Updates from the field
Focus on Myanmar (Burma)
The UN’s Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) on children and armed conflict gathers first-hand information about violations committed against children by armed forces or groups. In order to build an accurate analysis of the situation of children in armed conflict, it is crucial that information about abuse is collected systematically and that it is verified, through multiple sources, to ascertain its veracity. As part of our effort to strengthen the capacity of local organizations to advocate on behalf of children within their own communities, Watchlist works with partners on the ground to strengthen their ability to systematically collect and verify information about abuses and adequately contribute to the MRM process on the ground. Collecting and verifying information on abuses does not come without some very concrete and practical challenges: How can one systematically track information when sources on the ground are scattered, disconnected? How can information be independently verified when it is sometimes difficult to simply locate people and places in areas with poor infrastructure?
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Updates from New York
Watchlist/IDMC report on the Central African Republic
On 4 May 2011, Watchlist and IDMC launched their joint report on the Central African Republic (CAR). An Uncertain Future? Children and Armed Conflict in the Central African Republic is based on information collected during a field mission conducted in January/February 2011 to the towns of Ndelé, Obo, Bocaranga and Bangui. The official launch was done at UN Headquarters in New York, with the participation of H. E. Ambassador Grauls of Belgium, head of the Peacebuilding Commission’s CAR country configuration.
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Attacks on schools and hospitals
As part of the annual reporting cycle on the issue of children and armed conflict, the UN Secretary-General submitted his 10th annual report on children and armed conflict to the UN Security Council on 23 April 2011. Among other recommendations, the Secretary-General called on the Security Council to expand “the gateway to the annexes of [his] report [on children and armed conflict] to include parties that attack schools and/or hospitals.” It is expected that a new Security Council Resolution on children and armed conflict will be voted on, following the annual Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict, mid-July 2011.
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Conference "The Impact of the UN Security Council on the Protection of Children in Armed Conflict" – Berlin, Germany
The German Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik (Federal College for Security Studies) organized a two-day workshop in Berlin (24 - 25 May 2011) about the impact of the UN Security Council and its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict on the protection of children living in situations of armed conflict.
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