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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. 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 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 2012, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- In 2011, 22 incidents were reported of children being used by armed groups to carry out suicide attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including one 8-year-old girl and one 9-year-old girl. Some of those children were victim bombers, unknowingly carrying explosive packages.
- 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
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- [Vulnerabilities and risks faced by children who are internally displaced during armed conflict – addressing their rights]: The recruitment of children by the armed forces or armed groups and internal displacement are closely linked. Evidence suggests that refugee and IDP camps are often prime recruiting grounds for child soldiers, owing to the convenient concentration of vulnerable children. The lack of security around some camps increases the likelihood of child recruitment. Internally displaced children are also at increased risk of suffering from rape and other forms of sexual violence in the camps, or during flight, as they are preyed upon by soldiers, armed groups, traffickers, border guards and other opportunists. Governments are obligated to not only criminalize such acts but to hold those who perpetrate these violations accountable. Safe locations for camps and settlements in order to prevent incursions of armed groups and protect internally displaced children from sexual violence should be prioritized. And finally, measures to alleviate the social and economic factors that cause displacement in the first place, and that subsequently render children more vulnerable to recruitment, such as trafficking, forced labour and sexual and gender-based violence, should be given serious consideration.
- 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
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2016, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Throughout the reporting period, the Special Representative used other platforms to remind Member States of their obligations under international law, in particular during addresses to the General Assembly and the Security Council. Moreover, on 21 and 22 October 2015, the Special Representative participated in the African Union sixth annual retreat of special envoys and mediators on the promotion of peace, security and stability, organized on the subject of terrorism, mediation and non-State armed groups. Lastly, during the reporting period the Office of the Special Representative joined the Working Group on Promoting and Protecting Human Rights and the Rule of Law while Countering Terrorism of the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force to further mainstreaming the protection of children in the United Nations work on counter-terrorism. The Special Representative will continue to contribute to the dialogue on and work of the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and the Secretary-General regarding extreme violence in the coming year. Her focus will be to ensure that that the protection of children is a priority in national, regional and international responses. Furthermore, given the increasingly cross-border nature of the operations of groups using extreme violence and the involvement of multinational coalition forces, multilateral coordinated action and more extensive efforts involving regional organizations will be crucial to ensure the protection of children.
- 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
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2016, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- While extreme violence is not a new phenomenon, with similar acts committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army and the atrocities perpetrated in Liberia and Sierra Leone still in recent memory, the increasing cross-border aspect of the violence has created additional challenges for those trying to formulate well-calibrated responses. Unfortunately, in a number of situations, the regional or international response to the threats have posed additional child protection challenges.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2015, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The reintegration of children associated with extremist groups poses challenges. Indoctrination and trauma from exposure to extreme violence make it more difficult for children to reintegrate into their former communities. The Special Representative calls upon the international community to prioritize developing specialized reintegration programmes to address the psychological harm experienced by children who are exposed to extreme violence.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2015, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Despite the ongoing challenges in respect of access to and dialogue with non-State armed groups to end grave violations against children, the number of public statements and command orders issued by armed groups prohibiting the recruitment and use of children has increased. That trend was observed in a number of situations and provided a basis for building momentum to address grave violations against children by armed groups.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2014, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- The Special Representative calls upon Member States and civil society to ensure that particular attention is paid to the plight of girls and boys and to promote specific provisions for children in global efforts to end, prevent and respond to sexual violence in conflict.
- 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
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2014, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- The Special Representative calls upon Member States and regional organizations to continue to facilitate United Nations access to and dialogue with non-State armed groups with a view to ending and preventing grave violations of children's rights, including through mainstreaming child protection concerns in ceasefire and peace negotiations and within implementation mechanisms.
- 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
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2013, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- Investigations, prosecutions and trials of adult perpetrators of grave violations against children have remained extremely rare overall, however. Ending impunity for grave violations is a crucial element in enforcing compliance by parties with international obligations to protect children. The weak capacity of justice systems in countries affected by conflict requires specific support to ensure institutional responses to the needs of children affected by armed conflict.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2013, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- Any peace agreement should explicitly recognize that children's lives have been affected by the armed conflict, in particular through forced recruitment, displacement and sexual and gender-based violence. At a minimum, parties to the conflict should commit to immediately stopping and protecting children from all violations, including their recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and sexual violation.
- 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
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2013, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- A growing body of reporting also contributes to an enhanced understanding of the multiple indirect adverse effects of drone strikes on children. Boys and girls have been the victims of drone strikes on schools, funeral processions and other community gatherings. Drone attacks have also led to weakening of the social fabric and of community protection mechanisms.
- 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
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2013, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- In many countries children are arrested and detained without due process or legal safeguards, including under antiterrorism laws, either because they are perceived as a threat to national security or for acts allegedly committed while associated with armed groups. Children are also captured in the course of military operations and held in formal or informal detention facilities without any legal basis, sometimes incommunicado and for prolonged periods of time.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2013, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- In some post-conflict situations, where the root causes of conflict have remained unaddressed, cyclic relapses into violence have occurred, reversing important gains for children and exposing them to the risk of rerecruitment. This illustrates the need to enhance the mainstreaming of child protection concerns into national peacebuilding priorities and plans, including in resource allocation processes.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Cognizant of the primary responsibility of States in the protection of children, the Special Representative urges Member States to strengthen policies and practices that ensure prevention of violation and abuse and stands ready to facilitate the sharing of best practices between Member States in that regard.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- 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 2011, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Secondly, the reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces and groups often involves a repatriation component, where the child, operating alongside the armed force or group on foreign soil, returns to his or her country of origin for reintegration into civilian life. In such cases, close contact and coordination between national authorities and child protection partners is essential.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Ultimately, ensuring that security institutions uphold and practice child protection is a long-term endeavour, requiring dedicated and focused efforts on the part of national actors: the Government, legislative bodies, the judiciary and civil society. It is through a partnership between national actors, with international support, that child protection can be mainstreamed into the security sector.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- 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 2011, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Given the often forced nature of their association with armed groups, and considering their age, children should be treated primarily as victims, not as perpetrators. Emphasis should be placed on prosecuting individuals based on the concept of command responsibility. States should also prosecute adult recruiters and commanders not only for the crime of child recruitment, but also for other crimes they may have forced children to commit.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Of growing concern is the use of children — sometimes unbeknownst to them — to carry or wear explosives. The reporting period has seen a steady increase in the number of girls and boys being used by armed groups for such purposes. These children, sometimes as young as eight, are often unaware of the actions or consequences of the acts they are instigated to commit. Such acts often lead to their own death and the killing of civilians, including other children.
- 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
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2011, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Despite the progress made, however, significant challenges in addressing grave violations against children remain. In several countries, such as in the Central African Republic, Somalia and the Sudan, access constraints for security reasons hamper the systematic monitoring and reporting of grave violations. In addition, information gathering is challenged by underreporting of grave violations, particularly in the case of sexual violence.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The key principles also address the issue of the appropriate form of accountability for alleged child perpetrators, and alternatives to judicial proceedings for children. They highlight the issue that children may simultaneously be victims, witnesses and alleged perpetrators of violations, but stress that they must be viewed primarily as victims in all circumstances.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Those who continue to commit grave child rights violations do so in part because they see that there are few, if any, personal consequences for abusing children. This perception, which is reinforced by the continued lack of direct action against perpetrators, must be redressed. Essentially, the cost of committing grave violations against children must be made prohibitive in terms of the personal consequences for perpetrators.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Attacks against schools and hospitals have been designated as one of six grave violations that are now systematically recorded under the Secretary-General's monitoring and reporting mechanism on grave violations against children in armed conflict. However, such attacks are still underreported and there remains a lack of knowledge concerning the context of attacks, the perpetrators and their specific motivations, and other factors that need to be understood in order to address the problem.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2010, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Member States should continue to insist that parties listed in the annexes to the Secretary-General’s report for the recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming of children, and/or rape and other sexual violence against children, in contravention of applicable international law, prepare and implement concrete time-bound action plans to halt those violations and abuses, and to take measures against any parties that fail to comply.
- 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 2012, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Children become associated with armed forces and groups for various reasons. In some situations, they are forcibly recruited or abducted by armed elements, or coerced and intimidated into joining them. Recruitment of children also takes place in the context of poverty, discrimination, revenge and loyalty to an ethnic, religious or tribal group. Often, insecurity and displacement propel children, especially those who have become separated from their families, to join an armed group for protection and survival.
- 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
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on children and armed conflict: Annual report 2012, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- The use of explosive weapons by armed forces and groups often results in the commission of violations against children, including the injury, maiming and killing of children, the recruitment of children as suicide and victim bombers, the damaging and/or destruction of civilian installations such as schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access, for example through the planting of landmines. They also cause long-lasting harm by damaging children’s emotional stability, education and future opportunities.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph