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 the Philippines (document S/2022/569), agreed to address the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group:

To all parties to armed conflict in the Philippines, in particular the leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the New People’s Army, the Abu Sayyaf Group, the Moro National Liberation Front and the Dawlah Islamiyah-Maute Group, as well as to the Government of the Philippines:

Welcoming the decrease in the number of violations and abuses committed against children verified by the country task force on monitoring and reporting as compared with the prior reporting period, despite documentation and reporting constraints resulting from access restrictions, but expressing grave concern at the violations and abuses that continue to be committed against children in the Philippines, including children who were affected by multiple violations, and urging all parties to immediately end and prevent all violations involving the recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian access and to 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 the Philippines (documents S/AC.51/2008/10, S/AC.51/2010/5, S/AC.51/2014/1 S/AC.51/2017/4, S/AC.51/2020/9 and S/AC.51/2022/4);

Stressing that the best interests of the child should be a primary consideration, and that the specific needs and vulnerabilities of girls and boys, as well as children with disabilities, and children from Indigenous communities, 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 during hostilities and from the effects of explosive ordnance;

Stressing the importance of accountability for all violations and abuses against children in armed conflict through the implementation of the Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict Law (Republic Act 11188) of 2019, and stressing that all perpetrators must be brought to justice and held accountable without undue delay, including through comprehensive, independent, impartial, timely and systematic investigation, and as appropriate, prosecution, conviction and sentencing, through appropriate justice mechanisms, to address impunity and to ensure that all victims have access to justice and are provided with comprehensive, age-appropriate, gender-sensitive, disability-inclusive, non-discriminatory protection and support services that they need, including psychosocial and health services, access to education and vocational training, livelihood support, social reintegration, and specialized services for child survivors of sexual and gender-based violence; 

Noting with concern that access constraints imposed upon the country task force by parties to some conflict-affected areas during the reporting period presented challenges to the verification of the six grave violations against children and that the information contained in the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Philippines (document S/2024/626) does not represent the full extent of violations committed against children in the Philippines;

Condemning the recruitment and use of children for combat and support roles, including as informants and for sexual purposes, urging all parties, in particular armed groups, to immediately and without conditions release all children associated with them to civilian child protection actors; and also urging them to end and prevent recruitment and use of children under 18 years of age in line with their obligations as set out in the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, as applicable; 

Expressing concern at the deprivation of liberty of children for their association or alleged association with armed groups, or owing to being relatives of members of armed groups, urging all parties to the armed conflict to consider children associated with armed groups, including those who may have committed crimes, primarily as victims of recruitment and use, to work to ensure their release and support their full reintegration and rehabilitation through specialized child protection, including family- and community-based and gender-sensitive reintegration programmes, and including access to healthcare, mental health and psychosocial support and education programmes, as well as to raise awareness and work with communities to avoid stigmatization of such children and facilitate their return, and to ensure that detention should be considered only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time and that alternatives to detention should be prioritized, in line with international law, and also urging the Government to comply with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol thereto on the involvement of children in armed conflict;

Expressing deep concern at the killing and maiming of children, 16 per cent of whom were below five years old, including those resulting from crossfire, and explosive ordnance urging all parties to take measures to prevent and end such killing and maiming, and calling upon parties to respect their obligations under applicable international law, including international humanitarian law;

Expressing deep concern about incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated against children, notably girls, during the reporting period, while noting that incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence continue to be underreported owing to stigmatization, fear of reprisals, harmful social norms, the absence of or lack of access to services, impunity, and safety concerns; 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; stressing the importance of accountability for those who commit sexual and gender-based violence against children and recognizing in this regard the Act Prohibiting the Practice of Child Marriage and Imposing Penalties for Violations Thereof (Republic Act No. 11596) of 2021 and the Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict Law (Republic Act No. 11188) of 2019 as important steps taken by the Government of the Philippines to address acts that can lead to rape and other forms of sexual violence; also stressing the importance of ensuring access to age-appropriate, gender-sensitive, inclusive, 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, for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence;

Strongly condemning the attacks on schools and hospitals, in violation of international law, and attacks and threats against protected persons and the forced closure of a school, noting that indigenous communities were especially affected, calling upon all parties to comply with applicable international law and to respect the civilian character of schools and hospitals, including their personnel, and to immediately 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; noting with concern that the proximity of armed conflict incidents to schools resulted in class suspensions; further noting the harmful effect that attacks on schools and the military use of schools can have on the enjoyment of the right to education, calling on all parties to take concrete measures to mitigate and avoid the military use of schools, consistent with resolution 2601 (2021), to ensure accountability and redress for attacks on education, and noting in this regard the Safe Schools Declaration;

Strongly condemning the abduction of children, which has also resulted in other grave violations being committed against children, and calling upon all concerned parties to cease the abduction of children and immediately release all abducted children to relevant civilian child protection actors;

Urging all parties to continue to allow and facilitate, in accordance with international law, including international humanitarian law, safe, timely and unimpeded humanitarian access including to children, and recalling the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, as well as the United Nations guiding principles for humanitarian assistance adopted in General Assembly resolution 46/182, 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; 

Encouraging the Government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines to include child protection issues in peace negotiations and agreements, following the Oslo Joint Communiqué of 23 November 2023, and guided by, inter alia, the Practical Guidance for Mediators to Protect Children in Situations of Armed Conflict;

Encouraging the full implementation of the Annex on Normalization under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, particularly the decommission and disbanding of private armed groups; welcoming the completion of the 2017 UN-MILF Action Plan, and the continued implementation of a follow-up programme by the Bangsamoro regional government with the provision of psychosocial assistance and life skills training to children disengaged from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF);

Calling upon all parties who have not yet done so to enhance their engagement with the United Nations to develop and adopt appropriate standard operating procedures for the release and reintegration of children associated with parties to the conflict and to cooperate with civilian child protection actors to facilitate their release and reintegration into their communities, which is essential to provide a future to these children and their families, as well as to prevent the risks of re-recruitment; 

Calling upon all listed armed groups, notably the New People’s Army, to enter into dialogue with the United Nations for the purpose of adopting action plans to end and prevent child recruitment and use.

To community and religious leaders:

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 ending to violations and abuses against children and fostering reconciliation efforts;

Encouraging them to publicly condemn and continue to advocate for 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 of children affected by armed conflict in their communities, including by raising awareness and undertaking efforts to avoid stigmatization of these children.