Engagement of Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict

The engagement of the Security Council on children and armed conflict has greatly elevated the relevance of child protection concerns within its international peace and security agenda and has allowed for opportunities to improve efforts and actions for the protection of children.

In 1999, Security Council resolution 1261 affirmed the protection of children as a peace and security concern. Reports of the Secretary-General to the Council on children and armed conflict have since provided an essential base for situation specific actions required of Member States and other stakeholders.

In resolution 1379 (2001) the Security Council recommended that the Secretary-General lists parties recruiting and using children in armed conflict in its annual report he presents to the Security Council. In its resolution 1460 (2003) the Council called on parties committing grave violations against children to prepare and implement concrete, time-bound action plans for the cessation of all violations against children. Action plans provide a mechanism to engage parties in practical steps to fulfill their obligations in regard to children.

Another milestone was the adoption of resolution 1612 (2005), in which the Security Council established a monitoring and reporting mechanism of grave violations committed against innocent girls and boys and the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. Collecting information on grave child rights violations as a basis for targeted measures against offenders, has proved to have both a preventive and deterrent effect.

In its latest resolution, 1882 (2009), the Council designated the killing and maiming of children, as well as rape and other sexual violence, as critical priorities and has called on parties to armed conflict to prepare and implement action plans to address these violations. In the new resolution, the Council also calls for enhanced communication and information-sharing between its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict and relevant Security Council sanctions committees as a step towards targeted measures against persistent perpetrators.

Moreover,in June 2010 the Security Council expressed in its presidential statement (S/PRST/2010/10) its readiness to impose sanctions against those persistently listed as violating the rights of the innocent.

Since the adoption of its first resolution, the actions taken by the Security Council have produced tangible progress. Formal and informal action plans have been concluded between parties to conflict to identify and release children from fighting forces and to prevent further recruitment. Thousands of children associated with armed groups have thus been released. In 2010 alone, 1,843 people recruited as minors from the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist have been released. Burundi has been removed from the the annual report of the Secretary-General following UN verification that all children associated with the Forces Nationales de Liberation (FNL) have been reunified with their families. It has also been confirmed that the FNL has ceased recruitment.

Specific provisions have been included in peace processes and agreements. Child protection provisions have been incorporated in the mandates of a number of United Nations peacekeeping and political missions. Regular reviews and reports to the Council by the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, as well as its valuable recommendations to the Council combined with the application of international standards and country visits by the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, along with the work done by UNICEF and other UN agencies such as UNHCHR, OHCHR and ILO, have contributed to those achievements.