From 9-20 June, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict will conduct a field mission to Mali with the objective to deliver trainings on the UN-led monitoring and reporting mechanism (MRM) to civil society organizations in Bamako and Mopti, based on its Resource Pack for NGOs on civil society engagement in the MRM, released in March 2014. The trainings will be organized in partnership with UNICEF and MINUSMA who have a shared mandate to Chair and lead the implementation of the mechanism. Mali is the first of five countries where Watchlist intends to deliver trainings to civil society in 2014 as part of its effort to disseminate the material developed in the Resource Pack.

The MRM in Mali is the most recently established MRM, following the release of the 12th Secretary-General’s annual report on the situation of children in armed conflict in 2013, and the listing to the Annexes of three armed groups (Ansar Dine, MNLA and MUJAO) for recruitment and use of children, and for rape and other forms of sexual violence. The visit also takes place as the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict is reviewing the Secretary-General’s report on the situation of children in armed conflict in Mali, and will soon present its recommendations to the United Nations Security Council.