UN Security Council Resolution 1612, adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on July 26th 2005, was a groundbreaking development in the children and armed conflict agenda. Following the steps of UN Security Council Resolution 1539 of 2004, it established an unprecedented UN-led monitoring and reporting mechanism (MRM) to systematically document and report on the six grave violations against children in armed conflict. UN Security Council Resolution 1612 also created the UN Security Council’s Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, a unique high-level structure that oversees the MRM.
Resolution 1612 focuses specifically on the recruitment and use of children by armed forces or groups, as it requests the UN Secretary-General to list the names of the parties that commit such violations in his annual reports on children and armed conflict. The listing of a party in the UN Secretary-General’s reports is not only a “name and shame” strategy, it also triggers an enhanced monitoring action, as the UN seeks to sign action plans with listed parties to address and end the violation, for instance through child demobilization programs.