Recommendations to the Security Council
AFGHANISTAN
The Afghan National Police, including the Afghan Local Police, and three armed groups (Haqqani Network, Hezb-i-Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and Taliban forces) are listed for recruitment and use of children. All three armed groups are also listed for killing and maiming, while the Taliban is further listed for attacks on schools and/or hospitals and abduction. In June, the Secretary-General (SG) will report on UNAMA’s progress pursuant to SCR 2344 (2017), and is currently conducting a strategic review of UNAMA. In his latest report (A/71/826 S/2017/189, para. 28), UNAMA verified 119 conflict-related incidents targeting health services or health care workers, and documented 23 incidents of military occupation of hospitals in 2016. In April, UNAMA reported allegations of torture and ill-treatment of children detained on security related charges and noted 38 credible accounts of 85 children interviewed of being subjected to torture or ill-treatment while in custody of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. Council Members should:
Given UNAMA’s strategic review, call upon the SG to maintain dedicated child protection capacity within UNAMA, and to continue to include information and analysis on children and armed conflict in Afghanistan in all future reports;
Urge the Government to fully and without delay implement the National Directorate for Security directive issued on July 2, 2016, instructing that children no longer be held in its detention facilities and the cessation of transfers of children to its maximum security prison; children currently being held in the high-security detention facility in Parwan should immediately be transferred to appropriate juvenile rehabilitation centers;
Urge all parties to immediately cease attacks on medical facilities and personnel and occupation of medical facilities;
Urge the Government to take concrete measures to end impunity for violations of international law regarding the protection of medical care in armed conflict, including investigating attacks that may likely constitute such violations and prosecuting and condemning those responsible in a timely and impartial manner;
Urge the Government to take concrete measures to protect schools from military use, and to this end, implement commitments made through the Safe Schools Declaration as mentioned in the conclusions by the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict adopted in February 2016.
JAPAN IS THE LEAD COUNTRY ON AFGHANISTAN, AND KAZAKHSTAN CHAIRS THE 1267 ISIL AND AL-QAIDA SANCTIONS COMMITTEE AND THE 1988 TALIBAN SANCTIONS COMMITTEE.
MALI
Three armed groups (Ansar Dine, MNLA, and MUJAO) are listed for recruitment and use and sexual violence against children. In June, the Council is expected to renew MINUSMA’s mandate and the SG’s progress report is due pursuant to SCR 2295 (2016). On March 5, Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad (CMA) signed an action plan with the UN to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children and sexual violence against children. The March 30 progress report (S/2017/271, para. 40) noted 436 school closures to date in the Gao, Kidal, Ménaka, Mopti, Ségou and Timbuktu regions. The influence of radical extremist groups opposing education and the prevailing security situation continued to affect school closures. In April, OCHA warned about the deteriorating security in central and northern Mali where radical groups threaten teachers and communities, leaving 150,000 children out of school. The Security Council should:
Request the SG to provide MINUSMA with adequate budgetary and human resource capacities to effectively carry out its child protection mandate, particularly through the deployment of Child Protection Advisers as mentioned in paragraph 19c(iii) of SCR 2295 (2016); and continue to maintain child protection as a cross-cutting issue across MINUSMA’s mandate;
Condemn attacks on schools and call on all parties to the conflict to cease such attacks, reminding that attacks against schools are a violation of international humanitarian law;
Ensure that MINUSMA can facilitate safe conditions for the return of teachers and students to schools in the central and northern regions of Mali, thereby securing children’s access to education in face of increasing insecurity, threats, and attacks
In the context of the peace process monitoring which MINUSMA partakes in, ensure that child demobilization, disarmament, and reintegration (DDR) priorities are included under broader security and defense priorities, and that children’s issues are included in the justice and reconciliation process;
Urge the CMA to fully and swiftly implement its action plan with the UN to end recruitment and use and sexual violence, with the engagement from the Country Task Force for Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR), and furthermore, allow the UN to monitor its progress on implementation.
FRANCE IS THE LEAD COUNTRY ON MALI.
SUDAN
In Sudan, six parties are listed for grave violations against children, including Government security forces. In March 2016, the Government of Sudan signed an action plan with the UN to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children by government forces. The listed armed groups, namely JEM, SLA/MM, SLA/AW, and SPLM-N, have also made commitments with the UN towards ending and preventing grave violations. On June 30, UNAMID’s mandate will expire and the SG will report on its progress per SCR 2296 (2016). The SG’s report on children and armed conflict in Sudan published in March detailed grave child rights violations perpetrated by both armed groups and Sudanese security forces over the last five years. The Security Council should:
Request the SG to ensure continued monitoring and reporting on all six grave violations, and to that end, the Council should ensure adequate resources for Child Protection Advisors deployed to UNAMID; the Government should allow the UN access to conflict-affected areas for the purposes of monitoring and reporting on the situation of children;
Welcome the progress made by the Government in implementing its action plan with the UN to end recruitment and use, and urge it to fully and swiftly expedite implementation, with the support of the CTFMR;
Urge the Government and armed groups to allow unimpeded access to humanitarian actors for ensuring safe and rapid delivery of humanitarian assistance to children affected by conflict;
Urge the SLA/MM and JEM to continue to engage with the UN for the purposes of implementing action plans to end and prevent grave violations against children, with the CTFMR’s support, and furthermore, encourage SLA/AW to develop an action plan with the UN; call upon the Government to facilitate and support that engagement.
THE UNITED KINGDOM IS THE LEAD COUNTRY ON DARFUR. UKRAINE CHAIRS THE 1591 SUDAN SANCTIONS COMMITTEE.
Recommendations to the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict
PHILIPPINES
The SG’s fourth report on children and armed conflict in the Philippines was published on May 2, and the Working Group will soon begin its conclusion negotiations pending formal presentation. Four non-state armed groups are listed for the recruitment and use of children in the Philippines, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front concluded an action plan with the UN in 2009. In its deliberations of the report, the Working Group should urge the Government to:
Actively use the Inter-Agency Committee on Children and Armed Conflict and the monitoring, reporting, and response system on children and armed conflict for providing appropriate assistance and services to all child victims and ensure independent, prompt, and thorough investigations into alleged violations against children;
Take immediate measures towards preventing military use of schools, and to prohibit the presence and/ or proximity of armed uniformed men in or near schools, which puts children and their education at risk;
Guarantee due process for all children detained for their alleged association with armed groups; children should be treated primarily as victims, and deprivation of liberty of children should be used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible time;
Include child protection in its peace negotiations with the armed groups and facilitate access to these groups with the view to strengthening protection of children in armed conflict.
SUDAN
The SG’s report on children and armed conflict in Sudan became public on March 24, and the Working Group began its conclusion negotiations on May 9. For targeted recommendations, see Watchlist’s April 2017 CAC Monthly Update.
Presidency of the Security Council for June: Bolivia
Party to Geneva Convention I-IV, Additional Protocol I and II, Optional Protocol of the CRC, ILO Convention 182 and Rome Statute. Has endorsed the Paris Principles and the Paris Commitments. Has not endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration.