June 2022 – Building on previous work, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict and Fordham University’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) conducted research on the denial of humanitarian access for children in armed conflict and developed a joint policy paper. Denial of Humanitarian Access for Children: Legal, Policy, and Operational Challenges examines the international legal framework on denial of humanitarian access as it applies to children; the impact of counterterrorism measures, sanctions regimes, and donor conditionality clauses affecting humanitarian access for children; the various forms of denial of humanitarian access and their consequences on children, including emerging obstacles such as the COVID-19 pandemic; the challenges of monitoring and reporting on the denial of humanitarian access in the context of the UN’s CAAC mandate; and the potential risks and opportunities of making the denial of humanitarian access a trigger for listing perpetrators in the Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations directed to the UN and its Member States, donors, and the humanitarian community, to influence normative and policy change.
Read the policy paper Denial of Humanitarian Access for Children: Legal, Policy, and Operational Challenges.
