July 27, 2022 – The report from Watchlist’s February 2022 annual policy workshop on children and armed conflict (CAAC), hosted jointly with Fordham University’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs, was issued as an official UN Security Council document (S/2022/476) at the request of the Permanent Missions of Canada and Germany to the United Nations.

The workshop convened representatives from UN Security Council Member States, non-Council Member States, the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), academia, and civil society to discuss priorities for the UN’s CAAC agenda in 2022. The aim of the workshop was to engage participants in identifying priorities and developing recommendations for concrete, targeted actions to be taken in the coming year within the framework of the CAAC agenda.

The workshop consisted of three closed working sessions dedicated to (1) supporting the implementation of the CAAC agenda through the Security Council Working Group on CAAC and the Group of Friends of CAAC, (2) protecting children’s education in armed conflict, including through the implementation of SCR 2601, and (3) addressing the multiple vulnerabilities that children experience during armed conflict.

Read the official report of the February 2022 Annual Policy Workshop.

Photo credit: © Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict