January 2008 – In July 2005, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1612 requesting that the Secretary-General establish a mechanism to monitor and report on violations of children’s rights in situations of armed conflict. Still in its infancy, the United Nations-led Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) has made notable achievements in a relatively short amount of time. Since 2005, interagency taskforces on monitoring and reporting have been formally established in at least eleven countries, and the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict has used the information submitted by the MRM to issue conclusions on the situations of armed conflict in seven of these countries. The implementation of the MRM is an important step in improving the protection of children affected by armed conflict. However, some surmountable challenges remain. In an effort to address these challenges, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict undertook a global study on monitoring and reporting and the implementation of the MRM between July and November 2007.
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