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Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update – July 2020

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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (CAR)

Three parties to conflict are listed in the Secretary-General's (SG) 2020 annual report (S/2020/525) on children and armed conflict (CAC) for recruitment and use, killing and maiming, and rape and other forms of sexual violence. The Lord's Resistance Army is also listed for abduction, and the former Séléka coalition and associated groups are also listed for attacks on schools and hospitals. In July, the CAR sanctions regime is set to expire, pursuant to SCR 2507 (2020). The Council is also expected to review the mandate of the Panel of Experts, which expires in August. According to the SG's June report (S/2020/545) on MINUSCA, 64 girls and 122 boys were separated from armed groups and entered reintegration programs from midFebruary to mid-June. On June 22, Under-Secretary-General (USG) Jean-Pierre Lacroix briefed the Council, expressing concern at recent spikes in violence and violations of the 2019 Political Agreement by some armed groups. The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (SCWG-CAAC) published its fourth conclusions on the situation of children in CAR in April.

The Security Council should:

  • Welcome the adoption of the Child Protection Code of February 2020, promulgated by the President in June 2020, and call on the Government to pursue accountability for perpetrators of all grave violations against children, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, through impartial investigations and prosecution, and support gender-sensitive and age-appropriate recovery and protection for survivors of sexual violence;

  • Urge the Mouvement Patriotique pour la Centrafrique (MPC), the Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de la Centrafrique (FPRC), and l'Unité pour la paix en Centrafrique (UPC) to fully and swiftly implement their respective action plans to end and prevent grave violations and release all children still in their ranks; further call upon all other listed parties to develop and sign action plans, issue Command Directives prohibiting all grave violations, and release any associated children to appropriate child protection actors;

  • Condemn all attacks on protected healthcare and humanitarian personnel, and demand all parties immediately cease such attacks, and allow safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance and services to all children and other civilians in need;

  • Call on all parties to swiftly and fully implement the SCWG-CAAC's recommendations elaborated in its fourth conclusions on CAR.

France is the lead country on CAR, and Niger chairs the 2127 Sanctions Committee.