims and witnesses units in charge of short- and long-term protective measures and security arrangements, as well as medical and psychological support, have become an established practice in international and national courts. Special protection measures can be requested to assist a child giving evidence. However, it is not always in the best interest of child witnesses of serious violations of human rights or international humanitarian law to give evidence in a court. In some cases, it may result in grave psychological trauma and illness or renewal of despair, depression or even suicidal tendencies.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The changing nature of conflict also carries implications and new challenges for the reintegration and rehabilitation of children. The United Nations system has invested significant resources in forging common standards and practice around disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of children. This has contributed significantly to system-wide buy-in and coordination for this critical priority. A tension exists, however, between the need for standardized practice and programmes and the fact that children face very different realities depending on the context. For instance, in settings of protracted conflict, children may be associated with armed forces and groups for many years. Others are abducted across borders, which has raised new challenges for regional coordination among many entities for family tracing, repatriation and reunification. In some contexts, children are increasingly used in terrorist activities and in counter-terrorism actions. It is also clear that the mode and rhythm for funding child disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes is increasingly under pressure where structured dialogue with parties to conflict and implementation of action plans to release children have yielded unanticipated caseloads.
- 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
- Families
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2016, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- As noted in the Special Representative's previous report to the General Assembly (A/70/162), children encountered in security operations are often treated systematically as security threats rather than victims. Increasingly, large numbers of children are being systematically arrested and detained in counter-terrorism operations for their alleged association with parties to conflict. Detention has also been employed as a tactic to recruit and use children as spies and for intelligence-gathering purposes, which puts them at serious risk. The detention of children should always be a last resort, for the shortest time possible and guided by the best interests of the child. If they are accused of a crime during their association with armed groups, children should be processed by the juvenile justice system rather than military courts, which frequently fail to apply the relevant juvenile justice standards and due process. Of greatest concern are reports that children allegedly associated with non-State armed groups have been sentenced to death, notwithstanding the stipulation under the Convention on the Rights of the Child that capital punishment or life imprisonment without the possibility of release may not be imposed on juvenile offenders.
- 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
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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.”
- 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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The Special Representative has also prioritized cooperation with the universal periodic review process by submitting three contributions in the reporting period, on the Philippines, South Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic. In this connection, she notes that during the review of Somalia, to which the Office of the Special Representative made a contribution in 2015, a significant number of Member States raised the issue of children and armed conflict, and recommended, inter alia, ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict and ensuring effective implementation of the 2012 action plans on ending the recruitment and use of children and ending the killing and maiming of children (see A/HRC/32/12). She encourages the Human Rights Council to continue to address issues related to children and armed conflict for relevant countries, welcomes the practice of adopting concrete recommendations, and encourages references to relevant findings of treaty bodies and special procedures to ensure sustained mainstreaming and follow-up by the various actors involved in the protection of children's rights. In this regard, the Special Representative will continue to explore avenues for increased cooperation with the universal periodic review process.
- 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
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- In the Philippines, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces continued to work on implementing their action plan and achieved significant progress. In an encouraging development, the United Nations was able to re-engage with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the New People's Army on their declaration and programme of action for the rights, protection and welfare of children. In Myanmar, discussions moved forward with the Karenni National Progressive Party and Karenni Army, which signalled their readiness to sign an action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children. The Executive Committee of the Kachin Independence Organization and Kachin Independence Army invited UNICEF to participate in a workshop on ending child recruitment, which led to gaps being identified in internal procedures regarding child recruitment and to a commitment to revise their code of conduct. Finally, the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army signalled its readiness to enter into discussions with the United Nations on the issue of child recruitment. Progress has, however, been constrained, pending the support of the Government for action plans to be concluded with non-State armed groups.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2017, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Long-standing and well-established principles of detention are also being sidelined and overlooked in the context of armed conflict. For example, in many situations children are being held together with adults, and boys are also being held together with girls. Detaining children in this way exposes them to a range of risks to their physical integrity and can have harmful consequences for their psychological development. The nomenclature regarding detention is also a serious concern, as in some instances, the use of terminology such as a "reintegration", "rehabilitation" or "deradicalization" centre has been used to circumvent the applicability of safeguards and to deny the rights of those deprived of their liberty. In this regard, the Special Representative reminds concerned Member States of the importance of adhering to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules) in all instances of the deprivation of liberty of children. In all situations, priority must also be given to maintaining family ties for children in detention, and children should also have access to educational programmes, medical care and psychological support. These provisions will aid a child's reintegration into society once he or she is released.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2016, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- In its 2015 Education for All Global Monitoring Report, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization highlighted that about 124 million children were out of school and that one third of those children lived in countries where there was or had recently been armed conflict. Furthermore, in many of those countries, net school enrolment had been below 50 per cent even prior to the start of the conflict. The devastating impact of war on the education system is all too visible in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, the Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen, and in the State of Palestine. The Special Representative remains deeply concerned about the increasing number of attacks on schools in those countries, despite the fact that schools have protected status as civilian objects under international humanitarian law. The Special Representative highlighted these issues during a high-level meeting entitled “Ensuring the inclusion of the right to education in emergencies in the post-2015 development agenda”, held on the margins of the seventieth session of the General Assembly, in September 2015. The Special Representative also emphasized the need for funding for education in emergencies during the Law, Justice and Development Week organized by the World Bank in November 2015.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2016, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Purely military and security approaches have not proved effective in addressing extreme violence; prevention must be a key component of response strategies. Extreme violence does not occur in a vacuum, which is why it is necessary, as a first step to finding a lasting solution, to identify and address its root causes and catalysts, such as poverty, lack of good governance, political grievances, the alienation of communities and lack of opportunities for youth. Action is required by the international community, regional organizations and individual Member States to mobilize resources to build resilience and strengthen protective environments for children. In countries affected by conflict, education is one tool that can help to prevent social exclusion and promote respect for human rights, peace and diversity, and reduce the vulnerability of children. In addition, the effective reintegration of children associated with armed groups is crucial. Indoctrination and trauma from exposure to extreme violence can increase the complexity of reintegrating children into their former communities. In addition, a new and compounding challenge for Member States is the regular use, by groups perpetrating extreme violence, of propaganda on the Internet and social media to recruit youth and children.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The General Assembly has recognized that attacks on education and health-care facilities deprive millions of children of their rights to healthy lives and to learn and realize their potential. This not only has an immediate impact on children, but also affects the future prospects of societies. In line with its recent debates and resolutions on education in emergencies and attacks on medical facilities, the Assembly welcomed the issuance of the guidance note entitled "Protect schools and hospitals: end attacks on education and health care" in May 2014, which was co-produced by the Special Representative and other organizations of the United Nations system. In her own efforts to promote the guidance note, the Special Representative attended a workshop on the protection of schools and hospitals in January 2015 in Berlin at the invitation of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Prevention of the violation of the rights to education and health was also supported by the Security Council through its resolutions 1998 (2011), 2143 (2014) and 2225 (2015), in which the Council urged all parties to conflict to respect the civilian character of schools and to refrain from actions that impeded children's access to education and health care.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2015, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The deprivation of liberty of children owing to their actual or alleged association with armed groups is a concern in nearly all country situations covered by the Special Representative's mandate. It is particularly worrisome that the number of children arrested and detained in the context of counter-terrorism operations has increased significantly. In such contexts, but also in more traditional conflict settings, children are no longer seen as victims but are treated as security threats. In many cases, they are either held under the authority of military actors or are handed over to national security agencies that deprive them of their liberty for long periods. Children associated with parties to conflict should be treated as victims and handed over to child protection actors. In circumstances in which children are accused of a crime, any legal process should be conducted in compliance with due process and juvenile justice standards. Accordingly, the detention of children should always be a last resort, for the shortest time possible and guided by the best interests of the child. Those principles apply to any form of deprivation of liberty, be it detention under security charges, administrative detention or deprivation of liberty for the child's own protection or rehabilitation.
- 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
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2015, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- In recent years, the international community has become increasingly aware of the impact on children of attacks on schools and hospitals and taken important steps to protect those institutions. The Security Council recognized this important aspect in its resolutions 1998, and requested the Secretary-General to list in the annexes of his annual reports on children and armed conflict the armed forces and groups who attack schools and/or hospitals and related protected persons. In resolution 2143, the Security Council called for enhanced monitoring of the military use of schools. To better implement those resolutions, the Special Representative, together with UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published the guidance note "Protect Schools and Hospitals" on 21 May 2014. With this guidance note, child protection actors in the field will be better equipped to monitor, report on and engage in advocacy, and work with parties to conflict to end and prevent attacks on schools and hospitals. It also calls for increased collaboration with both traditional and new partners, including a range of civil society partners whose work is crucial to protection from and monitoring of attacks on education and health care.
- 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
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2014, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- The Special Representative calls upon Member States, regional organizations and parties to conflict to make every effort to protect schools and hospitals and to adopt concrete measures to deter the military use of schools.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2014, para. 86
- Paragraph text
- The Special Representative also encourages the Human Rights Council to continue to include child rights violations in its resolutions establishing or renewing the mandates of special procedures.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph