UN Secretary-General’s Report on Children and Armed Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

The UN Secretary-General issued his periodic Children and Armed Conflict in the DRC report on 30 June 2014. The report covers the period from January 2010 to December 2013, and was presented to the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in July. Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict included recommendations on the DRC to the Working Group in its July 2014 CAC Monthly Update.

The Secretary-General’s report on children and armed conflict in the DRC describes violations perpetrated against children. The majority of the violations took place in North Kivu, South Kivu, Katanga, and Orientale Province. All parties to the conflict are implicated in grave violations against children. Recruitment and use of children remained a serious problem with children being forcibly recruited/re-recruited, or joining voluntarily in order to obtain protection and support. Many boys and girls associated with armed forces or groups were also raped.

In the Secretary-General’s 13^th annual report on children and armed conflict, ten armed non-state actors^[1] and the Congolese armed forces (Forces armées de la République Démocratique du Congo – FARDC) were listed for grave violations against children, including recruitment and use of child soldiers. Five of these parties, including the FARDC, were additionally listed for rape and other forms of sexual violence.^[2] Three armed groups^[3] are also listed for attacks on schools and/or hospitals, and one armed group is additionally listed for killing and maiming of children.^[4]

Some progress has been achieved, particularly with the Government, in working towards ending and preventing grave violations against children. In 2012, the Government signed an action plan with the UN, and several hundred children have been released from the FARDC. However, challenges remain.  The Government needs to strengthen age verification and oversight mechanisms to prevent recruitment of children, and address the persistent problem of impunity and lack of accountability for perpetrators of grave violations against children in the DRC.