PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

Briefing journalists in advance of next week’s Security Council debate on children and armed conflict, Special Representative of the Secretary-General Olara Otunnu expressed the hope that, on 20 January, the Council would take concrete action to protect children in situations of armed conflict, sending a clear message that violations of their rights would not be tolerated. 

The Council’s debate, he said, would be based on the Secretary-General’s fourth report on the matter (document A/58/546-S/2003/1053), which not only presented advances in advocacy, norms and standards at the international level, but also contained a set of recommendations to deepen and consolidate the progress achieved to date and to strengthen the foundation for an “era of application”.  

In an attempt to widen the focus of the discussion, the report highlighted not only the use and recruitment of children, but also ground-level realities, where the situation of children remained grave and unacceptable.  It cited cases of killing and maiming, sexual and gender-based violence, and abduction, as well as the impact of unexploded ordnance. 

He recalled that the Secretary-General’s 2002 report had started a unique practice of “naming and shaming” the guilty parties by annexing a list of violators in situations on the agenda of the Council.  The current report contained an updated version of that list, as well as an additional list of parties recruiting or using children in conflict situations not on the Council’s agenda.  It also presented an assessment of best practices and lessons learned in three important areas:  disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes; deployment of child protection advisers to peacekeeping missions; and negotiations with parties to conflict on the protection of children.

In order to ensure compliance with standards on the ground, Mr. Otunnu stressed the need to establish monitoring and reporting mechanisms within the United Nations.  The Secretary-General’s report identified particular actors within the system and the value they could bring in their particular areas of competence in that regard.  It also called for a field presence within peacekeeping missions and country teams, which could play a more active role in gathering information and monitoring the situation on the ground.  The report identified action against both entities and individuals or the leadership of the groups involved, including bans or restrictions on travel, restrictions on participation in political structures, financial sanctions and other measures.

Asked about an envisioned timeline and enforcement of the plan, Mr. Otunnu said that specific actions would depend on the decision by the Council, but the options on the table included giving notice to the parties and setting firm benchmarks for action.  As for who would take responsibility for political action, he hoped the lists would be transmitted by the Council to other organs, including the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, which could act within their own spheres of competence.   

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