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 fifth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Iraq (S/2024/247), agreed to address the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group.

To all parties to the conflict in Iraq:

• Strongly condemning all violations and abuses that continue to be committed against children in Iraq and expressing concern about the increase in five out of the six grave violations; demanding that all parties to the conflict immediately end and prevent all abuses and violations against children, including those involving the killing and maiming of children, the recruitment and use of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, abduction and the denial of humanitarian access, and comply with their obligations under international law;
• Calling upon all parties to further implement the previous conclusions of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in Iraq (S/AC.51/2022/3);
• Taking into account the scheduled drawdown and withdrawal of the Investigation Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD), stressing the importance of accountability for violations and abuses against children in armed conflict, and stressing that  those responsible must be brought to justice and held accountable without undue delay, including through timely and systematic investigations and, as appropriate, prosecution and conviction;
• Stressing that the best interests of the child should be a primary consideration, and that the particular needs and vulnerabilities of girls and boys, including those disproportionately affected, should be duly considered when planning and carrying out actions concerning children in situations of armed conflict;
• Expressing concern at the significant increase in cases of recruitment and use of children by parties to armed conflict identified in the report, noting with concern that cases were attributed to the People’s Defence Forces of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (HPG/PKK) and ISIL (Da’esh); also noting that many cases are not reported due to fear of reprisals or cannot be verified due to accessibility challenges and security concerns; further noting that children were used in combat and support roles, including to guard check points, gather intelligence and as messengers; and urging all parties to release immediately and without preconditions all children who may be associated with them, to hand them over to relevant civilian child protection actors and to end and prevent the further recruitment and use of children, consistent with their obligations under international law, including the Optional Protocol of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the involvement of children in armed conflict;
• Welcoming the decrease in the number of children detained by Iraqi security forces; expressing, however, deep concern about the continued deprivation of liberty of children including for their actual or alleged association with armed groups, including with terrorist groups who are designated as such by the Security Council, primarily ISIL (Da’esh); noting the challenges faced by detained children in gaining access to legal, educational, social and other services; urging all parties to the conflict to treat children, including those who may have committed crimes, primarily as victims of recruitment and use, to work to ensure their release, recovery and full reintegration through family- and community-based reintegration programmes that are gender- and age-sensitive and inclusive for children with disabilities including equal access to health care, mental health and psychosocial support and inclusive, equitable and quality education programmes, as well as by raising awareness and working with communities to avoid stigmatization of these children and facilitate their return, noting in this regard the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (the Paris Principles), as well as to provide access to the United Nations to all detention centres and any other facilities in which children are held, in coordination with the respective Iraqi authorities;
• Expressing grave concern at the incidents of children killed and maimed, noting that the majority of cases were caused by explosive ordnance and IEDs and that children were harmed by accidentally triggering devices when they picked them up or stepped on them while herding livestock or playing in areas surrounding villages or while playing predominantly in areas that had previously been under ISIL (Da’esh) control; expressing concern also at child casualties caused by ground engagements and airstrikes; urging all parties to take feasible  actions to avoid and minimize harm and better protect children, including in the conduct of military operations and from the risks and effects of explosive remnants of war and the use of explosive weapons, including in populated areas; and calling upon all parties to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular the principles of distinction and proportionality and the obligation to take all feasible precautions to avoid and, in any event, minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects;
• Expressing deep concern at the cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated against children, noting that incidents of sexual violence continue to be underreported; strongly urging all parties to take immediate and specific measures to put an end to and prevent the perpetration of rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, especially girls, and stressing the importance of accountability for those responsible for sexual and gender-based violence against children; and stressing the importance of providing non-discriminatory and comprehensive specialized services, including mental health and psychosocial support, health, including sexual and reproductive health services, legal and livelihood support and services to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence;
• Commending the Iraqi police for having vacated additional schools; while expressing deep concern at attacks on schools and hospitals and at the instances of the military use of schools and the disruption caused to the education of  children; calling upon all parties to the armed conflict to comply with applicable international law and to respect the civilian character of schools and hospitals, including their personnel as such, and to end and prevent attacks or threats of attacks against those institutions and their personnel, as well as the military use of schools and hospitals in violation of applicable international law, as also guided by the Safe Schools Declaration which was endorsed by Iraq in May 2015; and calling upon all parties to take concrete measures to facilitate the continuation of education for children, consistent with Security Council resolution 2601 (2021);
• Expressing deep concern at the abduction of children, and calling upon the concerned parties, including ISIL (Da’esh), to cease the abduction of children and immediately release all abducted children to relevant civilian child protection actors;
• Welcoming the decrease in verified cases of denial of humanitarian access during the reporting period, and the absence of any verified incidents in 2023; expressing concern at incidents of denial of humanitarian access in 2021 and 2022, mostly related to administrative restrictions that limited or slowed the movement of humanitarian personnel and goods, thereby hampering humanitarian operations, or to the denial of passage at checkpoints and the prevention of access to certain areas; and calling upon all parties to continue to allow and facilitate safe, timely and unhindered humanitarian access to children, including to children in detention independent of their legal status, 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, to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and to respect the work of all United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners without adverse distinction;
• Condemning in the strongest possible terms the abhorrent violations and abuses and extreme violence committed against children, including children belonging to religious and ethnic minorities, by ISIL (Da’esh), including their killing and maiming, recruitment and use, abduction, rape and other forms of sexual violence, noting that such violations and abuses may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity; and furthermore reaffirming that terrorism in all forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever and by whomsoever committed;
• Strongly urging ISIL (Da’esh) to immediately:
  • Cease all attacks directed against civilians and civilian objects, including those resulting in the killing and maiming of children, and comply fully with international humanitarian law by, inter alia, putting an end to any targeting of the civilian population, especially children, as well as to disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks in populated areas, including through terror tactics, attacks by suicide bombers or any other forms of extreme violence or the indiscriminate use of weapons, in particular improvised explosive devices, and any use of weapons prohibited by international law;
  • End and prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, including through abduction, end the military training of children and release without preconditions all children who remain under their control;
  • Cease the rape of and other forms of sexual violence against children, such as child, early and forced marriage, sexual slavery and human trafficking for sexual exploitation, including against children belonging to ethnic and religious minorities;
  • Cease the abduction of children and all violations and abuses committed against abducted children, notably girls who face higher rates of abductions in Iraq, release without preconditions all abducted children, and allow for swift family reunification in the best interests of the child or provide information as to their fate if no longer alive.

To community and religious leaders:

• Emphasizing the important role of community and religious leaders in strengthening the protection of children affected by armed conflict;
• Urging community and religious leaders to strengthen community-level protection and 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, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks and threats of attacks on schools and hospitals, abductions and denial of humanitarian access, and to collectively engage with the Government, the United Nations and other relevant stakeholders to support the reintegration of children affected by armed conflict in their communities, including by raising awareness to avoid stigmatization of these children.