Public Statement by Chair of Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the sixth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Colombia (S/2024/161), agreed to address the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group.

To all parties to the armed conflict in Colombia, including the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN); the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - Ejército de Pueblo (FARC-EP) dissident groups, and the Clan del Golfo/Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC); as well as the Colombian armed forces and other parties mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General:

• Commending the continued positive steps the country has undertaken since the signing of the 2016 Peace Agreement, which set as guiding principles the best interest of the child, that children who have been separated from armed groups should be treated primarily as victims, and a focus on community-based rehabilitation and reintegration and education, marking the seventh anniversary of the peace agreement and calling for its continued and full implementation and for it to continue to serve as a model for the protection of all children in other peace processes;
• Welcoming the announcement of the “Total Peace” policy to seek broader peace through dialogue, which includes commitments to human security, the comprehensive implementation of the Peace Agreement, resumption of peace negotiations with the ELN and dialogues with other armed and criminal groups; the resumed formal peace negotiations between the Government and the ELN and the agreed bilateral temporary ceasefire, also welcoming the ongoing peace negotiations with the FARC-EP dissident group known as Estado Mayor Central (EMC FARC-EP) to strengthen the temporary bilateral ceasefire, as well as engagement by the Colombian High Commissioner for Peace with armed groups and the start of bilateral ceasefires between the Government and other armed groups, as well as organized criminal groups;
• Encouraging the pursuit of possible negotiated solutions to armed conflict with other armed groups; calling for the integration and comprehensive implementation, from the early stages on and where in the best interest of affected children, of child protection provisions, including those relating to the release and rehabilitation and reintegration of children, as well as provisions on the rights and well-being of children and a commitment by all parties to prevent and end the recruitment of children in Colombia, in particular indigenous children and children of African descent, into all peace negotiations and ceasefire and peace agreements, as well as into provisions for ceasefire monitoring, taking into account children’s views, where possible, in these processes, and encouraging all relevant actors involved in peace and mediation processes to use the Practical Guidance for Mediators to Protect Children in Situations of Armed Conflict as a tool in these processes;
• Welcoming the decrease in confrontations between the Government and armed groups during the reporting period.  Expressing, however, grave concern at the continued expansion by some armed groups of territorial and social control over communities in certain regions with limited state presence and in certain urban areas; the strengthening of their ranks through the recruitment of children and youth;
• Expressing concern at the armed strikes conducted by armed groups mostly affecting rural areas, during which travel along roads and rivers was banned, confining people and preventing the supply of food, fuel and access to health care or education services, including for children; and the continued displacement of, and violations and abuses against, children, and noting with concern that indigenous children and children of African descent have been disproportionally affected by these conflict dynamics;
• Expressing grave concern at the deterioration of the situation of children affected by armed conflict in Colombia and the considerable increase in the six grave violations committed against children, and urging all parties to immediately end and prevent all grave violations and abuses of human rights and all violations of international law, including the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian access, and to comply fully with their obligations under international law;
• Expressing grave concern that the situation of indigenous children and children of African descent worsened during the reporting period and that they remain disproportionally affected, noting that children from these communities often live in the areas that are most affected by conflict, which are generally also characterized by high levels of poverty, a limited presence of State authority, limited services and limited investment, including basic health, education, water and sanitation, weather related emergencies, illicit economies and the presence of armed groups; also expressing grave concern at the increase in the six grave violations against children of other nationalities, refugee and migrant children who have limited access to State protection systems;
• Stressing that the best interests of the child should be a primary consideration, and that the specific needs and vulnerabilities of girls and boys should be duly considered when planning and carrying out actions concerning children in situations of armed conflict, including by taking all preventive and mitigating actions necessary to avoid and minimize harm and to better protect children;
• Calling upon all parties to further implement the previous conclusions of the Working Group (S/AC.51/2022/2);
• Stressing the importance of accountability for all violations and abuses against children in armed conflict and stressing that all those responsible for crimes in this regard must be brought to justice and held accountable without undue delay, including through comprehensive, independent, timely and systematic investigation and, as appropriate, prosecution, conviction and sentencing, including, when applicable, through the transitional justice mechanisms of the Peace Agreement; taking note, in this regard, of the final report of the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition created under the Peace Agreement and welcoming its chapter on children  and its recommendations related to the protection of children and the restoration of their rights;
• Expressing deep concern and condemning the considerable increase in the recruitment and use of children, in particular by FARC-EP dissident groups, ELN and AGC, including indigenous children and children of African descent, and refugee and migrant children, noting that nearly all cases were attributed to armed groups, and noting that children were used in combat, as well as in support roles such as informants, messengers, cooks, cleaners, extortionists, coca harvesters, as well as for sexual purposes; urging all parties to end and prevent further recruitment and use of children and immediately release without preconditions all children present in their ranks;
• Also expressing grave concern that the recruitment and use of children has increased, including during the reporting period, noting that nearly all of cases were attributed to armed groups, with more cases of recruitment and use in the first six months of 2023 than in the entirety of 2022; that it often led to other violations and abuses, including killing and maiming and sexual violence and that there was an increase in the number of girls recruited and used, with 43% of girls recruited and used being under 15 years old;
• Calling on the ELN, EMC FARC-EP, and other FARC-EP dissident groups to adopt action plans with the United Nations, and to release all children, defined as any person below 18 years of age, present in their ranks immediately;
• Expressing grave concern at the killing and maiming of children, including as a result of gunshots, as a result of direct targeting, crossfire or during association with armed groups, landmines, improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance, airstrikes and torture, and urging all parties, in particular armed groups, to  immediately cease the killing and maiming of children and to take appropriate measures to protect children in line with the principles of distinction, and proportionality, and the obligation to take all feasible precautions, and to avoid confrontations in areas where civilians and children are present; and urging all armed groups to end, immediately and definitively, the indiscriminate use of explosive devices that cause death or injury to children, and to collaborate in identifying landmine-contaminated areas  and key infrastructure, such as schools, for effective demining processes;
• Strongly condemning rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated against children and urging all parties to take immediate and specific measures to put an end to and prevent it, noting with concern the considerable increase in sexual violence against children, including during association with armed groups, that girls were disproportionately affected, especially indigenous girls and girls of African descent and of Venezuelan and Ecuadorian nationalities, and that the full scale of sexual violence and exploitation and abuse against children is believed to be underreported, as documenting such violations and abuses remains a challenge, owing to victims’ and survivors’ fear of reprisals due to reporting, and of stigmatization, the lack of appropriate systems for care and response from local and national institutions, and access constraints faced by the country task force for monitoring and reporting; and stressing the importance of providing gender-sensitive, age-appropriate, disability-inclusive comprehensive and non-discriminatory child protection services, including specialized services at local level for child victims and survivors of gender-based violence; and calling on the authorities to investigate, prosecute and hold accountable those responsible for sexual violence against children;
• Strongly condemning the six-fold increase of verified attacks on schools and hospitals, urging all parties to respect the civilian character of schools and hospitals, including their personnel, as such, and to immediately end and prevent attacks or threats of attacks against those institutions and their personnel in violation of applicable international law, expressing concern that the use of schools for military purposes by armed forces and groups placed students at risk and interfered with their education and protection support, calling on all parties to take concrete measures to mitigate and avoid the military use of schools, consistent with resolution 2601 (2021);  noting with concern the use of schools for civilian-military activities by the Colombian armed forces, such as circuses, gift distributions, celebrations or talks with children, including in areas in which armed groups were present, putting children at risk of retaliation, solely as a result of their interacting with the armed forces; taking note of the endorsement by the Government of the Safe Schools Declaration in November 2022 and calling for the  full implementation of its action plan on safe schools at local level;
• Strongly condemning the abduction of children and urging all armed groups to cease the abduction of children and immediately release without preconditions all abducted children to relevant civilian child protection actors; noting that children were abducted for the purpose of recruitment and use, as well as for extortion, on the suspicion of being informants, or as punishment for infringing armed groups’ rules in communities;
• Strongly condemning the incidents of denial of humanitarian access, including the prohibition of access of humanitarian organizations, the burning of humanitarian vehicles, robberies and attacks on humanitarian staff and urging all parties to allow and facilitate safe, timely and unhindered humanitarian access to children, consistent with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, as well as the United Nations Guiding Principles of humanitarian assistance, to respect the exclusively humanitarian nature and impartiality of humanitarian aid and to respect the work of all United Nations agencies, and their humanitarian partners, without adverse distinction;

To community and religious leaders and civil society organizations:

• Emphasizing the important role of community, religious and indigenous leaders in strengthening the protection of children affected by armed conflict, and recognizing their important role in advocating for an end to violations and abuses against children;
• Calling on them to publicly condemn and continue to advocate ending and preventing violations and abuses against children, in particular those involving the recruitment and use of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, killing and maiming, abductions, attacks and threats of attacks against schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access, and to engage with the Government, the United Nations and other relevant stakeholders to support the reintegration and rehabilitation of children affected by armed conflict in their communities, including by raising awareness and undertaking efforts to avoid stigmatization of these children.