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Human Rights Council
Forty-ninth session
28 February–1 April
2022 Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

Summary

In the present report, which covers the period from December 2020 to December 2021, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict explores challenges in ending and preventing grave violations and in strengthening the protection of children affected by armed conflict. She outlines the activities undertaken in discharging her mandate and the challenges faced and progress achieved in addressing grave violations against children. In addition, the Special Representative lays out her advocacy activities, including through her focus on lessons learned and best practices. She provides information on her efforts to build partnerships, and outlines priorities and makes recommendations to enhance the protection of children affected by conflict.

I. Introduction

1. The present report covers the period from December 2020 to December 2021 and is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 74/133, in which the Assembly requested the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to submit a report to the Human Rights Council on the activities undertaken in the fulfilment of her mandate, including information on the progress achieved and the challenges remaining on the children and armed conflict agenda. The Special Representative further elaborates on her activities with regard to the request of the Assembly in its resolution 72/245 to increase her engagement with States, United Nations bodies and agencies, regional organizations and subregional organizations, and to increase public awareness activities, including by collecting, assessing and disseminating best practices and lessons learned. In the light of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the creation of the children and armed conflict mandate, the Special Representative also elaborates on topics expected to have an impact on the mandate in the years to come and on areas of work that will need to be emphasized to reinforce the protection of conflict-affected children.

II. Progress and challenges in ending and preventing grave violations

A. Progress in ending and preventing grave violations

1. Unprecedented challenges for the protection of children living in conflict zones arose in 2021. The first nine months of the year were marked by a sustained high number of grave violations against children. The killing and maiming of children remained the highest verified violation, followed by the recruitment and use of children, and the denial of humanitarian access. Child abduction continued to increase, and verified cases were particularly high in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Lake Chad basin. Compounded by political, security and climate emergencies, the repeated waves of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continued to increase children’s vulnerability and to pose challenges in terms of the monitoring and verification of grave violations, as well as engagement with parties to conflict. Nevertheless, the mandate contributed to developing and strengthening policies and systems, including in the area of national justice, to protect children either through action plans or through engagement, advocacy and technical support to parties to conflict.

2. The control of Kabul by the Taliban from August 2021 and the de facto disintegration of the former Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, including the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces, jeopardized the policies, procedures and legislative gains on child protection put in place by the former Government. At the time of reporting, although the monitoring of grave violations by the United Nations continued, challenges related to the verification of violations were numerous and included constraints in safe and secure verification processes for child protection monitors, especially for Afghan and female staff.

3. Prior to these events, between January and June 2021, the Ministry of Interior Affairs prevented the recruitment of at least 98 children into the Afghan National Police. In June 2021, within the framework of the 2011 action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children by the Afghan National Police, including the Afghan Local Police, a policy on the protection of conflict-affected children, developed with United Nations support, was launched by the Office of the National Security Council. Following an increase in child casualties in Afghanistan, the Afghan National Army was listed in the most recent annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict for this violation.1 The Afghan National Police was delisted for the violation of recruitment and use of children.

4. In the Central African Republic, the United Nations initiated a dialogue with the minister responsible for primary and secondary education and the advisory minister to the President on child protection concerns. The aim was to address the military use of schools by armed groups, by the Armed Forces of the Central African Republic and bilaterally deployed and other security personnel, and attacks by the Coalition des patriotes pour le changement against schools used as polling stations during the December 2020 elections. The ministry was regularly provided with a list of schools used for military purposes to enable action. The United Nations pursued dialogue to address verified grave violations against children attributed to the Armed Forces and bilaterally deployed and other security personnel.
   Continued engagement with armed groups led in September 2021 to the verification and separation of more than 130 children associated with the Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique and the Union pour la paix en Centrafrique.

5. In Colombia, the United Nations continued to engage in dialogue with the Government, civil society organizations and the international community, for the prevention of and response to grave violations against children. In January 2021, the Office of the Presidential Advisor for Human Rights and International Affairs announced a strategy for the local implementation of the policy to prevent the recruitment and use of children and sexual violence against children, issued in November 2019. Furthermore, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace progressed on Case No. 07, which focuses on the recruitment and use of children and other related violations affecting children during armed conflict. In February 2021, the Colombian Family Welfare Institute submitted to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace a report including 3,878 cases of children recruited and used by the former Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army) (FARC-EP). Over 18,000 individual cases of children recruited and used by the former FARC-EP were identified, and as of July 2021, 274 victims were accredited to participate in the judicial proceedings of the case.

6. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, following United Nations advocacy to continue child protection services in Ituri and North Kivu Provinces after the state of siege declared by the President, Félix Antoine Tshilombo Tshisekedi, in May 2021, the Minister of Defence issued a military order recalling child protection commitments made under the 2012 action plan to end recruitment and use of children and other grave violations.
   Accountability efforts continued, as illustrated by the trials of commanders of Nyatura and the Force de résistance patriotique de l’Ituri for the recruitment and use of children, which were, however, suspended, and the sentencing in September 2021 of the commander of MaiMai Chance to life in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including child recruitment and use. Twenty elements of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and one from the Congolese National Police, convicted for the rape and killing of children, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 6 months to 20 years.

7. In Iraq, the parliament passed the Yazidi Women Survivors Law in March 2021, creating a reparation and rehabilitation framework for crimes committed by Da’esh (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) against women and girls from Yazidi, Turkmen, Shabak and Christian minority groups and recognizing those crimes as crimes against humanity and genocide. The law did not, however, include male survivors or children born of rape. In June 2021, a draft law on child protection was submitted to the Council of Representatives, with the aim of protecting children from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, in addition to criminalizing child trafficking, enslavement, coercion to work and involvement in armed conflict. The United Nations supported the provision of juvenile justice services for children in conflict with the law, including children in detention for their alleged association with parties to conflict, including Da’esh.

8. The Special Representative and the United Nations in Mali continued to engage with the Government and with armed groups signatories to the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation in Mali to end and prevent grave violations against children. In March 2021, the national technical monitoring committee on the Safe Schools Declaration transmitted a draft bill on the protection of education from attacks to the minister of education. In June 2021, the committee organized a regional forum on the Safe Schools Declaration with United Nations participation, resulting in the adoption of a plan of action reinforcing community protection initiatives, and raising awareness among armed groups on preventing the military use of schools. The United Nations continued to advocate the development by the Government of a national plan to prevent grave violations against children. In August 2021, following United Nations advocacy, the Platform coalition of armed groups signed two action plans addressing the recruitment and use of children and other grave violations. The United Nations and the Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad continued to assess the progress made and challenges faced in the implementation of the 2017 action plan to end the recruitment and use of and sexual violence against children. In August 2021, follow-up activities were identified, including capacity-building of elements of the Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawad and United Nations visits to its bases to verify the absence of children.

9. In Myanmar, until the end of January 2021, the Special Representative accelerated her engagement with the Government, led by the National League for Democracy, and the Tatmadaw on ending and preventing the recruitment and use of children. The Tatmadaw issued four military directives prohibiting the use of children, and developed, with United Nations support, a road map to end and prevent this practice. The Special Representative continued to urge the Tatmadaw to maintain their engagement and to sign a joint action plan with the United Nations to end and prevent the killing and maiming of children, and rape and other forms of sexual violence against children.

10. Dialogue between the Special Representative and the Tatmadaw was halted after the military takeover on 1 February 2021. Thereafter, the ability of the United Nations to monitor and verify grave violations has been hampered. In March 2021, the de facto authorities announced their intention to revise the July 2019 Child Rights Law, which includes provisions on children and armed conflict, thereby risking an erosion of current protection standards. In the most recent annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, the Tatmadaw, including the integrated border guard forces, was relisted for the recruitment and use of children, following its failure to end and prevent the ad hoc use of children in non-combat roles.

11. In Nigeria, the Civilian Joint Task Force was delisted in the most recent annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict following a significant decrease in the recruitment and use of children through the continued implementation of its action plan, which had been signed with the United Nations in 2017 to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. The United Nations continued to support the Civilian Joint Task Force in this regard, including through monitoring of the implementation of the remaining activities. The Civilian Joint Task Force, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, continued to carry out awareness-raising programmes on grave violations against children with a focus on zero tolerance of the recruitment and use of children.

12. In the Philippines, the Government and the United Nations developed a strategic plan, adopted in June 2021, focusing on the prevention of violations against children by the armed forces. It is the first national plan to realize the prevention aspects of Security Council resolution 2427 (2018).

13. In Somalia, the United Nations continued to advocate enhanced child protection with its Government counterparts, including the national working group on children affected by armed conflict, composed of ministries of the federal Government and of the federal member states. The United Nations also implemented awareness-raising and capacity-building activities, such as a radio campaign on child protection in coordination with the Somali National Army and the Child Protection Unit of the Ministry of Defence in Banaadir, SouthWest State, Hirshabelle and Jubbaland. Over 600 children formerly associated with armed forces and groups benefited throughout the year from reintegration programmes supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

14. In South Sudan, in June 2021, in line with the 2020 comprehensive action plan to end and prevent all grave violations against children, the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces launched a mobile general martial court in Jonglei and Upper Nile States to commence the trials of 60 suspected perpetrators of crimes against civilians, including children. In addition, the United Nations delivered several child protection training sessions, including in May 2021 for 38 military justice personnel and in September 2021 for 60 senior military officers.
    Furthermore, in June 2021, the United Nations supported the enrolment of 100 children (63 boys and 37 girls) released from parties to conflict in 2019 in a vocational training centre in Yambio, Western Equatoria State.

15. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North Abdelaziz al-Hilu faction, following United Nations engagement, issued in January 2021 a command order prohibiting the recruitment of children and adopted standard operating procedures for age assessment. In March 2021, the Rapid Support Forces shared with the United Nations a command order prohibiting the recruitment and use of children, adopted following United Nations advocacy.
    United Nations engagement with armed groups in Central Darfur, notably with the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council, resulted in the identification and release of children from these groups. The United Nations continued to liaise with the transitional Government on its compliance with the 2016 action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children. In August and September 2021 respectively, the transitional Government reactivated high-level and technical committees for the continuous implementation of its provisions. However, the military coup in the Sudan on 25 October 2021 put these gains at risk.

16. In the Syrian Arab Republic, following United Nations advocacy, the Government reactivated an existing interministerial committee to address grave violations against children and a series of high-level meetings were held between the Government and the United Nations. As a result, the Government agreed to organize a high-level workshop with the United Nations on children and armed conflict. Progress by the Syrian Democratic Forces in the implementation of the 2019 action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children continued, and 71 children were demobilized and reunited with their families in the first half of 2021. In addition, the Syrian Democratic Forces notified the United Nations that 242 boys had been identified through age-assessment screening at recruitment centres and prevented from joining. The Syrian Democratic Forces also adopted new guidelines for the release and exclusion of children from their ranks and from those of the Internal Security Forces, as well as special procedures and safeguards for children detained for their alleged association with Da’esh. Furthermore, the United Nations raised child protection concerns with local authorities in the north-east of the Syrian Arab Republic, including access to children deprived of liberty. In May 2021, the United Nations met with armed actors active in the north-west of the Syrian Arab Republic, including representatives of the different factions of the opposition Syrian National Army.

17. In Yemen, the Government pursued the implementation of its 2014 action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children and the related 2018 road map. The Special Representative engaged actively with the Government of Yemen, including through a virtual ministerial-level meeting in March 2021. The Special Representative supported the United Nations in Yemen to develop an action plan with the Houthis (who call themselves Ansar Allah) to end and prevent grave violations against children. In March 2021, her Office organized a training course on child protection for the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen. In May 2021, her Office organized a high-level event on the prevention of violations for representatives of the Coalition. The Coalition continued to implement the time-bound programme of activities agreed upon in 2020.