Children still gravely threatened by conflict, Security Council told

10 Sep 2014

Children still gravely threatened by conflict, Security Council told

8 September 2014 - Instability and rising tensions in various countries, including South Sudan, continued to pose a grave threat to children, a senior UN official told the Security Council in New York today.

Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Leila Zerrougui was speaking six months after UNICEF launched the joint campaign ‘Children, Not Soldiers’, which works towards “no children in government forces by the end of 2016.”

“Longstanding peace will never be achieved without giving the children the means, skills, and education to re-build a society and institutions torn by armed conflict,” Ms. Zerrougui said, stressing that more must be done to include special provisions for children affected by conflict into peace agreements.

Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) would spare no efforts to promote the “Children, Not Soldiers” campaign and support governments and security forces in Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to be free of child soldiers by 2016.

Beyond the campaign, governments must also support access for monitoring, assistance, and engagement with armed troops, he added. When negotiating ceasefires, states must prioritize inclusion of non-negotiable child protection provisions in all agreements.

Robust action against armed groups holding child soldiers had also taken place, Mr. Ladsous said. A specialized training unit on child protection for the military had been developed and shared with countries contributing troops to UN operations.

Also briefing the Council was Forest Whitaker, Academy award-winning actor and Special Envoy of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for Peace and Reconciliation, who returned yesterday from South Sudan.

“After meeting with generals on the ground, soldiers and civilians, I fear that there is no end in sight to the violence,” Mr. Whitaker said, describing a scene of thousands of civilians seeking shelter in over-crowded camps because they are too afraid to go back home.

In the protection camp in Bentiu, he reported, malnutrition was causing some children’s hair to turn red. Throughout the country, hundreds of schools were empty and some had turned into military camps, as thousands of young people went without food.

Perhaps worst of all, walking through the cities, I saw child soldiers wearing military uniforms and carrying guns,” Mr. Whitaker said.

In some cultures, he said being a soldier was seen as a rite of passage, and many children joined for the honour of supporting their tribes.

“We may take a child out of an army, but unless we do more for him – help him re-enter society, enrol him in a good school, teach him a useful trade – we have not set him free,” said Mr. Whitaker.