PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

At a Headquarters press briefing today, Olara Otunnu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, denounced recent reports of the extensive sexual abuse of children in refugee camps in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Speaking to correspondents after his return from a mission to assess the condition of children in post-conflict Guatemala, Mr. Otunnu reiterated and welcomed the statement by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who called for fullest possible investigations of the allegations.  If indeed some of the allegations turned out to be true, the firmest possible action should be taken against those found to be culpable, he said.

Mr. Otunnu said: “In this context, I subscribe entirely to the Secretary-General’s policy of zero tolerance for this kind of behaviour”, adding that it was all the more distressing because the allegations concerned sexual exploitation by those who were supposed to protect the vulnerable children.  As it was a matter of grave concern to his office and him personally, he said he hoped that the necessary remedial action would be taken in the shortest possible time.

On his field mission to Guatemala, he said he had gone to look at the situation of children and young people there today, following 36 years of war, and how the Government of Guatemala and the international community were responding to the needs of the children affected by that long civil war.

He said he was encouraged by a number of developments there, not the least of which was the fact that the Government had, just a few days before his arrival, ratified both optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child: the protocol raising the age limit for participation in conflict, which came into force on 12 February; and the protocol on sexual exploitation.  He was further encouraged by the renewed engagement in the peace process and the very wide spirit of reconciliation.

He said he raised with the Government and authorities in Guatemala the importance of investing in children and youth, given the level of deprivation and suffering that they had gone through, and especially investing in education, health and nutrition.  He also discussed with the Government, including the President, their commitment to reforming the education system, so that it provided for more access to both urban and rural children; the indigenous as well as the other communities.

Mr. Otunnu said that he also discussed the “very painful” issue of disappeared children and the Government’s commitment made under the Truth Commission to establish a national commission for disappeared children.  The Government had agreed to turn the existing informal group into an official body in which the State, civil society and parents would participate.

He said another issue of particular concern to civil society and the United Nations Country Team in Guatemala was the project on the adoption of a code for children and youth.  He said the proposal enjoyed widespread consensus, but continued to have some difficulties within the national congress of

Guatemala.  “We are working to find ways to overcome these difficulties, so that there can be a comprehensive legal framework for the protection of children in Guatemala”, he said.

Mr. Otunnu further noted that a fifth issue of major concern in that country was that of adoption, especially adoption by parents outside Guatemala.  While expressing strong support for adoption and applauding parents who wished to adopt children from Guatemala, he said there was deep concern that the present arrangement made for too much abuse.  In that regard, he said he urged the Government to implement its commitment to the ratification of The Hague Convention on Adoption which would bring the local arrangements to international standards of adoption.

He also discussed with Guatemalan authorities the importance of creating more opportunities for young people and children to participate more fully in national life, in the process of consolidating peace and in the reconstruction of the country, he said.

Responding to a correspondent who wanted to know if Guatemala had a problem with child soldiers during the conflict and what had happened to them, Mr. Otunnu confirmed that the country had child soldiers on both sides of the conflict.  He said his office’s concern was how to rehabilitate those who had been engaged in the war, although the war ended some five years ago and those that had participated as child soldiers were now young adults.

Asked what mechanisms, if any, were being put in place to prevent a recurrence of the reported abuse of children in West Africa, he said the most urgent step was what the Secretary-General had called for -- a thorough, systematic and methodical investigation and, based on those facts, “swift action” to put in place measures that will eliminate the practice.  He said his office was working with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Department of Peacekeeping Operations and others in developing guidelines and manuals to be used by all engaged in working with such vulnerable groups as children, women and others.

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