Children & Armed Conflict

In conflict affected and fragile countries, children are often subjected to egregious violations due to new tactics of warfare, the absence of clear battlefields, and the increasing number and diversification of parties to conflict, all of which add to the complexity of conflicts and deliberate targeting of traditional safe havens, including schools and hospitals. Since the adoption of Resolution 1261 (1999), the Security Council has recognized Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) as a thematic issue. Adding to the institutionalization of CAAC agenda, the Council adopted Resolution 1612 (2005) to establish the working group on CAAC mandated to monitor and report on grave violations against children, including the six grave children’s rights violations: rape and other forms of sexual violence, killing and maiming, abduction, recruitment and use of child soldiers, and denial of humanitarian services.

The NGOWG WPS  works to ensure that CAAC and WPS are complementary, advocating within the Security Council for strengthening cooperation at the field level to ensure reporting, monitoring, service delivery and all other efforts focused on violations against children and women work in tandem, with an emphasis on recognizing the protection, rights, and needs of girls. Although girls are often the targets of grave sexual and gender based violence, girls are also most often bypassed in service delivery and reintegration programmes.