UN Security Council Resolution 2068 (2012) emphasizes the importance of accountability for perpetrators of grave violations against children. Unlike previous resolutions, 2068 does not break significant new ground. It reaffirms the Security Council’s prior resolutions and Presidential Statements and emphasizes certain key points which have appeared in prior resolutions. In particular, the Security Council: calls on Member States to bring those responsible to justice, reiterates its readiness to adopt targeted and graduated measures, requests the Secretary-General to continue to submit annual reports and reiterates its call to its Working Group to consider a broad range of actions against persistent perpetrators. The resolution also invites the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC) to brief the Security Council on the criteria for “delisting” parties from the lists of perpetrators of grave violations against children annexed to the Secretary-General’s annual report. In previous years, the SRSG was requested to brief the Security Council on the criteria for both “listing” and “delisting.”
Resolution 2068 should not have been controversial as it largely repeats language which has been agreed unanimously by the Security Council in repeated prior resolutions. However, for the first time in relation to a resolution on children and armed conflict, four Security Council members (Azerbaijan, China, Pakistan, Russian Federation) abstained from supporting the resolution. Criticisms focused on the inclusion in the Secretary-General’s report of certain situations of armed conflic, particularly those tnot already on the agenda of the Security Council. Nevertheless, with the overwhelming majority offering strong support for the United Nations’ Children and Armed Conflict agenda.
