To promote discussion on accountability for persistent perpetrators of grave violations and protect the Children and Armed Conflict agenda at the United Nations, Watchlist undertook the following policy and advocacy activities:
- Princeton Workshop “How to Deal with Persistent Perpetrators”?
On 7 and 8 February 2013, Watchlist, 
together with the Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein to the United Nations, and the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, convened a workshop on children and armed conflict at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. The workshop brought together representatives of States members of the United Nations, including members of the Security Council, offices and departments of the Secretariat (Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the Department of Political Affairs and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), academics and non-governmental organizations to discuss strengthening Security Council action towards perpetrators of violations against children in situations of armed conflict.
The workshop comprised two closed sessions on 8 February. In the first session, experts examined options and explored innovative and targeted approaches that the Security Council and its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict could use to put pressure on persistent perpetrators of violations against children in situations of armed conflict. At the second session, discussions focused on opportunities for better mainstreaming the protection of children affected by armed conflict throughout the work of the Security Council.
Click here to read the report of the Princeton Workshop “How to deal with Persistent Perpetrators?”
2. June 2013 Special CAC Monthly Update
In support of its lobby activities, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict released a ‘special edition’ of its CAC Monthly Updates, urging the Security Council to commit to the following actions to strengthen implementation of the Children and Armed Conflict agenda:
1) Encourage action plan implementation by parties to conflict and the UN;
2) Call for enhanced engagement by all relevant actors with non-state armed groups for the purpose of influencing them to end violations and to conclude action plans;
3) Take specific and concrete measures to increase pressure on perpetrators of grave violations against children;
4) Mainstream children and armed conflict-concerns in the Security Council’s country-specific work;
5) Revitalize the Security Council’s Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict.
Click here to read the June 2013 Special CAC Monthly Update.
Click here to read Watchlist’s Press Release on the 2013 Public Debate on Children and Armed Conflict.
