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The Work of the Watchlist

Monitoring & Reporting

Watchlist uses a diverse and extensive network of resources to create country-specific reports and strategically disseminate them to target audiences, such as the UN Security Council and local civil administrators. Watchlist compiles information on the spectrum of violations against children and adolescents in specific conflict settings and makes practical recommendations for concrete actions to protect them. All reports are translated in locally relevant languages.

Click here to learn more about the scope of our country reports, and download or review the available reports.

Advancing the international Children and Armed Conflict (CAC) agenda

Watchlist informs and influences the UN Security Council, UN and other international agencies, national governments, media and the public by strategically disseminating comprehensive country reports and periodic policy papers and through formal and informal consultations. Watchlist provides technical expertise and policy advice to high-level decision-makers related to protection of the security and rights of children in armed conflicts across the globe.

Watchlist works extensively on the development of UN Security Council resolutions on children and armed conflict and supports initiatives to implement the resolutions in the field. Watchlist contributes practical expertise to the UN initiative to develop an effective UN-based Monitoring & Reporting mechanism for violations against children in armed conflicts. In doing so, Watchlist lends its expertise to mainstreaming the children and armed conflict agenda throughout the entire UN system and strengthening the UN-wide initiative on the protection of civilians.

Click here to access our policy papers and learn more about our advocacy work on behalf of the children affected by armed conflict.

Strengthening Local Capacity

Watchlist partners with grassroots civil society organizations, often in collaboration with the field offices of the INGO members of the Watchlist Steering Committee, providing financial and technical support to strengthen locally based capacity to effectively gather and strategically use information to protect children in armed conflict situations.

Examples of Capacity Strengthening projects include the Farewell to Arms project in which Watchlist and the Nepali Human Rights organization Himalayan Human Rights Monitors (HimRights) partnered to develop a child friendly version of the Watchlist country report. The project worked directly with conflict-affected children who were directly involved in the production of a ‘comic book', Farewell to Firearms, which discusses, analyzes, and assesses the problems experienced by children in the context of Nepal's armed conflict.

As an advocacy tool, the comic book has been distributed to policy makers both in Nepal and at the international level.

Public Education on Children and Armed Conflict (CAC)

Watchlist raises public awareness about CAC violations by communicating timely and accurate information to a variety of strategic audiences, including the UN Security Council, UN General Assembly, UNICEF, OSRSG-CAC, UNHCR, UNHCHR, EU, ECOWAS, donors, media and others. Watchlist organizes and participates in public panels, "brown-bag lunch briefings," and other fora to educate specific audiences on CAC violations and provide recommendations for actions.