Zero under 18 - Campaign

The 2007 review of the Machel study stated that international standards and their enforcement were the strongest defence against impunity of child rights violations in armed conflict, yet these would only be effective if and when they were widely known, understood and implemented by everyone. In that spirit and on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (25 May 2000), the Office of the Special Representative, in partnership with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, UNICEF and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, launched a two-year campaign promoting the universal ratification of the Optional Protocol by 2012.

To date, 139 UN member states have ratified this important treaty while 53 are not party to it.

Universal ratification will establish a moral consensus that no child should take part in hostilities, be involuntarily recruited and that former child soldiers should be assisted by their governments after a life of violence and distress.

Activities around the campaign to achieve universal ratification of the Optional Protocol include bilateral meetings with Member States that have not signed or ratified the Protocol, advocacy initiatives in multilateral meetings, technical assistance for translating provisions of the Protocol into national legislation and awareness-raising events. The Office of the Special Representative also encourages specific Governments to take the lead at regional and global levels to help ensure universal ratification by 2012.