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21 July 2000

NEW YORK, 21 July -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today issued the first-ever report to the Security Council addressing the many aspects of the problem of children affected by armed conflict. This important report was requested by Security Council resolution 1261 (1999), which the Secretary-General considers "a veritable landmark for the cause of children affected by armed conflict". The adoption of that resolution in August 1999 finally gave full "legitimacy" to the protection of children exposed to conflict as an issue properly belonging on the agenda of the Council. The Security Council will consider the Secretary-General's report in open debate on 26 July 2000.

In his report, the Secretary-General emphasizes that "the question of children and armed conflict is an integral part of the United Nations’ core responsibilities for the maintenance of international peace and security, for the advancement of human rights and for sustainable human development".

The report highlights the extensive activities of the United Nations system, regional and intergovernmental organizations and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the ground, in such areas as Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cambodia, Guatemala, Kosovo, East Timor, Colombia and others, where children are suffering the consequences of armed conflict. Those activities include:

-- The establishment of the National Commission for War-Affected Children in Sierra Leone;

-- The International Rescue Committee-designed "Child Connect" project in Kosovo to help reunite children with their parents through a shared satellite/wireless Internet network;

-- The Liberian Children's Initiative to address the needs of returnees and displaced children;

-- Child-focused mine- awareness programmes in Cambodia, Kosovo and other areas;

-- Providing educational opportunities in Kosovo and East Timor; and

-- The creation of child-friendly spaces in post-conflict areas and other initiatives.
Some recent progress by the international community in ensuring the rights and protection of children in situations of armed conflict is also highlighted in the report, including:

-- Adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict;

-- Inclusion by the Security Council of the protection of children as a priority concern in peacekeeping operations;

-- Establishment of the role of Child Protection Advisers in peacekeeping operations and the first such deployment in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo;

-- Regular inclusion of the rights and protection of children in reports to the Security Council;

-- The securing of commitments from a variety of armed groups to refrain from violating the rights of children in armed conflict; and

-- A number of significant initiatives by major regional organizations to protect children affected by armed conflict.

The Secretary-General's report provides specific, targeted recommendations and observations, indicating the actions which the international community could undertake in a concerted manner in order to make a tangible difference in the lives of tens of millions of children. Among the principal recommendations of the report are:

-- Excluding genocide, war crimes and other egregious crimes against children from amnesty provisions during peace negotiations;

-- Concrete steps to prosecute individuals and corporations involved in illegal trafficking of currency, arms and natural resources that fuel conflicts and lead to the abuse of children;

-- Making any political, diplomatic, financial, and military assistance for countries or armed groups contingent on compliance with international child protection standards;

-- Addressing the root causes of children's recruitment and participation in conflict, including social, economic and ideological factors; support to local communities in reasserting societal values and local norms that traditionally provide for the protection of children in times of war;

-- Financial support for sustained education for all children, both during and after conflict, particularly for displaced children, adolescents, girls, disabled children, former child soldiers and victims of sexual violence;
-- The need to include children's concerns in peace negotiations at the earliest possible stage;

-- Systematic training and education for all United Nations peacekeeping personnel in the rights and protection of children and women;

-- Making the concerns of children central in national priority-setting, resource allocation and national policy-making during the reconstruction of war-ravaged societies; and

-- Armed groups to commit to the child protection standards of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol and to cooperate in the monitoring of their adherence to those standards.

The Secretary-General stresses in the report that despite the many steps that are under way, the international community must do much more to move from words to deeds, from the elaboration of norms to "an era of application".


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