April 11, 2023 – The report from Watchlist’s January 2023 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/2023/234) at the request of the Permanent Mission of Malta to the United Nations.

The workshop convened representatives from UN Member States, representatives from the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, UNICEF, the UN Department of Peace Operations, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, academia, and civil society to discuss priorities for the UN’s CAAC agenda in 2023. 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 four 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) implementing Security Council Working Group conclusions on CAAC, (3) maintaining child protection capacity in UN mission transitions, and (4) protecting children with disabilities in armed conflict.

Read the official report of the January 2023 Annual Policy Workshop.

Photo credit: © Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict/Bethany Ellis