PRESS CONFERENCE BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict highlighted today a number of significant developments for children in Nepal and the Philippines, including the possible discharge of nearly 3,000 minors from army cantonments in Nepal and an end to the recruitment and use of children by an armed group in the Philippines.

Speaking at an afternoon Headquarters press conference, Radhika Coomaraswamy said she had recently conducted trips to those two countries, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1612 (2005), which had established a monitoring and reporting mechanism on the recruitment and use of child soldiers by parties to armed conflict.  Both Nepal and the Philippines had voluntarily submitted themselves to the reporting process and her visits were in follow-up to the recommendations of the Security Council on the matter.

During her six-day visit to Nepal, which began in early December, Ms. Coomaraswamy said she had been able to secure an agreement by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” to move forward on the discharge of about 2,900 minors from Maoist army cantonments.  Such a move had been the primary objective of her visit and she had, therefore, spent much of her time discussing the matter with Government authorities and meeting with the children at the cantonment sites.

The Secretary-General had also raised the issue with the Maoists and the Prime Minister and those efforts had helped lead to the breakthrough agreement during her visit, she continued.  The first step now would be for the concerned parties to enter into an action plan for the discharge of the children involved and, after that, to further develop and implement reintegration policies.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) stood ready to assist in any way they could, she added.  Reintegration packages would be tailored to the specific needs of the children and, already, more than 60 vocational and micro-enterprise options were available to help with reintegration back into their communities.  She stressed, however, that reintegration must be in line with international standards and the United Nations country team would, therefore, work closely with the relevant parties to make sure that proper reintegration took place.

Though the discharge of the minors had been a primary goal, Ms. Coomaraswamy said she had also taken time during her visit to speak to Maoist leaders about the issue of impunity and the misuse of children for political purposes, particularly the problem of political violence carried out by youth wings of some political factions.  On both issues, there had been positive developments, with the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) agreeing to meet to discuss how to deal collaboratively with acts of political violence among youth, and an agreement by the Commission on Disappearances to make the case of Maina Sunuwar -- a 15-year-old girl who had been tortured and killed while in the custody of the Nepalese Army in 2004 -- a high priority.

However, there continued to be ongoing issues of concern in the country, she said, referring specifically to her visit to the Terai region; “a place of great uncertainty and instability”.  There, she had met children who were victims of forced displacement, criminal violence and political violence.  “The line between crime and politics seems to be very thin,” she warned, adding that children in the region continued to be denied their basic rights, including their right to education, health and proper nutrition.  She expressed hope that the United Nations would be able to keep working with the Government to find a solution.

Following her trip to Nepal, Ms. Coomaraswamy spent five days in the Philippines, during which the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had agreed to enter into an action plan with the United Nations to separate children from their ranks and return them to civilian life.  MILF was one of three armed groups in the Philippines listed by the Secretary-General for the use and recruitment of children, along with Abu Sayyaf and the New People’s Army.  While welcoming the commitment made by MILF, Ms. Coomaraswamy noted that, with regard to Abu Sayyaf and the New People’s Army, “we have yet to find ways and means to get any commitments from them”.

She had been able to raise a number of other important issues with the Government during her visit, including the grave violations against children allegedly committed by members of the Philippines Security Forces, as mentioned in the annual report of the Secretary-General.  That report had also pointed out the ongoing recruitment of children by local militias, such as the Citizens Armed Force Geographical Units (CAFGU).  The Government of the Philippines, following the report’s release, had agreed to send an immediate directive to all local commanders that no one under 18 should be recruited, and Ms. Coomaraswamy said she would continue to monitor the situation to verify whether the directive was being properly implemented.

Issues of impunity and collateral damage had also been raised during her visit, along with the issue of children being held in custody in army camps for long periods of time, she said.  On that matter, UNICEF had agreed to enter into discussions with the Department of Social Welfare and other relevant branches of Government to see how best to reintegrate those children back into the community.

Finally, she described her visit to an internally displaced persons camp in central Mindanao, where children remained extremely vulnerable.  The humanitarian situation there required the United Nations to assist the Philippine Government with targeted interventions in camp management, education, water and sanitation, health, food security and psycho-social needs.  Ending on a positive note, she said that all the parties involved felt that the peace process between MILF and the Government would start before the end of the year, an encouraging step that could lead to possible improvements in the future. 

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