On March 7, the Security Council will be holding an Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict under the Luxembourg Presidency. This will be one of two thematic debates on Children and Armed Conflict in 2014. The second Open Debate is expected to occur in the months following the 13th annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, expected to be published in June.

The Security Council has succeeded in creating a strong normative framework for the protection of children in armed conflict. However, more remains to be done to ensure that children’s rights are protected in situations of armed conflict, and that parties to conflict who commit grave violations against children are held to account. Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict urged the Security Council to commit to the following actions to strengthen implementation of the Children and Armed Conflict agenda:

  1. Take specific and concrete measures to encourage action plan implementation by States and the UN;
  2. Call for enhanced engagement by all actors with non-state armed groups for the purpose of ending violations and concluding action plans;
  3. Call for enhanced preparedness of Security Sector actors in the face of issues affecting children in situations of armed conflict;
  4. Mainstream children and armed conflict concerns in the Security Council’s country-specific work;
  5. Revitalize the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict.

Read Watchlist’s Special Update for the March 2014 Open Debate.