On July 1, 2014, the UN Secretary-General submitted his 13th annual report on children and armed conflict to the Security Council, pursuant to SCR 2068. The Council will discuss the report during a debate on children and armed conflict on 8 September 2014 hosted by the United States.
Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict urges the Security Council to commit to the following actions to strengthen implementation of the Children and Armed Conflict agenda:
- Call on the Secretary-General to develop and implement a policy that prohibits government security forces listed in the annexes to the Secretary General’s annual report on children and armed conflict from contributing troops to UN-mandated missions, until the Secretary-General has certified the full implementation of their action plan with the UN to end and prevent violations against children;
- Request the Secretary-General to include in the annexes to his reports on children and armed conflict those parties to armed conflict that engage in abductions of children; and expand the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism trigger violations to include abductions;
- Urge Member States, UN entities, and other parties concerned to ensure that child protection provisions, including ending and preventing all six grave violations against children, are integrated into all peace negotiations and peace agreements;
- Ensure an efficient and effective Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict by addressing the continuing problem of lengthy delays in the adoption of country-specific conclusions;
- Call for all Member States to take concrete measures to deter the military use of schools, including by supporting and implementing the Lucens Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict.
Read Watchlist’s Special Update for the September 2014 Open Debate.
