Statement by Chair of Security Council Working Group

 

on Children and Armed Conflict

 

At its 48^th meeting, on 7 July 2014, the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict agreed, in connection with the examination of the first report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Mali (document S/2014/267), to address the following message through a public statement issued by the Chair of the Working Group:

To all armed groups mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General, specifically Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the Mouvement pour l’unicité et le jihad en Afrique de l’Ouest, the Mouvement National pour la Liberation de l’Azawad and Ansar Dine:

(a)   Strongly condemning all violations and abuses committed against children in Mali, and urging them to immediately end and prevent all violations of applicable international law involving the recruitment and use of children, abduction, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian access, and reminding them that they have obligations under international law;

(b)   Stressing that all perpetrators of such acts must be held accountable, and noting that on 13 July 2012, the transitional authorities of Mali referred the situation in Mali since January 2012 to the International Criminal Court, to which Mali is a State party, and that some of the above-mentioned acts may amount to crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;

(c)   Strongly urging them to immediately and without preconditions release children associated with them and to take immediate and specific measures to put an end to and prevent the perpetration of rape and other forms of sexual violence by members of their respective groups;

(d)   Expressing strong concern at the high number of children killed and maimed by explosive remnants of war, and urging them to take concrete measures to reduce their impact on children;

(e)   Calling upon them to comply with applicable international law and to respect the civilian character of schools and hospitals, including their personnel, and to end and prevent attacks or threats of attacks against those institutions and their personnel, as well as the military use of schools in violation of applicable international law;

(f)   Expressing concern about the interference of armed groups in the conduct of classes in the north of Mali;

(g)   Further expressing concern about limited humanitarian access in the north of Mali and its detrimental impact on the provision of humanitarian assistance to children;

(h)   Noting the security challenges facing the United Nations Country task force on monitoring and reporting in the north of Mali, and in this regard urging armed groups to ensure United Nations personnel safe and unhindered access to territories under their control for monitoring and reporting purposes;

(i)   Further urging those who are or will be engaged in peace talks and agreements to ensure that child protection provisions, including the release and reintegration of children, are integrated into the peace talks and agreements;

(j)   Calling upon them to publicly express their commitment to end and prevent all violations and abuses committed against children, and to expeditiously develop action plans in line with Security Council resolutions 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009), 1998 (2011), 2068 (2012) and 2143 (2014) if they are listed in annex I to the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict.

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For information media • not an official record