On 5 June, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict released its new briefing note titled Working Methods 2006-2013. Strengthening the Impact of the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. This note continues Watchlist’s practice of providing updated analyses of the working methods of the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. It examines and identifies trends in (1) the use of the Working Group’s toolkit and (2) the time taken to adopt country-specific conclusions.
Watchlist’s research found that between 2006 and 2013, the Working Group used an average of 7.4 tools (30%) out of 26 available tools per conclusion, and that just 8 tools constituted over 70% of the total instances of tools used. During the same period, the average adoption time for country-specific conclusions doubled, from 3.4 months in 2006 to 6.6 months in 2013. Still, in 2013, the Working Group showed innovation in staying abreast of developments in conflict situations, e.g. through the use of regular briefings and Security Council visiting missions. In addition, Luxembourg, as Chair of the Working Group, spent considerable effort in support of the mainstreaming of children and armed conflict language in a broad range of Security Council documents, discussions and decisions.
Beyond its findings, the note also offers recommendations for further strengthening the working methods of the Working Group in relation to both the use of the toolkit and the adoption time of conclusions.
