To promote discussion on accountability for persistent perpetrators of grave violations and protect the Children and Armed Conflict agenda at the United Nations, Watchlist undertook several advocacy activities throughout the week of the Open Debate.
Participants of the Watchlist and IPI Roundtable Discussion, September 2012. Copyright: Don Pollard
On 17 September, Watchlist and the International Peace Institute held a roundtable discussion, Voices from the Field: Protecting Children from Conflict and Strengthening Accountability of Armed Actors, which aimed to bridge the perspectives of local child rights advocates from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, and Colombia and New York-based global policy-makers. The discussion focused on two main topics: (1) how the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) established by Security Council Resolution 1612 (2005) has contributed to better protect children from the effects of armed conflict; and (2) ways to strengthen accountability of armed actors violating children’s rights.
Click here to read the IPI Meeting Brief on the roundtable discussion
Click here to read the Global Observatory Analysis on the rountable discussion
The event produced several important messages for child protection actors and policymakers: The Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) has become a fundamental framework for organizations working to protect children in the field also while amplifying local voices at the global level; the issue of impunity must be addressed while national judicial systems and international justice mechanisms are reinforced; alternatives to action plans ought to be considered when navigating the obstacles to negotiating with nonstate armed groups; and action plans must be more transparent in order to allow local actors to hold perpetrators accountable to their commitments
Watchlist and the Mission of Liechtenstein launched a new user-friendly Smartphone application on the UN’s Children and Armed Conflict agenda, aimed to provide policy-makers and those seeking to influence them with readily available key documents and appropriate language on child protection issues in order to increase the agenda’s impact.The app seeks to ensure that the important progress achieved within the Children and Armed Conflict agenda translates into the negotiations of Security Council resolutions, the mission mandates of peacekeeping operations and criteria for sanctions committees.
The smartphone app was launched in the presence of the newly elected Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict (OSRSG), Ms. Leila Zerrougui.
