Background

Since the February 2021 coup in Myanmar, the military junta has repeatedly violated the rights of the people of Myanmar, including by launching widespread and systematic attacks on the civilian population. Children have been the victims of nearly all of the types of human rights violations described in the Special Rapporteur’s reports to the UN General Assembly (A/76/314) and the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/49/76).

The Special Rapporteur will be publishing a conference room paper focusing on the unique impact that human rights violations have on children and trends in children’s rights since the February 2021 coup. This paper will be published prior to the 50^th session of the UN Human Rights Council and inform the response of the Council and UN Member States to the junta’s violations of children’s rights.

Types of input sought

The Special Rapporteur invites States, international organizations, civil society organizations, academics, networks and other relevant stakeholders to share information, documents, statements or analysis that address the following topics:

1. Child victims of indiscriminate attacks and killings, including statistics on the number of children killed or injured in attacks by the junta and non-state armed groups.
2. The use of landmines and their impact on children, including trends in the use of landmines and their impact on children since the coup.
3. Forced labor and the use of children as human shields, including the impact of the coup on initiatives to monitor and prevent forced labor.
4. Child soldiers, including changes in the recruitment of child soldiers since the coup, if any.
5. Arbitrary detention of children, including conditions of detention, torture or ill-treatment of child detainees, as well as detention of children in order to pressure or punish parents or other relatives.
6. Education, including statistics on enrollment and attendance, attacks on teachers and schools, the use of schools for military purposes, and concerns regarding the education of Rohingya children in Rakhine State.
7. Humanitarian needs of children, including statistics on displacement and humanitarian needs and the impact of obstruction of humanitarian aid on children.
8. Health challenges faced by children, including health indicators relating to children, key trends in child health, and disruption of childhood immunization and vitamin supplementation.
9. Psychosocial challenges faced by children, including children living without their parents and disruption of programs to provide psychosocial support to children.
10. Sexual abuse of children, human trafficking and child marriage, including the disruption of programs aimed at preventing or responding to sexual abuse of children, trafficking and child marriage.
11. Statelessness and children, including trends in statelessness since the coup and analysis concerning statelessness among Rohingya children.

The Special Rapporteur also welcomes recommendations of other topics that should be addressed in the conference room paper. Submissions may include recommendations of emblematic cases that the Special Rapporteur could highlight.

Treatment of submissions

The Special Rapporteur may cite the names of organizations or individuals that have provided information in response to this call. However, submitting organizations or individuals may request confidentiality or anonymity, and the Special Rapporteur will honor such requests.