S/PV.6980 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of Canada, the Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Iraq, Myanmar, the Syrian Arab Republic and Thailand to participate in this meeting. On behalf of the Council, I welcome the presence at the Council table of Mr. Jean Asselborn, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg. Under rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite Ms. Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict; Mr. Hervé Ladsous, Under- Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations; Ms. Yoka Brandt, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund; and Mr. Gregory Ramm, Associate Vice-President of Save the Children, to participate in this meeting. Under rule 39 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite Mr. Ioannis Vrailas, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2013/245, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict. I now give the floor to Ms. Zerrougui. Ms. Zerrougui: I would like to begin by thanking the United Kingdom presidency of the Council and the Luxembourg chairmanship of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict for holding this important debate on children and armed conflict. Council members have before them the twelfth annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (S/2013/245). The report reflects developments from January to December 2012 and relevant updates. Although the reporting period saw marked progress, especially in relation to dialogue with parties to conflict and action plans, disturbing new trends and concerns for children have also arisen. As new conflicts emerged or deepened in the course of the past 18 months, children continued to pay a heavy toll — perhaps the heaviest. The evolving nature and tactics of armed conflict have created unprecedented threats for children. The absence of clear front lines and identifiable opponents, and the increasing use of terror tactics have made children more vulnerable. I would also like to highlight the fact that, as in previous years, non-State armed groups constitute the vast majority of listed parties. They account for 46 of the 55 perpetrators listed in the annexes. In addition, I would like to highlight that half of the parties listed are so-called persistent perpetrators, meaning that they have been on the list for five years or more. I welcome the efforts of the Working Group to devise innovative ways to address this issue, and I look forward to the outcome of these discussions. In Mali, which has been included in the report for the first time, children were recruited by all armed groups active in the north. We also received information that boys and girls were associated with pro-Government militias in performing various tasks, including participation in combat. As the country is transitioning towards stabilization, it is crucial to ensure that no children are integrated into the regular armed forces or forgotten in the reintegration process, and that measures to prevent the recruitment of children be put in place. On the other hand, we continue to receive worrisome information on children being detained by the Malian security forces for alleged association with armed groups, as well as children hiding in their communities in fear of being arrested for association with armed groups. I call upon the Malian authorities to treat such children in line with international norms and standards. In addition, accountability for all other violations committed in Mali, such as attacks on schools and hospitals, the killing and maiming of children and sexual violence, needs to be sought as a matter of priority. The international community has an important role to play to assist the Malian authorities in that crucial endeavour. I also wish to call upon all stakeholders to ensure that in the context of the ongoing peace talks in Ouagadougou, the needs and best interests of children are adequately taken into account. The conflict in the Central African Republic has also had a disproportionate impact on children. In a country where children have been deprived of a normal life for so many years, it is particularly alarming to see that two thirds of the children separated from armed groups in 2012 were re-recruited by the Séléka coalition at the beginning of 2013. Many children were killed and injured during the clashes in Bangui in April 2013. Children continue to be affected by the ongoing insecurity and the lack of humanitarian access. More than 2 million children in the Central African Republic lack basic services, and hundreds of thousands lack access to education. Those children have suffered from repeated violations for too long, and it is now time to consider what further action, including targeted measures, should be taken against perpetrators to enhance protection and justice for children. I also call upon all relevant stakeholders to ensure that child protection remains central to ongoing discussions around the implementation of the Libreville Agreement in the Central African Republic. It has been two years since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, yet we are no closer to saving the lives of children. As the conflict rages on, it affects me deeply that grave violations against children continue to be committed on such a massive scale. Since my last briefing to the Council on children in Syria (see S/PV.6838), scores of them have been killed, injured, maimed, detained, tortured, recruited and forced to witness or to commit atrocities. If not for those children, then for whom will the Council act? It is my intention to visit Syria and the region in the coming days to assess first-hand the consequences of the conflict on children. I will also reiterate my call on all parties to the conflict to take all possible measures to ensure that children are protected in the course of military operations, and to abide by international law. I look forward to briefing Council members on my findings upon my return. As I mentioned earlier, new areas of concern for children have emerged and need to be addressed as a priority, including the military use of schools, the detention of children for alleged association with armed groups, and the impact of drones on children. I encourage Council members and all Governments concerned to carefully consider the recommendations put forward by the Secretary-General in that regard. The report also highlights the progress that has been made in the past 18 months with regard to the protection of children in conflict. Though we have made progress with a number of non-State armed groups, this year has brought remarkable success with the Governments concerned. I very much doubt that this would have been possible without the support of the Council. Those Governments have accepted the framework that has been put in place by the resolutions of the Council and have engaged with the United Nations on measures to enhance child protection in conflict. One indicator is the growing number of inter-ministerial committees established by the Governments concerned to work with the United Nations on children affected by conflicts. Another indicator is the development of legislation that criminalizes violations against children, as well as regulations and guidelines. In that regard, I welcome the efforts of the Governments of Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Philippines, which have made notable progress during the reporting period. In the same vein, I would like to commend those Governments that have ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict since the most recent report of the Secretary-General, in April 2012 (S/2012/261). Those are most welcome steps towards universal ratification, as intended by the Zero Under 18 Campaign. Additionally, there has been progress with regard to the engagement of regional organizations on the issue of children and armed conflict during the reporting period. NATO has adopted child-protection guidelines, including training materials prepared with the United Nations for constituent troops and partners. Cooperation with the African Union is ongoing; my Office recently obtained a preliminary agreement to secure child-protection expertise within the Peace and Security Department. I also look forward to further strengthening our cooperation in mainstreaming child protection within the African Union and its regional peacekeeping activities, such as in Somalia or in the context of actions against the Lord’s Resistance Army. In 2004, the Council unanimously requested all parties listed in the annexes to the report of the Secretary-General to enter into dialogue with the United Nations to prepare and implement action plans as a unique tool to put an end to violations against children. In 2012 alone, four action plans to end the recruitment and use of children were signed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Somalia and South Sudan. In addition, in line with resolution 1882 (2009), an action plan on the killing and maiming of children was also signed with the Government of Somalia, and provisions on sexual violence against children were included in the action plan signed with the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I would also like to inform the Council that the Government of Chad has redoubled its efforts towards full compliance with the action plan signed in 2011. It is worth noting that all of those action plans were signed with Governments to put an end to violations committed by their armed forces. That allows the United Nations to support those Governments not only in identifying, releasing and reintegrating children present in their ranks, but also in building their capacities, enacting more adequate legislation and preventing further violations. Thanks to the Council’s efforts, we have reached a seminal moment in the history of that mandate. I am happy to announce today that all armed forces listed in the annexes for recruitment and use of children have entered into an action plan process. Six have already signed an action plan, and the remaining two are in the final stages of negotiation. One of the key objectives of that mandate — the end of the recruitment and use of children by armed forces — is finally within reach. In that regard, with the support of the Secretary-General, my Office will be launching a campaign aimed at ending the association of children with State armed forces in armed conflict by 2016. The campaign’s objective will be to galvanize the efforts of concerned Governments, interested Member States and the United Nations system to turn the page on the recruitment and use of children by Government armed forces in armed conflict in the next three years. That is an unprecedented and ambitious initiative that therefore needs our full attention. UNICEF and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have already agreed to join the campaign. In the coming weeks, I will reach out to other United Nations partners. I count on Council members to support those efforts as well. Before concluding, I would also like to stress that my Office has continued to receive enormous support from its partners since the creation of the mandate. I would like to commend the invaluable contribution of our trusted operational partners, including those here today. From the very beginning, the Council requested that child-protection expertise be included in peacekeeping missions in order to mainstream the issue of children and armed conflict. Since then, more than 100 child protection advisers have been deployed to carry out that agenda in peacekeeping contexts. In the light of the immense protection concerns affecting children in conflict, the deployment of child-protection advisers must not only continue but also grow. In that regard, I call on Council members to ensure that provisions for the timely and adequate deployment of child-protection advisers be included in all the relevant United Nations peacekeeping, peacebuilding and political missions. The role of UNICEF cannot be overemphasized. Its efforts continue to make this agenda a reality in the field. Its work in ensuring that children formerly associated with armed forces and groups are reintegrated and rehabilitated is also critical. I will continue to advocate for ensuring that UNICEF and other partners have the support necessary to carry out those tasks. I began my statement today by stressing that notable progress had been achieved. However, we must not be complacent. The time has come to reflect on what works. Dialogue with non-State parties, engagement with concerned Governments, a focus on capacity- building, and the Security Council’s strong commitment have yielded significant results for children. I would like to conclude with an appeal. The child-protection agenda has made progress because eight years ago the Council took a firm stand with resolution 1612 (2005) and expressed its willingness to take all the necessary measures to ensure that children will be protected, in all contexts, from the consequences of war. Children in armed conflict need to know that the Council is listening and that all victims will receive the necessary protection. Perpetrators must also receive the strongest possible signal from the Council that their crimes will not go unpunished and that impunity will end. I call on the Council to continue to unite in that endeavour.

I thank Ms. Zerrougui for her briefing. I now give the floor to Mr. Ladsous.

Thank you, Mr. President, for giving me this opportunity to brief the Security Council on how peacekeeping operations have been implementing the Council’s mandates on ensuring the protection of children in conflict situations. The report before us (S/2013/245) is a stark reminder that the situation of children in conflict remains dire and that our sustained engagement is vital at both the political and the operational levels. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) is committed to ensuring that child protection, like all protection mandates, is fully addressed in our missions’ overall political strategies and operational plans, and at all stages of our engagement. In order to achieve that goal, deploying dedicated and specialized child-protection advisers in peacekeeping operations is crucial. First, those advisers ensure that child-protection concerns are reflected at all levels of a mission’s strategic planning and operational activities. We are aware of how important it is to give purposeful attention to child protection at the earliest stages of operational planning. DPKO has therefore made the deployment of a child-protection adviser to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) a first-phase priority. The adviser will help the Mission to identify key child-protection issues, as well as the approaches and resources needed to address them. Where they are deployed, those advisers ensure that our missions implement the key priorities of Security Council resolutions on children and armed conflict, one of the most important of which is monitoring and reporting serious violations. Our peacekeeping missions are fully engaged, through country-level task forces, in monitoring and reporting serious violations in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sudan and Côte d’Ivoire. A second priority is negotiating action plans aimed at ending the recruitment and use of children, sexual violence against children, and the killing and maiming of children. Under the leadership of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, peacekeeping missions have been contributing both to the negotiation and to the implementation of such plans. Action plans recently signed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan have yielded concrete results. In 2012, screening for children by the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) of the Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo resulted in more than 1,300 children being released from those forces. Another 630 children, including 109 girls, were released by other armed forces and groups in the first quarter of this year. In South Sudan, a revised action plan gave the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and UNICEF access to 71 barracks, from which hundreds of children were released. Protection is first and foremost a national responsibility. It is therefore particularly encouraging that child protection has been institutionalized in South Sudan through the creation of a child-protection unit in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the inclusion of child protection in the SPLA training curriculum. In addition, approximately 22,000 Sudan People’s Liberation Army soldiers from throughout the ranks have been sensitized on child protection issues. (spoke in English) Lastly, child protection advisers advise all mission components on specific aspects of child protection relevant to their work. To achieve that, they deliver in-mission training on child protection issues for peacekeepers on the ground. Last year alone, 7,878 peacekeepers received training on child protection in our field operations. That training provides peacekeepers with key information on the situation of children in the specific mission context, and therefore prepares them to respond appropriately to any child- protection concerns that they encounter in the field. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations is committed to ensuring that child protection receives attention throughout the peace consolidation process. The political engagement of peacekeeping operations has helped lay the groundwork for institution-building while highlighting child protection in national agendas. Important work is taking place in that regard in Haiti and Côte d’Ivoire. The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti continues to provide training to the Haitian National Police brigade for the protection of minors and supports legislative reform on important child-protection issues. Our efforts in child protection constitute an excellent example of the kind of action in peacekeeping that requires a high degree of integrated action by civilian and uniformed components alike. Embedded in the heart of the mission, child protection advisers ensure that a mission’s material and political assets and advantages  — from access to authorities to other capabilities, including uniformed and civilian expertise — are applied effectively to fulfil the mandate for child protection. Given the magnitude of the challenges facing children affected by conflict, our achievements are no doubt modest. We are mindful that much more needs to be done. With that in mind, at the Headquarters level, we have invested in providing guidance and in developing training standards on child protection for peacekeepers. The United Nations Infantry Battalion Manual issued by the Office of Military Affairs last year includes guidelines on child protection, notably a provision prohibiting the use of schools by peacekeepers for operational purposes. DPKO also worked with Member States to finalize predeployment training materials on child protection for all peacekeeping personnel. The materials will be piloted at courses in partnership with the Governments of Malaysia and Uruguay in September and October. Awareness of the professional obligations of peacekeepers to protect children and their accountability to meet those obligations, in Mali and in other theatres where United Nations peacekeepers operate, is critical. As part of the transition from the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA) to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, all AFISMA troops will be subject to predeployment training and vetting procedures, including in accordance with the requirements of the United Nations human rights screening policy, so as to ensure that they meet force requirements and have the necessary skills to implement the mandate. In addition, DPKO will deploy a mobile training team to Mali, which will deliver child- protection training for AFISMA personnel deployed there. Similar training is being undertaken for troops being deployed to the Force Intervention Brigade in MONUSCO. In conclusion, I would like to pay tribute to UNICEF, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Save the Children Sweden and Member States that have partnered with us in the training initiative. Their support attests to the strong global partnership that has been built around child protection. For its part, I believe the Security Council can be credited with playing a critical role in creating and sustaining this partnership for the benefit of children in the most difficult circumstances.

I thank Mr. Ladsous for his briefing. I now give the floor to Ms. Brandt.

UNICEF welcomes the Secretary-General’s report (S/2013/245) and this opportunity to brief the Council. Allow me, first, to thank Special Representative of the Secretary-General Leila Zerrougui for her tireless efforts and those of her Office to protect children in armed conflict. I also thank the Department of Peacekeeping Operations for our fruitful collaboration on child protection. Our thanks also go to Luxembourg for chairing the Working Group of the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict since January. We welcome the presence of the representative of Save the Children, one of our main partners in child protection. Sadly, in 2012, armed conflicts intensified in both reach and brutality. Civilians, especially children, were targeted, traumatized, maimed and killed. Childhoods were lost, families shattered and lives changed irreparably. Some conflicts experienced a lull, and we dared to hope for peace, only to watch them reignite. Other conflicts, such as in Syria, had an impact across borders and regions. With each outbreak of war, children suffer grave violations of their rights. Allow me to highlight two alarming trends. The first trend relates to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Armed conflicts frequently occur in urban settings. When explosive weapons such as artillery, mortars, rockets, improvised explosive devices and aircraft bombs are used in those areas, they kill or injure large numbers of children. Those attacks not only have a long-term emotional and psychological impact on children, but also destroy vital social infrastructure such as roads and power supplies. They deprive children of access to essential basic services, such as schools and hospitals, and, in the absence of immediate medical care, injuries can turn into life-long disabilities. We therefore urge all parties to conflict to adopt different tactics and rules of engagement. We urge that they neither position their troops among civilians nor target each other in the middle of villages, towns and cities. We urge that they adopt rules to guide how and where explosive weapons can be used. The second trend has to do with the use of schools in military operations. UNICEF is deeply concerned about that. It poses grave risks to children and educators. It robs children of the opportunity to learn and it violates their right to education. We are encouraged by the leadership of countries such as the Philippines, which have restricted the use of schools by their armed forces and continue to strengthen their laws and guidelines. We hope that others will follow those examples. We must preserve schools as places of learning and safe havens for children. Those two trends highlight the critical role of the children-and-armed conflict agenda. Encouraging parties to conflict to comply with international child-rights norms and standards is crucial if we are to safeguard the lives and futures of children. That must also remain our focus as we address the issue of persistent perpetrators on the list. We do that through action plans and country task forces. Action plans are critical to commit parties to conflict to halting the violation of children’s rights. My call today is that those plans be fully implemented, as Special Representative of the Secretary-General Zerrougui just pointed out, because commitments do not save children’s lives, concrete actions do. Such actions include releasing children from armed groups, raising awareness in communities to report violations and tracing children and reuniting them with their families. This year, country task forces developed ways to accelerate the implementation of action plans by setting benchmarks, holding regular dialogues between the United Nations and parties and addressing bottlenecks to progress. But there is still much work to be done. As we monitor grave violations against children in armed conflict, we must especially focus on prevention. That means making sure that children are, first and foremost, safe in their families and secure in their communities. We have failed many children, but the story of one 15-year-old boy, a former child soldier in the Central African Republic, should inspire us. Upon learning that his family had held a funeral for him after he was abducted, he was determined to tell his parents he was alive. He joined a centre for child soldiers and prepared to return to his village and reclaim his life. “Better late than never,” he said. It would be better still if he had not been robbed of his childhood in the first place. Let his courage and example inspire us to reach more children like him. With the Council’s help, we can all work towards that noble goal.

I thank Ms. Brandt for her briefing. I now give the floor to Mr. Ramm. Mr. Ramm: I am honoured to speak alongside the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and colleagues from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and UNICEF. We are committed to working together to ensure greater protection for children and greater accountability for the grave violations perpetrated against them. Save the Children works in dozens of countries affected by conflict, delivering life-saving assistance to millions of children and families in need. We see at first-hand the devastating impact and suffering of children in conflicts around the world. There are three areas that I would like to highlight today: sexual violence against children, the use of explosive weapons and attacks on schools. I also want to emphasize the importance of prevention as well as response. Sexual violence affects millions of children in conflicts. Our research and programming indicate that the majority of the survivors of sexual violence in conflict-affected countries are children — mostly girls but also boys. Sexual violence has significant physical, psychological and social impacts on children, but their needs for specific protection and child-sensitive responses are frequently neglected. In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, our assessments in and around Goma have revealed significant numbers of children affected by sexual violence. Save the Children is working in the camps to identify victims so as to assist them with appropriate health and psychosocial services. More action is needed to end sexual violence, including legal reforms and adequate funding to support child-sensitive and appropriate responses. We call on Member States to place children at the centre of international action on sexual violence in conflict; to ensure the necessary resources, expertise and political backing for prevention and response; and to hold perpetrators accountable. The use of explosive weapons in conflict has devastating consequences for children, who are killed and maimed in greater numbers as a result of such weapons. They are left with deep physical and psychological scars and are denied access to education and health care, owing to damaged infrastructure, and they end up displaced from their homes as families flee insecurity. In Syria, we witness those effects at first- hand. As one little girl told us: “At the beginning ... there was no shelling at my school, but after some time the shelling started. 1 stopped going to school ... It was not safe. I feel sad that my school was burned.” Save the Children calls on States to refrain from the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects by revising and strengthening military policies and procedures; supporting the collection and sharing of data with the United Nations on the impact of such weapons on children; and holding to account those who use such weapons. Save the Children is responding to the Syrian crisis and, to date, we have assisted over 300,000 children and their families inside Syria and in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. We are providing impartial, life-saving support, including food, clothing and essential items to improve health and hygiene. We run child-friendly spaces offering psychosocial support, education activities and a safe place to play. As the Secretary-General himself says, the toll of the conflict on children is “unacceptable and unbearable” (S/2013/245, para. 208). Security Council members must unite to work towards a negotiated settlement in Syria and, in the meantime, ensure that humanitarian assistance is funded and reaches populations most in need. Schools are increasingly targets of attack, with children frequently killed or injured. Greater action is needed in order to protect children, teachers and schools from targeted violence and to stop the use of schools for military purposes. In 2011, the Security Council adopted resolution 1998 (2011) to strengthen the monitoring and reporting mechanism so as to include attacks on schools and hospitals as a trigger for action. Save the Children calls on the Council to ensure that attacks on schools are acted upon in accordance with that resolution, so that victims receive support and future attacks are prevented. Schools must be respected by all parties as conflict-free zones, and measures must be taken to restrict their military use. Humanitarian agencies like ours do all we can to assist victims of conflict, but we need the help of Governments and the Security Council to prevent children from becoming victims in the first place. In Mali, Save the Children is reuniting children separated from their families during the recent conflict, providing psychosocial support and strengthening community-based responses. Since 1998, we have trained thousands of military personnel, police force members and peacekeepers throughout Africa in child rights and protection. Currently, we are cooperating with UNICEF and DPKO to develop mandatory training on the protection of children for all United Nations peacekeepers worldwide, as noted earlier. When authorizing peacekeeping missions, the Security Council must require personnel to receive pre-deployment training in child protection, as in Mali, including the capacity to prevent and monitor grave violations against children. Parties to conflict must abide by their international legal obligations and take measures to ensure that children are protected at all times. Member States must support efforts to ensure not only that grave violations are documented but also that perpetrators are held to account. We applaud the Security Council’s efforts to ensure the protection of children from the grave violations committed against them. We encourage the Security Council to ensure that the children and armed conflict agenda remains strong with future open debates. Children throughout the world need us to act to spare them from suffering before more violations occur.

I thank Mr. Ramm for his briefing. I now give the floor to the members of the Council.

Allow me to warmly thank the President for organizing this debate on children and armed conflict. As you know, my country attaches great importance to the issue and has done so for many years. I would like to pay tribute to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Ms Leila Zerrougui, and thank her for the vital work she has accomplished. I would also like to thank the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr Hervé Ladsous, for his briefing and the indispensable contributions made by peacekeeping missions’ personnel to protect children affected by armed conflict. I would also like to thank UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ms. Yoka Brandt for the exemplary work done by her teams in the field. I would finally like to welcome the fact that civil society has had the opportunity to address the Council. Civil society has indeed an important role to play, both in terms of raising our awareness and in terms of monitoring commitments. Luxembourg fully endorses the statement to be made by the representative of the European Union. We have gathered in the Chamber today to discuss the question of children and armed conflict, as described by the latest annual report by the Secretary-General (S/2013/245) and against the backdrop of the conflicts in Syria, in the Central African Republic, in Mali and in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, to name but a few. Allow me to consider for a moment the situation in Syria. In Syria, close to three million children have been affected by the conflict so far. Thousands have lost their lives, and many others have been subjected to atrocious torture or sexual violence. Even those who have escaped the worst are unable to live a normal life. More than half of the country’s hospitals have been damaged or rendered inoperable. Nearly 2,500 schools have been partially or completely destroyed. While the numbers may appear abstract, how much suffering is obscured by them and how many shattered lives hide behind them? The situation cannot continue. We must do everything to end those massacres, of which children are most cruelly and unjustly the first victims. We must put an end the conflict in Syria. We need to find a political solution, a solution that brings a political transition to Syria and that responds to the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people. We need to find it quickly. The Geneva II conference on Syria appears more and more like a last-chance opportunity. The international community, and chiefly this Council, must finally shoulder its responsibilities in the area. A dozen years ago, the Security Council had decided to resolutely tackle the issue of children and armed conflict and to give it the full attention it merits. Since then, nine resolutions and 11 presidential statements have been adopted on the topic and considerable progress has been made. In particular, I welcome the adoption, later today, of a new draft presidential statement on the occasion of today’s debate, in which the Council unanimously and unambiguously reiterates its commitment — even if that took some time — to end violations and abuses committed against children in armed conflict. However, for all its importance, that normative framework is not enough. It must also implemented. For the Security Council that means constantly monitoring its decisions and ensuring that they are implemented. An increasing number of Member States concerned are making commitments to end violations against children affected by armed conflict. Tens of thousands of children have already been freed thanks to the implementation of action plans by Governments in cooperation with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and other relevant United Nations entities. I welcome the fact that, to date, almost all concerned Member States have signed action plans. I commend in particular the Special Representative of the Secretary- General for Children and Armed Conflict’s campaign, supported by the Secretary-General, which is trying to end to the recruitment of children into regular armed forces and their use in armed conflict by 2016. However, there again commitments are insufficient. They must be fully implemented. Since the previous annual report (S/2012/261) two countries were removed from the so-called “list of shame” thanks to the effective implementation of their commitments. I am speaking of Nepal and Sri Lanka. Those examples demonstrate that the matter of children in armed conflict requires an approach that combines incentives as well as coercive measures. Action plans create a space for cooperation that gives Governments an opportunity to work with the United Nations to put an end to grave violations perpetrated against children. In that context, technical and financial support for the implementation of action plans must not be neglected. However, we must not limit our action to governance alone. The great majority of persistent perpetrators are non-State armed groups. It is necessary to continue engaging with them and to bring pressure to bear upon them so that they stop their abuses against children. The issue of children in armed conflict cannot be solved definitively unless all parties to a conflict respect their obligations. In situations where dialogue with the parties to the conflict fails, other measures become necessary. As it has been stressed by the Special Representative of the Secretary -General, most of the parties listed in the annexes have been present there for many years. The international community must act to put an end to such practices. In that regard, I welcome the ongoing discussions in the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict on the best means to increase pressure on persistent perpetrators. In that regard, the Security Council must lead the way and send a strong signal, when necessary, by applying sanctions against persistent violators of children’s rights. Justice cannot be served so long as the perpetrators of the worst atrocities against children are not held accountable for their actions. That is the very reason that the International Criminal Court’s conviction of Thomas Lubanga for the recruitment of children is such a landmark case. It is a strong powerful message to all of those who commit crimes against children. They shall no longer go unpunished. The growing importance that regional and subregional organizations and arrangements, notably the African Union and European Union, are attaching to the problem of children in armed conflict is also a reason for satisfaction and one of hope. It is evident that commitment at the regional level can be beneficial only if it supports complements the efforts of the United Nations. The same applies to NATO efforts undertaken to integrate the normative framework developed by the Security Council on children in armed conflict into its policies and operations. NATO and the United Nations joint development of a special training module is particularly welcome in that regard. In 2003, Secretary-General Kofi Annan advocated for an era of implementing the Security Council’s resolutions on children in armed conflict. Ten years on, significant progress has been made. However, much remains to be done to ensure that children may one day be spared from the horrors of war.

I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for hosting today’s debate on children on armed conflict. I also thank Under-Secretary-General Hervé Ladsous, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Yoka Brandt and Save the Children Associate Vice-President Gregory Ramm for their remarks. We are also grateful to Ambassador Lucas for her leadership as Chair of the Security Council Working Group on Chilren and Armed Conflict. We also deeply appreciate the devoted work of Special Representative Leila Zerrougui and her team in advancing this agenda. I thank her for her briefing this morning as well. The United States remains determined to combat horrific acts committed against children in conflict- torn countries. As the Secretary-General’s report (S/2013/245) attests, there is no starker example of where children desperately need the international community’s help than Syria. As we speak, Syrian children are being tortured and murdered, used as human shields and conscripted as fighters. Syria is unfortunately not the only place where abuses are surging. In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo armed groups, including the Mouvement du 23 Mars, have engaged in unlawful child recruitment, as well as killing and maiming of children. We welcome the commitment of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to address those horrors by signing an action plan last October. We call for the expeditious implementation of that plan. We have also seen welcome progress in Burma, where the Government has shown a degree of commitment to the action plan signed in June 2012 by releasing 97 under-age military recruits in 2012. However, we remain concerned that there was an increase in complaints about unlawful child recruitment in 2012 that occurred in 2011. We urge Burma, in accordance with its commitments, to allow United Nations access to military units to conduct verification visits. Moreover, non-State armed ethnic groups in Burma continue to use child soldiers. More progress is needed on this front. The Security Council requires more effective ways to deal with the growing number of persistent perpetrators, especially among armed groups. In that regard, we appreciate the Working Group’s focus on this issue and its effort to develop appropriate tools. We also commend the Secretary-General’s proposals, which deserve the Council’s serious consideration. The question of persistent perpetrators, however, raises a larger issue about the United Nations children- and-armed-conflict process itself. We can be proud of its accomplishments and must strive to make it as effective as it can be. But it is only one tool among the many that we should be using to protect children. Rather than attempting to make the action plan process a one-size fits all mechanism, we should promote children-and- armed-conflict action plans in tandem with other tools, to comprehensively address the various contexts in which children are subjected to abuse. A wider range of efforts is needed, from holding perpetrators accountable and preventing them from committing abuses to resolving situations of conflict that enable such heinous crimes. For example, the conviction of Thomas Lubanga for unlawful child soldiering by the International Criminal Court sends an important message that such crimes will not be tolerated. Furthermore, several African countries, with the support of the African Union, the United Nations, the United States and others, are cooperating to end once and for all the threat posed by the Lord Resistance’s Army (LRA), one of the world’s worst perpetrators of crimes against children. As noted in the Council’s discussion on 29 May (see S/PV.6971), that effort has resulted in a substantial decrease in LRA attacks, the removal of two top LRA commanders from the battlefield and the defection of scores of LRA fighters. Finally, peacemaking efforts work to safeguard endangered children by ending the armed conflict itself. Connecting those efforts into a comprehensive approach will strengthen the ultimate goals of the children-and-armed-conflict action plan process and concretely advance the issue of the plight of children caught in harm’s way.

At the outset, I would like to thank the United Kingdom for convening today’s debate on children and armed conflict and to welcome Mr. Jean Asselborn, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg, to today’s meeting. I also wish to thank all briefers for their extensive statements. In recent years, the issue of children and armed conflict has been placed firmly on the international agenda, and a solid framework of international legal norms and standards has been developed. Important steps have been taken through the application and enforcement of those norms and standards in order to achieve accountability for grave violations committed against children. The engagement of the Security Council has increased the general awareness of the issue of the protection of children in armed conflict, significantly advanced the scope of actions and created opportunities to improve common approaches in that regard. We welcome the increasing attention of the Security Council to this topic and commend the efforts of its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict under the able leadership of Ambassador Sylvie Lucas of Luxembourg. Azerbaijan’s strong position with regard to the protection of civilians, including children, in situations of armed conflict is based on my country’s keen interest in contributing to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and to the achievement of sustainable peace and development. Our interest also stems from our practical experience in addressing the devastating consequences of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed during the war unleashed against my country. Azerbaijan continues to suffer from one of the highest number of refugees and displaced persons in the world, many of whom are children. Azerbaijan welcomes the progress made in preventing and responding to violations and abuses committed against children, especially with regard to the thousands of children who have been demobilized, rehabilitated and reintegrated. We also note the increasing number of action plans that have been adopted or are under negotiation. At the same time, we acknowledge that the provision of sufficient and sustained resources is crucial to the timely implementation of such agreed plans. At the same time, we remain deeply concerned by the high number of violations and abuses against children in the various situations of armed conflict throughout the world, where children are being used for military purposes and continue be the indiscriminate target of military targets. Furthermore, the military use of schools, including as shields, as barracks or for weapons storage, in the course of armed conflict deprives children of their right to education and potentially puts them at risk of attack. Other challenging issues that call for urgent attention include children being taken hostage, being reported missing in connection with armed conflict, or being used as suicide bombers in acts of terrorism. Azerbaijan remains deeply concerned by the negative impact of armed conflict on children and strongly condemns all violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed against children. We have always been consistent in demanding the strict observance by the parties to armed conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law in all circumstances. Governments bear the primary responsibility to ensure protection of and provision of relief to all children affected by armed conflict, and the United Nations must continue to support and supplement such national efforts. The monitoring and reporting mechanism of the United Nations envisages the involvement of and close cooperation with the countries concerned. It is equally important that access by the United Nations for the purpose of monitoring and reporting on violations and abuses committed against children is carried out with strict respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the State concerned. The vulnerability of children in wartime brings an element of urgency, dedication and strong commitment to worldwide protection efforts, which must be free of selectivity. Azerbaijan highlights the role of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflicts in that regard. The fulfilment of the Special Representative’s mandate with respect to all situations of armed conflict, including those of a protracted nature, is crucial in that regard. Important steps have been taken in a number of situations of armed conflict to achieve accountability for grave violations against children, including the development of international jurisprudence. However, serious challenges remain. In conclusion, I would like once again to reiterate that more resolute and consistent efforts are required to end impunity and to find a long-term and sustained solution to eliminate and prevent illegal practices affecting the rights of children.

At the outset, I wish to thank the United Kingdom for its initiative in convening this debate. I also commend Luxembourg for its work in chairing the Working Group and guiding the negotiations that produced today’s draft presidential statement on this topic. We will be able to adopt a draft presidential statement today thanks to the flexibility shown by the delegations, which Argentina values very highly in the light of the importance of this topic and the text to be adopted. We also thank in particular the briefings by Special Representative Leila Zerrougui, Under-Secretary- General Hervé Ladsous, the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, Johanna Brandt, and the Associate Vice-President of Save the Children, Gregory Ramm. We reiterate Argentina’s firm support for the work carried out by the Security Council with a view to ending grave violations of the rights of children in the context of armed conflict. Such acts are unacceptable acts that harm the international community as a whole and which we therefore condemn in the strongest possible terms. The delegation of Argentina underscores the important role played by the Special Rapporteur of the Secretary-General in cooperation with UNICEF and other agencies of the system in implementing the scheme created by the Council in its successive resolutions, which has recently achieved positive results. However, as can be seen from the report before us today (S/2013/245), a great deal remains to be done. The Council’s condemnation should not be limited to merely taking note of the public naming by the Secretary-General in his report of those parties that commit violations against children; rather, it should also translate into specific measures that reflect a genuine and comprehensive understanding of the issues at all levels of the Council’s agenda. Indeed, child protection should be taken into account in the peacekeeping operation plans presented to the Security Council, including support for the inclusion of child protection experts in the operations mandated by the Council and capacity-building and knowledge sharing in the area of human rights. We welcome the discussions held by the Working Group on ways to step up pressure on parties that consistently commit violations despite the repeated calls by the Council to those parties to cease committing such violations. In that regard, we reiterate the need for greater coordination between the system for the protection of children in armed conflict and the various sanctions regimes, in order to make it possible to impose sanctions aimed at the perpetrators of the most flagrant violations against children in conflict situations. Argentina believes that the fight against impunity is fundamental in the broader context of State responsibility for the protection of civilians. It is States that bear the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute persons responsible for war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and other serious infringements of international law. When States cannot or will not exercise that primary jurisdiction which belongs to them, the international system provides alternative mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court (ICC). Thus the national and international mechanisms for monitoring the application of international law must be strengthened in order to ensure accountability. In that regard, we wish to echo the position taken recently by the International Criminal Court that any financial difficulties that a country may be facing cannot justify the failure to prosecute such crimes. Likewise, in terms of measures against persistent perpetrators, the ICC has a fundamentally important role to play. When adopting resolution 1612 (2005) in 2005, Argentina, as a member of the Council at the time, emphasized the important need for the Working Group created by that resolution to work with the International Criminal Court and share information as available. Reality has confirmed that need, given that a significant number of the countries mentioned in the report have ratified the Rome Statute. In some cases, situations have been referred to the Court either by the affected State itself or by the Council. In its first ruling — the case of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo — the Court demonstrated its crucial role in the investigation, trial and sentencing of criminals and its ability to deter and prevent future serious violations of international law and its ability to work towards justice, truth and reconciliation. We also welcome the transfer of Bosco Ntaganda to the Court in March. That auspicious step forward illustrates the importance of the growing cooperation among States and the Court. Argentina has always stressed the need to address the deep-rooted causes of violence and to provide and strengthen development assistance in order to assist States in rebuilding. It is essential that rehabilitation efforts for victims provide genuine programmes aimed at reintegration, while avoiding the possibility of fresh recruitment, which, unfortunately, continues to occur frequently. We are concerned about the growing use of schools for military purposes and the increase in attacks on schools, teachers and schoolchildren. We therefore believe that the international community should devote particular attention to that problem, as the right to education of thousands of children worldwide is being dramatically affected. The report also mentions the effects on children of attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles used in military operations and the growing number of children in detention, matters that are also of concern. We therefore reiterate that anti-terrorism efforts must be carried out in full respect for international law.

The Council is briefed almost daily about the horrific impacts of conflict around the world. We know that children are among those who suffer the most. They are recruited, attacked, tortured and abducted and are also victims of sexual violence. Their schools and hospitals are attacked, and they are often denied life-saving humanitarian assistance. The Council can never do enough to protect those children. We strongly support the mandate and work of Special Representative Zerrougui. We thank her, Under-Secretary-General Ladsous, Ms. Brandt and Mr. Ramm for their briefings today, and even more so for their efforts. We also thank Luxembourg for its dedication to child protection and for unifying the Security Council through a draft presidential statement aimed at moving the agenda forward. The past decade has seen substantial progress on the child protection agenda. We now have important tools at our disposal, including an expanded set of triggers for listing perpetrators of grave violations and for the more regular inclusion of child-protection advisers in peacekeeping missions; the signing of action plans by the Governments of Myanmar, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the past year are also welcome developments. Yet, as the Council knows, grave violations against conflict-affected children continue and do so on a daily basis. The situation in Syria is dire. Possibly half of the almost 7 million Syrian internally displaced persons are children; approximately half of the 1.6 million refugees are children. Between 3 and 4 million Syrian children are in need. Thousands of children have been killed, gravely injured and even tortured. The damage to Syria’s infrastructure, including schools — with one in five either destroyed, damaged or converted into a shelter  — is depriving Syrian children of their basic needs. There are far too many other accounts of violations, which we have been briefed on. In Mali and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo it is crucial that peacekeeping missions ensure the effective protection of children. We have also heard terrible reports of the large number of children recruited in the Central African Republic — a situation on which the Council must be engaged. More broadly, my country shares the concerns of the Secretary-General that the evolving character and tactics of armed conflict are creating unprecedented threats to children. In particular, we share the serious concerns about the use of schools for military purposes. Obviously, more must be done. I would like to focus very briefly on three areas where greater efforts could be made. First, action plans to halt child recruitment have had a real impact on ending violations against children in a number of countries. Given that many non-State armed groups violate children’s rights during conflict, we encourage the Special Representative of the Secretary- General to continue to focus on engaging with them, as well as with Governments, in a concerted effort to conclude action plans. Secondly, some existing sanctions regimes have child rights violations as listing criteria. The Council should make better use of its sanctions regimes to designate individuals or entities not previously considered for listing, but whose child-rights violations would qualify them for it. Thirdly, it is crucial that we end impunity for those most responsible for serious crimes against children. We call on States to criminalize serious violations of international law committed against children. In cases where States are unwilling or unable to investigate and prosecute crimes, the Council should consider whether referral to the International Criminal Court is warranted. In conclusion, we must ensure that children, who are those most vulnerable during armed conflict and those least able to withstand its ravages, are shielded from its impacts. Protecting children should compel both Council unity and action. We should ask ourselves, following Special Representative Zerrougui’s lead this morning, “If not for these children, then for whom will this Council act?”.

We thank the United Kingdom for conducting today’s debate. We are grateful to the briefers for their attention to the protection of children in armed conflict and for the useful information they have provided in that context to the Council. Children continue to suffer from the horrors of war. Russia condemns all serious violations against children, by whomsoever they may be committed, and advocates the prosecution of all such perpetrators. Crimes committed against children must be punished. We too believe it necessary to deal with all six categories of grave violations against children in armed conflict, namely, the recruitment and use of children, sexual violence against children, the killing and maiming of children, abductions, attacks against schools and hospitals and the blocking of humanitarian access to children. A particular concern is the killing and wounding of children during planned attacks and as a result of the indiscriminate or disproportionate use of force or the use of unmanned aerial vehicles. It is unfortunate that such cases are taking place with lamentable regularity. We call for the thorough investigation of such incidents and the prosecution of perpetrators. Resolution 1612 (2005) and the Council’s follow- up documents on the matter provide a foundation for ensuring the protection of children in armed conflict and post-conflict rebuilding situations. That pertains to the functioning of the monitoring and reporting mechanism on children and armed conflict and the activities of the relevant Working Group of the Security Council. The Russian Federation is of the view that those mechanisms must focus chiefly on the most pressing major armed conflict situations on the Council’s agenda. With respect to other situations, the Working Group may consider those only upon the agreement of the State in question. There is no doubt that children need support and protection in situations other than those involving armed conflict; the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council also cover matters dealing with children. In order to strengthen the effectiveness of work in that important area, existing work distribution arrangements among the appropriate United Nations entities must be strictly followed, in line with the Charter of the United Nations and other international law instruments. The Russian delegation has carefully studied the report of the Secretary-General (S/2013/245), which was introduced by the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. First and foremost, we would note that the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General does not cover the protection of children as a whole; rather, it covers the situation of children in armed conflict. We do not see any justification for a broad interpretation of the concept of armed conflict, as a result of which, for several years now, the Security Council has been presented with information on situations that are not part of its agenda and cannot be qualified as involving armed conflict. Moreover, the principle guiding the selection of information for the report remains unclear. Balanced evaluations based on well-deserved trust and reliable information provide a guarantee that, through respectful dialogue with the States concerned, the recommendations will be implemented. The priority set forth during our debate today — namely, the need to bring pressure to bear on the so-called persistent perpetrators — is undoubtedly important. However, taken out of the relevant context, tackling the problem is impossible. We suggest first and foremost that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General draw up clear procedures and criteria for the listing and de-listing of parties to a conflict in the annex to the annual report of the Secretary-General. Unfortunately, despite the multiple appeals over several years made by a number of members of the Security Council and the direct instructions given by the Council in resolutions 1998 (2011) and 2068 (2012), no progress has been made in resolving the problem. We believe that, before deciding what should be done with parties to a conflict characterized as “persistent perpetrators”, we must understand why they are being classified as such. The only criterion used to date is continuous reference to a given party to a conflict in the report of the Secretary-General over a five-year period. In our view, that criterion is superficial. With regard to the criteria for de-listing parties to a conflict in the report, in our view the mere existence of an action plan for halting some sort of a crime drawn up by a party to the conflict with the United Nations is not a guarantee that the situation of children will improve. There is no denying the fact that a number of States in whose territories parties to a conflict listed in the annexes to the Secretary-General’s report are carrying out activities are doing things to change the situation. The lack of clear criteria not only does not help the Governments of those countries but also gives rise to a sort of lack of trust regarding the objectivity and effective of the approach as a whole. With regard to efforts to bring pressure to bear on perpetrators, the means could vary depending on the situation. In our view, sanctions are not a panacea. Of primary importance is constructive cooperation between the United Nations and the States where armed groups are acting. Undoubtedly, the leading role for protecting children must be played by national Governments, and the primary task of the United Nations is to complement those efforts upon the request of such States. Effective cooperation with the Governments of countries engulfed in conflict or in a post-conflict reconstruction phase can be established only in an atmosphere of trust and dialogue, which, in the final analysis, will foster an improvement of the situation of children on the ground. In conclusion, we would like to emphasize that the Russian Federation attaches the highest importance to the matter of the protection of children in armed conflict and to international efforts to resolve that important issue.

I would like to thank the President for having organized today’s debate. I would also like to thank the briefers and other speakers. I congratulate the delegation of Luxembourg on the way it has conducted the chairmanship of the Working Group, and I reiterate France’s support. The United Nations approach to protecting children in armed conflict has made it possible to demobilize tens of thousands of children. Action plans are the cornerstone of that approach. Thanks to them, in 2012 two States were taken off the list of shame. Taken together, the approximately 20 action plans that have been signed are a sign of progress made in protecting children in armed conflict. The implementation of those actions plans must be carried out as soon as possible for them to be fully effective. In that way, our credibility can be ensured. In order to do that, the international community and the United Nations must deploy all the material and human resources they have at their disposal. Action plans are based on cooperation between States, and progress has been made in that area. In that connection, we are encouraged by the cooperation and political will shown by Chad to finalize its action plan. The United Nations approach on the ground has been strengthened over the years. Let us consider, for example, the child protection sections in peacekeeping operations, which play a crucial role and whose deployment must continue. Nevertheless, countless violations continue to occur, and each conflict shows us that reality. Children are the first victims of conflict. That is the case in Syria, where the regime and the militias have been responsible for the worst atrocities against children. Children are tortured and subjected to sexual violence in detention. They are killed without pity by elite snipers, who target them by design in order to terrorize the people. Schools are being bombed incessantly, to such an extent that only 6 per cent of children have access to education in the region of Aleppo. Since the beginning of the crisis, more than 6,500 children have been killed in Syria, and that figure is probably lower than the actual figures. Violations against children in Syria must be condemned, whatever their source. The Syrian opposition says that it is prepared to open a dialogue with the United Nations on the issue. We would therefore encourage the Special Representative to launch, as soon as possible, discussions for the signing of an action plan with them. In Mali, armed groups in the north have mutilated and tortured children. They have used children as human shields and recruited them by force. The situation has improved since the beginning of the year but remains fragile. The deployment of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali will help to stabilize the country and provide better protection for children. In the Central African Republic, Séléka armed groups have been engaged in looting, rape and summary executions, and they have not hesitated to attack UNICEF disarmament, demobilization and reintegration centres in order to re-recruit children who had recently been demobilized, reversing the progress achieved last year. The chaos caused by armed groups has led to the closing of half of the schools in the country, thus increasing the vulnerability of children left to their own devices. In the Kivus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Mouvement du 23 mars rebels know where to find children to fuel their war against Congolese sovereignty. We count on the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its strengthened mandate to protect children and make it possible for them to return to their families. While new crises provide new challenges for the protection of children in armed conflict, the long list of persistent perpetrators continues to affect the credibility of our action. It calls upon us to pursue our efforts. In addition to the States that have already signed an action plan, which should be our priority, we should also improve our response to the armed groups that want to engage in dialogue with the United Nations but for whom access is impossible. The States concerned have the responsibility to do everything in their power to ensure and facilitate access for those groups, because we are convinced that, in order to ensure the protection of children trapped in conflict, political considerations should give way to humanitarian imperatives. France is also in favour of authorizing the Working Group to set itself up as an ad hoc sanctions panel to deal with armed extremists who refuse all dialogue with the international community and who continue their violations with full impunity. Indeed, the fight against impunity should be central to our action. Recently, the transfer to the International Criminal Court of Bosco Ntaganda sent out a strong signal on the criminal consequences of the recruitment of child soldiers, which is considered to be a war crime. That is why we are in favour of strengthening dialogue with the International Criminal Court, which could, in the first phase, include an invitation to Ms. Fatou Bensouda, the Prosecutor of the Court, to brief the Council on the issue. France is also involved on the ground in improving the protection and sustainable reinsertion of children caught in armed conflict. Since 2008, we have led a programme in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa that has made it possible to reach 13,000 children, 2,000 of them child soldiers. We continue to call on all States to endorse the Paris Principles and Paris Commitments, which complement the action of the Security Council and provide a solid framework for the action of the international community to protect children in armed conflict. We are going modify the format of the annual meetings, which will take on a regional and technical slant as we approach the tenth anniversary of the Paris Principles in 2017. With our partners from the Secretariat and from UNICEF, I renew our call to join, without any further delay, the one hundred States that have already ratified the Principles. Let us not forget that we are talking about the lives of children and teenagers who are at risk.

We would like to thank the presidency of the United Kingdom for organizing this open debate. We also thank Ms. Leila Zerrougui, Mr. Hervé Ladsous, Ms. Yoka Brandt and Mr. Gregory Ramm for their statements. We offer special recognition to Luxembourg for its leadership in the Informal Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, as well as the negotiation of the draft presidential statement to be adopted at the close of this debate. We welcome the presence of Mr. Jean Asselborn. The introductory statements and the Secretary- General’s report (S/2013/245) illustrate once again the persistent violations and abuses that children affected by armed conflict continue to face. The chapter on the evolving nature of conflict and emerging challenges to the protection of children cries out for the attention of the Council. Although the primary responsibility for protecting civilians falls on the State, and while those States that fail to protect their children are putting their own future at risk, it is also true that new tactics emerging in conflicts represent threats without precedent to all children. In this regard, we are concerned that schools are being used for military purposes, including as military barracks, weapons caches, command centres, detention and interrogation centres. This situation not only puts children and their caretakers at greater risk of attack, but also clearly increases school absences when parents do not send their children to school out of fear, and obstructs children’s own right to education. We are further concerned over the use of unmanned aircraft in areas inhabited by civilians, which increases casualties among children, makes it impossible to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, and seriously weakens the capacity of communities to defend their children. By the same token, it is deeply concerning that children are being used as suicide bombers or human shields. We support the Secretary-General’s call on parties to armed conflict to immediately cease committing grave violations against children. We also believe that the issue of persistent offenders or perpetrators of abuse against children should continue to be addressed. It is imperative that those responsible for serious violations be brought to justice in order to pay for their crimes; this is a task that we must undertake until it is completed. We believe in strengthening national capacities in the justice and security sectors, as well as in the creation of specialized chambers and mixed tribunals. We consider the complementarity of international justice to national mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court, to be equally as important, especially in the fight against impunity for persistent perpetrators. On the basis of the aforementioned points, we support the further consideration of another mechanism at the Council’s disposal  — the application of a sanctions regime. Currently, we have four sanctions committees with criteria for the designation of serious violations of the rights of children in Côte D’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and the Sudan. We also have the lists in the annexes of the report of the Secretary-General, beginning with annex I, which lists the parties to the armed conflicts on the agenda of the Council. Further work is needed to ensure the imposition of sanctions against offenders. Regarding the signing of action plans to halt the recruitment of children, we are pleased to see that their numbers have continued to increase, as have the establishment of dialogues with parties to conflicts. However, from our own experience we prioritize the signing of peace accords that comprehensively address the problems of the country involved and seek a sustainable solution and a construction of a firm and lasting peace. We advocate for the issues of children affected by conflict to be addressed in any ceasefire agreement, as well as in post-conflict agendas. We remain especially concerned about the continuing conflict in Syria, where children have been victims of unacceptable and unbearable violations, and we join in the calls made by the Secretary-General to the Government and affiliated groups to cease engaging in acts of violence that kill children and cause their suffering.

I thank you, Sir, for having organized this debate. I take this opportunity to thank Ms. Leila Zerrougui, Ms. Yoka Brandt, Mr. Hervé Ladsous and Mr. Gregory Ramm for their statements and the efforts of their respective entities. I welcome the presence in the Chamber of Foreign Minister Asselborn, whose country, Luxembourg, under the leadership of Ambassador Sylvie Lucas, is playing a key role in the Council in improving the situation of children and armed conflict. For 10 years now, the Security Council has undertaken many measures to end grave violations against children in armed conflict. The strategies defined to date, including the signing of action plans between various actors and the United Nations, have led to some progress. We welcome and encourage the continuation of these strategies. These positive results, however, should not allow us to forget that the number of child victims of attacks with explosives, indiscriminate bombings, and the use of materials and other methods of warfare prohibited by international humanitarian law continues to grow. Moreover, there has been an upsurge in the use of children to commit suicide attacks or to serve as human shields. In Afghanistan, it is reported that more than 500 children died in suicide attacks in 2012. The Syrian conflict, which may already have claimed more than 93,000 lives, has not spared children. An entire generation of children has thus been sacrificed, and it is reported that more than 6,700 children have already lost their lives there. On the African continent, the fate of children in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and the Sudan is rather dismal. They are recruited, used as objects, killed, raped or maimed, and subject to other forms of violence. My country is just as concerned about another form of war tactic, which is the targeting of hospitals and schools. In this regard, it is reported that between 2005 and 2012, national armed forces and armed groups used schools and universities in at least 24 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America as military bases, interrogation and torture centres, and weapons and ammunition depots, thereby exposing these schools and universities to attack from the opposing armed party. There are several reasons that perhaps lie at the heart of the ongoing violations against children in armed conflict, first and foremost a lack of resources for the implementation of plans of action by those countries having signed them. It is also difficult to establish contact with non-State armed groups with a view to their signing action plans with the United Nations. Finally  — and this is hardly an exhaustive list  — there is the slow pace of the process of the prosecution of perpetrators, owing to weak national criminal jurisdictions and the inadequacy, or even absence, of a cooperation framework between national and international courts. That is why Togo supports the recommendation contained in the report of the Secretary-General (S/2013/245) and urges the Council to play a greater role, alongside the Secretary-General, in efforts to, inter alia, bring those parties to conflict that have not yet done so to sign plans of action and to ensure that the necessary resources are earmarked for their implementation. In order to induce non-State armed groups, which generally do not consider themselves bound by the obligation to protect children, to sign such action plans, it would be advisable to engage in an open and frank dialogue with them. The experience of certain countries that have known conflict and have taken that path should inspire us to move forward along those lines. The various initiatives and the numerous efforts undertaken to put an end to violence against children will be ineffective if we do not resolutely tackle the issue of impunity. Indeed, impunity must remain a concern of the international community, given that almost all perpetrators of such violations remain at large, although there was a verdict in early 2012 in the case of Thomas Lubanga. Genuine and effective measures must be taken at the national, regional and international levels to put an end to impunity. The numerous meetings on the issue of children in armed conflict will not help to resolve this issue the perpetrators are not held to account, if national Governments hesitate to prosecute and try them or deliver them to the competent jurisdictions, and if local populations do not cooperate in the process of arresting them. While continuing the process of reflection on the decisive action that it could take in the context of this combat through its peacekeeping operations, the United Nations should help countries to build the capacities of their national institutions and modernize their penal legislation so as to carry out investigations aimed at prosecuting perpetrators and bringing them to justice. Moreover, States must, in a regional and subregional framework, develop and strengthen cooperation and reciprocal judicial assistance, which could prove effective. My country supports the draft presidential statement to be adopted at the end of this debate and thanks once again the delegation of Luxembourg for its determined efforts to finalize it.

Mr. President, let me at the outset express my sincere appreciation to you for having convened this debate. I would also like to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary- General, Ms. Leila Zerrougui; Under-Secretary- General Hervé Ladsous; the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, Ms. Yoka Brandt; and the Associate Vice-President of Save the Children, Mr. Gregory Ramm, for their informative briefings. The Republic of Korea welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (S/2013/245). While encouraged by the positive developments referred to in the report, we remain concerned at the fact that grave violations against children continue to occur. We are also worried about emerging challenges for child protection, including the military use of schools and the detention of children by security forces. The situation in Syria is particularly worrisome. It is disturbing that, among the well over 93,000 people estimated to have been killed to date, many thousands are children. Against that backdrop, my delegation appreciates the crucial role of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict in protecting children from the devastating effects of conflicts. We commend the tremendous efforts made by and the commitment of Ms. Leila Zerrougui since her assumption of the post last year. As a staunch supporter of her mandate, the Republic of Korea will continue to cooperate closely with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General. I would like to underline the following key points. First, ending impunity is the key to combating violations and abuses against children, as well as ensuring their non-recurrence. We fully acknowledge that accountability for the most serious crimes against children has been strengthened through the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as well as that of ad hoc and mixed tribunals. The verdict of the ICC on Thomas Lubanga last year was indeed a landmark decision. While welcoming that decision, my delegation would like to encourage all States to extend their full cooperation to the ICC to further enhance accountability at the international level. Ensuring accountability at the national level is equally important. All States should continue their efforts to strengthen national mechanisms, including domestic criminal laws and executive and judicial systems to investigate and prosecute those responsible. We hope that all relevant United Nations entities will pay greater attention to supporting States’ efforts in that regard. Secondly, I would like to underline the significance of concrete, time-bound action plans as key tools for protecting children from current and future abuses. My delegation welcomes the signing of action plans by the Governments of Myanmar, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo last year. We also welcome the fact that all parties in Nepal and Sri Lanka have been removed from the lists contained in the annexes to the Secretary-General’s report after the full implementation of the action plan. We hope that all parties listed in the Secretary-General’s report will prepare and implement action plans without further delay. In that regard, my delegation believes that engagement by the United Nations with non-State armed groups is crucial. To that end, independent and unhindered access of the United Nations must be allowed, and contact between the United Nations and non-State armed groups should be further facilitated. Thirdly, the Security Council should put increasing pressure on persistent perpetrators of grave violations against children, including the adoption of targeted and graduated measures against them. To that end, links between the children and armed conflict agenda and the sanctions regimes should be further strengthened. We support the recommendation made by the Secretary- General in his report to strengthen the provisions for the protection of children in all relevant mandates of United Nations peacekeeping, special political and peacebuilding missions, including the deployment of child-protection advisers. Additionally, we would like to further encourage the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to share specific information contained in the Secretary-General’s reports with the relevant sanctions Committees, including through regular briefings. Last but not least, ensuring the compliance of parties to armed conflict with international law should be the starting point in preventing grave violations against children. In that regard, I would like to encourage all States to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, which is the key legal instrument in that respect.

At the outset, I should like to congratulate the United Kingdom for having convened this important debate under its presidency. I should like to thank Mr. Ladsous, Ms. Leila Zerrougui, Ms. Yoka Brandt and Mr. Gregory Ramm for their respective briefings. I also welcome the participation of the Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg in this debate and congratulate Ambassador Lucas on her commitment to this important issue on the agenda of the Security Council. The protection of children in armed conflict is a major challenge for the international community, given the size and seriousness of the crimes perpetrated against human rights, international law and international humanitarian and refugee law. That challenge compels all of us to act in a concerted, coordinated and effective manner. The report of the Secretary-General (S/2013/245) is an exhaustive and very useful document of the actions and initiatives taken by countries affected by issues related to child protection and the prevention of children’s involvement in armed conflict. It also enables us to assess the challenges and constraints that the countries concerned are dealing with in establishing criminal responsibility for the perpetrators of such crimes, strengthening punitive measures for the guilty and ensuring that such crimes do not recur. Signings of peace agreements and the implementation of national action plans and programmes preventing child recruitment by armed forces and groups have made it possible to relaunch investigation processes and criminal proceedings against the perpetrators of such crimes. The atrocities endured by children in armed conflict have a devastating psychological and socioeconomic impact on the victims and their families. Strengthening access to support and social reintegration services will enable those children to successfully reintegrate into their societies and communities. In the view of my delegation, the establishment in July 2011 of a human rights due diligence policy should help to strengthen existing mechanisms. The Secretary-General’s report indicates that in some situations refugee children have been forced to rejoin armed groups as soldiers. That situation poses major challenges for United Nations efforts. Prevention strategies demand a global, integrated approach that addresses normative aspects as well as institutional ones. That applies particularly to the establishment of laws that criminalize the recruitment of children, strengthen awareness mechanisms for families and communities and, ultimately, the establishment of national re-education, training and job-creation programmes that can offer children better prospects through education and training. Implementing such strategies also requires a participatory approach through the involvement of public authorities, civil society, non-governmental organizations and national human rights and human rights protection organizations. The protection of children in armed conflict is also dependent on collective, coordinated action supported by the United Nations system through technical assistance and the strengthening of countries’ capacities. In that regard, my delegation supports the Secretary-General’s recommendation that donors be invited into the discussion in order to mitigate funding inadequacies and ensure that action plans that have been signed or are under negotiation are effectively implemented. Morocco commends United Nations efforts in the area of the protection of children in armed conflict and hopes that the guidelines established jointly with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations will be regularly updated, particularly those dealing with the terms of reference of the mandates for the child protection advisers. Fighting child recruitment in armed conflict is primarily the responsibility of the parties to the conflicts, who have the duty to protect children. Respect for the dignity of children is also a collective responsibility. Coordinating the efforts of every sector of the United Nations system involved should also be a priority.

I would first like to thank you, Mr. President, for convening this debate. I would also like to thank Special Representative Zerrougui for her briefing and the important work her team is doing to advance the protection of children in armed conflict. And I thank Mr. Hervé Ladsous, Ms. Yoka Brandt and Mr. Gregory Ramm. We recognize that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, UNICEF and Save the Children, which they represent here today, are very pertinent to the advancement of the children-in-armed-conflict agenda, and I thank them all for their informative and comprehensive briefings. Rwanda believes that the adequate protection of children is both the primary responsibility and the moral obligation of Governments, and even more so in situations of armed conflict. That noble objective should be encouraged and supported in the Security Council’s work. In that context, we stand ready to support the work of the Special Representative of the Secretary- General for Children and Armed Conflict and of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. In 2011, the Rwandan Government established a national commission for children in order to promote children’s rights and develop a plan of action to protect children from abuse, violence and exploitation. Children’s summits are also organized every year to ensure that children’s voices are heard on issues that concern them. A well-functioning system is in place whereby children in orphanages are placed in families. In addition, Rwanda has put in place child-protection systems at the community, district and national level. The judicial approach is child-friendly. Judges, police and local authorities are trying to deal with abuses of children. We are concerned, however, that violations continue against children in various conflict situations, and that the number of persistent perpetrators has increased, as evidenced in the most recent report of the Secretary- General (S/2013/245). Rwanda calls on all parties to cease violations against children and on Governments to hold those responsible for such violations of children’s rights accountable. The Security Council should partner States in order to ensure that justice is rendered. We welcome some positive developments, particularly where State and non-State armed groups cited for violations and abuses against children have formulated action plans to halt their violations. We call for those plans to be implemented and urge those who have not yet done so to enter into negotiations with the United Nations for the preparation and implementation of concrete, time-bound action plans concerning all violations against children. In that regard, the signing of action plans by the Governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar and Somalia, in addition to the progress made by other parties in releasing children, is a good step. Strengthening and increasing assistance and national capacity-building is the important next step in ensuring full implementation of the plans. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo in particular, the impact of the armed conflict there on children is worrying. We call on all armed groups to immediately cease all forms of violations and human-rights abuses against children. We emphasize the indispensable role of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Nations country team in monitoring and reporting on grave abuses of children. In that regard, we support supplying the Mission with adequate child protection advisers. Concerning the Central African Republic, although violations against children decreased during the reporting period, Rwanda is concerned about the alarming reports that child recruitment and abuses occurred throughout the first half of 2013. We call on parties involved in those acts to exercise restraint, release all child soldiers in their ranks and vacate schools occupied by military forces or armed groups. In Mali, we call for the immediate deployment of an adequate number of child protection advisers throughout the Mission to cover child protection infractions. The United Nations should ensure strict compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law through the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, as well as adequate training for all peacekeepers, including all those involved with child protection. In Syria, Rwanda notes with concern the unacceptable death toll on children in the conflict there, and reiterates its call on Council members to use their leverage over the parties to the Syrian conflict to ensure the protection of civilians and of children in particular. Belligerents should be required to vacate children’s areas, schools and hospitals; measures should be taken immediately by the parties to protect the lives and dignity of those innocents caught up in the conflict. Rwanda calls on the Secretary-General to strengthen the child-protection capacity in all peacekeeping and United Nations missions. In that regard, we welcome the upcoming deployment of child-protection capacity to the African Union Mission in Somalia. We encourage the efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to create and enhance partnerships with independent organizations such as the European Union, the African Union and NATO. Their involvement in conflict mediation, peacekeeping operations and peacebuilding missions will strengthen implementation of the guidelines relating to children and armed conflict. In conclusion, we believe that the protection of children in armed conflicts necessitates continued commitment and consultations between the United Nations and the Governments concerned, which should take on primary responsibility for the protection of their citizens, including children. The Government of Rwanda remains committed to the protection of children and ready to share our humble experience in that regard.

We deeply appreciate Special Representative of the Secretary-General Leila Zerrougui’s remarkable work, undertaken in pursuance of her mandate, to implement the international legal framework for the protection of children affected by armed conflict. With a firm yet pragmatic approach, she has been able to obtain the cooperation of States and regional organizations. We welcome Deputy Prime Minister Jean Asselborn to the Council. Ambassador Sylvie Lucas and her team have done a splendid job in putting together a very comprehensive draft presidential statement. Luxembourg has conducted inclusive and skilful negotiations to bring all Council members on board. Children are the most valuable resource we have. A society’s soul is reflected in the way it treats its children. The United Nations Charter’s adage “to save succeeding generations” urges us to invest in children’s future, which is in fact our future. We know that millions of children are trapped in wars and conflicts. They are killed, maimed, raped and subjected to sexual violence. They are recruited, abducted and detained, and are coerced into becoming part of armed conflicts. Some progress has been made to slow down this scourge, especially in developing norms and standards. Thousands of children have been demobilized, rehabilitated and reintegrated. Much more needs to be done to ensure compliance, fight impunity and protect children’s rights in the face of new risks that come about as a result of the evolving nature of conflict. As Ms. Zerrougui pointed out this morning, the absence of clear front lines and identifiable opponents and the tactics used by terrorist groups make children vulnerable in conflict situations. Children have been used as suicide bombers and human shields. Schools continue to be attacked, which particularly affects girls’ education. Persistent perpetrators of violence against children must be brought to justice through national judicial systems and, where applicable, the use of international justice arrangements. The draft presidential statement to be adopted today sends a strong signal: the Council condemns all violations of applicable international law impinging on children’s rights. It demands that all parties to conflict immediately put an end to such practices and take special measures to protect children. In his report (S/2013/245), the Secretary-General referres to an increasing number of child casualties incurred through the use of armed drones. He has also called for adherence to the principles of precaution, distinction and proportionality and for transparent and effective investigations when child casualties occur. For its part, Pakistan believes that the use of armed drones violates sovereignty, causes civilian casualties and puts communities at risk of reprisal attacks. Drone strikes radicalize disaffected communities and increase the number of terrorists. Urgent and intense negotiations are needed to address the issue of armed drones. Pakistan fully supports the mandate of the children- and-armed-conflict mechanism, including its reporting and monitoring procedures. We want to strengthen the political consensus around that mandate to ensure better protection of the rights of children in situations of armed conflict. For that purpose, the legal parameters of the mandate must be respected. Focus should continue to remain on situations of armed conflict and those threatening international peace and security. We are encouraged by Ms. Zerrougui’s outreach to Member States to understand and address their concerns in that regard. The draft presidential statement to be adopted today clearly recognizes the primary role of Government, which is to be supported and supplemented by the United Nations, in providing protection and relief to children affected by armed conflict. Before concluding, I would like to make the following suggestions. Every effort should be made to ensure that the information collected through the monitoring and reporting mechanism is accurate and verifiable. The Council should finalize objective and balanced listing and delisting criterial, in full consultation with Member States. The terms “armed attacks” and “armed groups” should be replaced by “terrorist attacks” and “terrorist groups” in cases where a clear determination has been made that the attacks were launched by terrorist outfits. There is no need for legal euphemisms in that context. Finally, I thank Under-Secretary-General Hervé Ladsous, UNICEF Deputy Director Yoka Brandt and Save the Children Associate Vice-President Gregory Ramm for their statements. Their contributions have enriched our discussion in the Council.

The Chinese delegation welcomes the United Kingdom’s initiative to convene this debate on children and armed conflict. I thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ms. Zerrougui; the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, Ms. Brandt; and the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Ladsous, for their briefings. I have also listened to the statement by Mr. Ramm, the representative of Save the Children. Children carry the hope for human progress. The ability of children to grow up in a secure and safe environment depends on the caring and joint efforts of all Governments and the international community as a whole. However, in many parts of the world, children are the most vulnerable group and are subject to the suffering caused by armed conflict. The protection of children in armed conflict is the abiding obligation of all parties to a conflict. China is greatly concerned by violations of the rights and interests of children and supports the tireless efforts of the United Nations  — and the Security Council in particular — to use their respective advantages to protect children in armed conflict on the basis of their respective mandates. I would like to take this opportunity to emphasize the following. First, to protect children from harm in armed conflict, it is crucial to prevent and resolve armed conflicts. The Security Council should focus on the maintenance of international peace and security as its primary responsibility and give priority to preventive diplomacy through mediation and good offices. Efforts should be made to prevent, mitigate and resolve conflicts by addressing their root causes. That is the best way to protect children and is much more significant than providing remedies in the aftermath of conflicts. All conflicts are not the same, and the Security Council, when addressing issues concerning children and armed conflict, should not adopt a one-size-fits-all approach. Although sanctions are one way to address threats to international peace and security, they alone cannot remove the root causes of those problems. Secondly, Governments bear the primary responsibility for protecting children in armed conflicts. To ensure the effectiveness of mechanisms for the protection of children in armed conflicts, the Government concerned should play a leading role. Communication and coordination with Governments should be strengthened. The mechanism for the protection of children in armed conflict should heed and respect the views of the Government concerned through dialogue, coordination and consultation. Priority should be given to supporting and helping the Government concerned in its efforts to protect children and their rights and interests. China urges the parties to armed conflict to carry out their relevant obligations, abide by international humanitarian law and respect and safeguard the rights and interests of children. Thirdly, the protection of children in armed conflict requires that the international community, in its efforts at post-conflict reconstruction, adopt a comprehensive strategy aimed at creating a conducive security and social environment for the healthful development of children. The international community should give priority to the reintegration of children into their families and societies and to their continued schooling, so that they can resume normal lives. We encourage UNICEF, the World Bank and other international organizations to strengthen their coordination and cooperation and use their respective advantages in the joint effort to help countries in conflict to build their capacity to protect children and to aid them in their efforts to eliminate poverty, to provide universal education and to work towards sustainable development. China will continue to work with all parties in an effort to improve the situation of children in armed conflict and will do its utmost to maintain international peace and security so as to save children from the suffering of war.

I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of the United Kingdom. I thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Leila Zerrougui, and other briefers for their valuable contributions this morning. I welcome the earlier presence of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg at today’s debate. The progress already made during Luxembourg’s chairmanship of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict is encouraging. The United Kingdom welcomes the strong leadership shown by both Special Representative of the Secretary-General Zerrougui and Ambassador Lucas on this work. We look forward to their continued efforts. This debate is a reminder of why the Security Council’s work is so important. The Secretary- General’s report (S/2013/245) documents hideous violations — thousands of children killed and maimed by explosive weapons and continuous shelling, the systematic rape and torture of girls and boys and the forcible use of children as human shields. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General has demonstrated effective advocacy and active engagement to prevent those grave violations against children. I am grateful for her report and commend United Nations country task forces for producing reliable and evidence-based information on violations against children. But a high level of ambition for the children- and-armed-conflict agenda must be sustained. The Special Representative’s campaign, announced today, for no child to be associated with State armed forces in conflict by 2016 demonstrates such ambition. The United Kingdom fully supports that goal. In the past 12 months, action plans were signed with parties to conflict in Burma, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We expect, and look forward to, the signing of the additional action plans under negotiation. The expected adoption of today’s draft presidential statement builds on that success by strengthening Council consensus to tackle persistent perpetrators. I call on all of us to address three challenges in particular, namely, implementing the action plans, the reintegration of children and combating impunity. We call on all parties to conflict that have not concluded action plans to do so immediately. But signing an action plan is only the first step. All parties to conflict must honour their commitments as quickly as possible. To support the implementation of such plans, the United Nations, international partners and Member States must address funding gaps and prioritize the deployment of senior child-protection advisers. The ultimate tragedy is that of children who grow up to perpetuate the cycle of conflict as adults. Denied a childhood, a home and an education, children become trapped in a world of armed conflict. We can support the successful reintegration of those children into society by stopping the military use of schools and securing provisions to protect children in peace processes. Finally, impunity for those who commit violations against children is unacceptable. Perpetrators should be in no doubt that their crimes will be investigated and that trials will follow, as demonstrated by the trials of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo and Charles Taylor and the recent transfer of Bosco Ntaganda to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Cooperation between the Security Council and the ICC is critical to ensuring such accountability. The future of children across the world depends upon the United Nations rising to these challenges. No child anywhere or at any time should needlessly be endangered or suffer in conflict. The draft presidential statement to be adopted today signals that determination. I now resume my functions as President of the Security Council. The Council has before it the text of a draft statement by the President on behalf of the Council on the subject of today’s meeting. I thank the Council members for their valuable contributions to the draft statement. In accordance with the understanding reached among members of the Council, I shall take it that the members of the Security Council agree to the draft statement, which will be issued as a document of the Security Council under S/PRST/2013/8. It is so decided. I wish to remind all speakers to limit their statements to no more than four minutes, in order to enable the Council to carry out its work expeditiously. Delegations with lengthy statements are kindly requested to circulate the texts in writing and to deliver a condensed version when speaking in the Chamber. That way, we shall be able to conclude the debate before lunchtime. I now give the floor to the representative of Thailand.

Let me join others in congratulating the United Kingdom presidency of the Security Council for convening this significant debate. I also thank Ms. Leila Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict; Mr. Hervé Ladsous, Under- Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations; Ms. Yoka Brandt; and Mr. Gregory Ramm for their important statements. Allow me to recognize the efforts exerted by Luxembourg as Chair of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. The presence of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg underscores the importance that Luxembourg places on its chairmanship. On the issue of child protection, Thailand is no less concerned than any other Government. Last September, Thailand was the first country to sign the Optional Protocol to the Convention to the Rights of the Child on the communications procedure. Our current efforts to harmonize domestic laws and regulations and the relevant protective mechanisms in service to our children further underscores our commitments to enhancing child protection. Our cooperation with UNICEF and other relevant United Nations agencies has been fruitful, constructive and efficient for many decades, and it continues to be enhanced. Although Thailand is neither in a situation of armed conflict nor on the Security Council’s agenda, Thailand attaches great importance to the issue of children and armed conflict. We condemn all grave violations and crimes against children in situations of armed conflict, and we support the effective implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions on the issue. During the open debate on children and armed conflict held last September (see S/PV.6838), Thailand offered our humble views on certain aspects of how the United Nations could better perform its tasks to address the issue of children based on the interest of the child and national specificities. Let me reiterate our views. First, given the number of United Nations actors working on child-related issues, it is absolutely imperative that each and everyone has a clear mandate and that those mandates and responsibilities are respected. The United Nations is a principle- and rules-based Organization. Respective mandates cannot and must not be conducted, expanded or interpreted arbitrarily. The misinterpretation or stretching of such mandates will not lead us to our common goal of enhancing child protection, but can rather weaken the joint effort of the United Nations and inadvertently put children at higher risk. Mandates should be carefully drafted, endorsed, reviewed and adapted, not in competition with one other but in support of the comparative advantages and respective roles that each United Nations actor should play. Secondly, situations on the ground in different countries are unique and require different approaches and expertise. Therefore, the United Nations absolutely needs to work in close cooperation with and with the consent of concerned Governments, particularly when it has a mandate to engage with non-State parties in order to avoid unintended negative consequences. Thirdly, the Secretary-General’s report on children and armed conflict (S/2013/245) and the appropriate approach to bring about successful solutions rely heavily on data collection and unbiased analysis. We value receiving important information from all stakeholders, including civil society as appropriate, but such information needs to be accurate, objective, reliable and verifiable. Thailand wants to emphasize strongly the importance of the involvement and consent of Member States in preparing the report from the outset. Fourthly, more new parties to the conflict continue to be listed in the annexes. In this connection, it is imperative, as well as a logical expectation, to see both listing and de-listing criteria clearly specified in the report after being discussed among the Council members and formally endorsed by the Council, as stipulated in operative paragraph 19 (d) of resolution 1882 (2009). Thailand encourages the Council to give equal importance to both listing and de-listing, as well as to carry out the necessary discussions on this issue in a transparent manner, in close consultation with affected Member States. Thailand cannot stress strongly enough the importance we attach to the mandates of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict and the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. We believe that children and women alike must stop bearing the brunt of war and conflicts. The Security Council has a clear role to play in their protection in situations of armed conflict or in situations threatening international peace and security, but this role has to be applied with precision and within the framework of a clearly-defined mandate. For other situations outside the realm of armed conflict, in accordance with international humanitarian law, an inclusive and holistic remedy must be adopted to ensure the promotion and protection of basic human rights, sustainable development efforts and security considerations. Anything else could exacerbate the situation on the ground and become a self-serving prophecy when the wrong remedy is applied to the wrong situation. A case in a point is Thailand, which is neither in a situation of armed conflict nor on the Security Council agenda. The issue of independent monitoring and access should not be raised because it is simply not in the mandate and will not be granted. Moreover, the Thai Government and the United Nations country team have already put in place mutually agreed arrangements and continue to enjoy very close cooperation. Finally, the diversity of views by Member States should not be misinterpreted as a sign of opposition to this important cause, as negligence or non-cooperation, but instead as critical input to strengthen and sustain the work of the United Nations in the protection of our children for the long term. I believe we all aim to strengthen Governments’ capacity to protect our children, our future.

I would like to thank the Secretary-General for his annual report on children and armed conflict (S/2013/245), which is before the Security Council today, and to congratulate the United Kingdom on assuming the presidency of the Council for this month. We are also very grateful to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Leila Zerrougui, for her role. Through her work she is helping to shed a light on the suffering of children in armed conflict. We would also like to thank the Permanent Representative of Luxembourg for her work in this respect. The report refers to incidents involving children that have been caused by terrorist organizations included in the list of parties responsible for violations against children. As all know, Iraq is currently suffering a spate of terrorist attacks and violations against children. Groups are exploiting children to use them in these terrorist attacks. The incidents involving children are not very numerous if we consider that half the population is under 18 years. The Iraqi Government, however, has taken preventive measures to prevent terrorists from exploiting children. Foremost among these is the system of compulsory education, ensuring that children are enrolled in school and following up on their registration to ensure they keep attending. This is to prevent their exploitation by terrorists. The Government is also responsible for rehabilitating children who have been sentenced by the judicial system, and works to reintegrate them into society. With regard to the participation of children under 18 years in troops of the Awakening Councils, as noted in the report, Iraqi law forbids those under 18 years from joining the armed forces. Moreover, the Awakening Councils troops have been incorporated into the regular armed forces. The minimum age for joining the armed forces is 18 years. To be a volunteer in the security forces requires a written waver and authorization from one’s parents. In addition to the constitutional requirements, Iraq has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols. This is essential for protecting the rights of children. A national, cross-ministerial body has been created to protect Iraqi children and counter the phenomenon of school drop-outs. This body also attends to the special needs of children from poor areas by directly following up on their cases and raising children’s awareness of their human rights, which is part of the school curriculum. It is also undertaking other activities to prevent children being recruited by terrorist groups. Iraqi society is conservative and attaches particular importance to family, children and social interaction. Finally, we would like to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflicts and her entire team. We reaffirm that we will continue to cooperate with United Nations bodies to guarantee the rights of children in general and as a priority of the Iraqi Government. We look forward to the next visit of Ms. Zerrougui to Iraq.

I now give the floor to the representative of India.

At the outset, I would like to thank you, Sir, for having organized this debate on the issue of children and armed conflict. I would like to thank Ms. Leila Zerrougui. Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict; Mr. Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations; and today’s other briefers for their statements. Over the past 12 years since the adoption of resolution 1379 (2001) in 2001, the issue of children and armed conflict has been a regular item on the Security Council’s agenda. A great deal of progress has been made to implement the provisions of the relevant resolutions. However, a great deal more remains to be done, especially as the nature of armed conflict threatening the maintenance of international peace and security has metamorphosed significantly during the past decade. This is evident from the Secretary- General’s reports on this subject, and the comments made by several delegations during our debate today. India has been a strong supporter of peacekeeping operations mandated by the Security Council. Over 160,000 Indian troops have served so far under the blue flag in all corners of the globe. The experience that we have acquired during the course of that service makes us acutely conscious that adequate resources are still not being made available to fulfil the mandate of Security Council resolutions on this subject. Specifically, we call for more child protection advisors to be deployed in peacekeeping operations. During such operations, especially in recent times, United Nations peacekeepers from India have also come across the outrageous practice of children being used as combatants in armed conflicts, notably by so-called militia groups. There is a need for the Security Council to examine the implications of this phenomenon on the Council’s mandates for peacekeeping operations. In the wider framework of the subject of our debate today, we would encourage the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to continue to work with national authorities in developing capacities to deal with children in armed conflict. Support for the efforts of national authorities to ensure accountability should be a key focus area. The monitoring and reporting mechanism of the United Nations envisages the involvement of and close cooperation with the country concerned for its effective functioning, and can play a useful role in this regard. It is also important that United Nations access to non-State armed groups be carried under the cooperation framework between the United Nations and the Government concerned. It is imperative in this regard that action plans signed between the concerned Governments and the United Nations be implemented rigorously. United Nations disarmament, demobilization, and rehabilitation and security sector reform programmes, among others, must focus on guaranteeing the safe return of children and their reintegration into society. We believe that the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund can be used to formulate projects to focus on the reintegration of children affected by armed conflict. There is one issue regarding the report of the Secretary-General before us today (S/2013/245) on which my delegation would like to join others in expressing concern. Paragraph 16 of resolution 1379 (2001) requests the Secretary-General to report on situations that are on the Security Council’s agenda or that may be brought to the attention of the Security Council by the Secretary General, in accordance with Article 99 of the Charter, which specifically limit such issues to those that, in his opinion, “threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”. All subsequent resolutions, which draw upon paragraph 16 of resolution 1379 (2001), have reiterated this framework for the Secretary-General’s report. However, we note with concern that despite that clearly spelt-out mandate, the report of the Secretary- General includes issues that cannot be considered a threat to the maintenance of international peace and security, as laid down in Article 99 of the Charter. In our view, by going beyond its mandate, the Secretary-General’s report has the potential to divert our already scarce resources in dealing with the issue of children and armed conflict to areas beyond the parameters of Security Council resolutions on the subject. We request the Council to take note of this concern while considering the report. In conclusion, let me reiterate India’s strong support for the objectives set out in Security Council resolutions on the issue of children and armed conflict, and our continued commitment to helping achieve these objectives.

I now give the floor to the representative of Colombia.

First of all, I would like to thank you, Sir, for your invitation to participate in this debate and for the opportunity to present the comments of the Government of Colombia on a topic to which we ascribe the greatest importance. I wish to thank the Secretary-General for his report before us today (S/2013/245). In this regard, I recall that resolution 1612 (2005) provides for the implementation of the monitoring and reporting mechanism and the presentation of reports in close consultation with the concerned countries and, therefore, with their Governments. In that regard, we emphasize that such close consultations should be held at all steps in the process, in particular in the phase prior to the submission of draft reports to New York. For these reasons — and in view of the agreement reached between the Colombian Government and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflicts that, in implementing the monitoring and reporting mechanism pursuant to resolution 1612 (2005), any dialogue between representatives of illegal armed groups and the Special Representative, the United Nations country team or task force on monitoring and reporting is possible only with the express prior consent of the Government of Colombia  — it is with concern that we note that the practice of establishing unauthorized contact with such illegal armed groups continues. I therefore reiterate the statement made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs at a meeting of the Security Council on this issue on 12 July 2011: “It is entirely naive to think that the United Nations or any other multilateral organization can change the minds of terrorist organizations that for decades have struck fear in civilian populations, that profit from illicit activities, that utilize terror as a modus operandi, that use children as their tools to those ends and that have always ignored national and international norms.” (S/PV.6581, p. 8) Against this backdrop, it is important for the Colombian Government that the monitoring mechanism strengthen international pressure on such terrorist groups to cease their violent acts and their activities against children rather than creating procedures that may legitimize those groups as political interlocutors. Colombia reiterates that the role of the United Nations role regarding issues related to children and armed conflict should, given the gravity and importance of the issue, an approach that prioritizes cooperation and prevention. Calls for the Secretariat to enter into contact with illegal armed groups even as it seeks to establish punitive mechanisms are contradictory and discourage countries that are working to implement action plans and develop their national capacities to prevent, combat and tackle such problems. On the other hand, it is important, in examining such situations, to always bear in mind that the work of the Security Council should focus on those conflict situations that pose a threat to international peace and security. It is therefore imperative to distinguish them clearly from situations that are not on the Council’s agenda. Every situation must be dealt with individually, and appropriate responses must be sought for the specific circumstances and context of each case. In strengthening the Council’s consideration of the issue of children in armed conflict, denunciation and naming can be useful tools, but they are not completely effective. In that sense, both the Council and its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict should evaluate the effectiveness of existing mechanisms in terms of their contribution to strengthening States’ national capacities. That has been a central preoccupation of the Colombian Government, which understands that the defence of children involves not only an indisputable constitutional mandate, but an ethical and moral imperative. Finally, taking into account the context of this debate, I would like to note the possibility of establishing a sanctions mechanism related to children and armed conflict. We should note that sanctions make sense only when applied to Governments that do not respond to the international community’s calls for action. However, the implementation of sanctions mechanisms with respect to non-State armed actors in situations not on the Council’s agenda could lead to various complications related to the legitimacy of the mandates, the effectiveness of the actions and the credibility of the Organization. It is important that the Council bear in mind the fundamental elements of States and their security before implementing new mechanisms the consequences of which are not yet clear. Attempts to establish targeted sanctions mechanisms raise questions of all kinds, particularly questions related to illegal armed groups that have carried out terrorist activities and respect neither domestic nor international law. In that context, how does the Council expect to implement its sanctions? On the other hand, under which parameters would such sanctions be enforced against illegal armed groups? What types of issues would be addressed and what types of Government actions would be taken into account with regard to prevention and cooperation?

I give the floor to the representative of Chad.

Chad has lengthy experience in managing and protecting child soldiers, based on the deepest respect for its national legislation and international obligations, as it has suffered the tribulations of many civil wars and wars in neighbouring countries. Various so-called “politico-military” movements have been a feature of my country. In other words, Chad is indeed a post- conflict country, but it is also a country that has endeavoured to achieve stability through an ongoing national reconciliation policy and to build a country where the rule of law and democracy prevail. My country has also fulfilled its obligation to protect refugees from neighbouring countries, particularly children. The reconciliation policy reflects our concern for the fate of children as former combatants in armed movements and seeks to provide them with training aimed at returning them to civilian life. I take a moment to thank our bilateral and international partners, in particular UNICEF, Care International and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which have provided extremely valuable assistance on that front. However, we have never denied the accidental presence, in the past, of children in our armed forces. Mistakes in determining the ages of children were on occasion inevitable in that the State infrastructure was at an embryonic stage. Having said that, in 2011 it became possible to state that there are no longer any child soldiers in Chad. My country would therefore have been de-listed from the annex to the report of the Secretary-General had it not been for the isolated cases of about 30 children from the Baba Laddé group, who returned from the Central African Republic following a reconciliation agreement. Those children have, in any case, been freed. My country has many young people and adults and does not need minors in its military. The paradox is that our armed forces remain on the Secretary-General’s list, generating an unfair denigration campaign against the Chadian national army, which carries out its international missions responsibly, with courage, dignity and respect for human rights, particularly the rights of the child. We are on that notorious blacklist owing simply to a process that began in 2012 and that is aimed at implementing, with our partners, an action plan that had not been completed. That process has been accelerated since the most recent visit of Ms. Zerrougui to N’Djamena in mid-May, during which a road map was signed in that connection. We rely on our partners in UNICEF to work actively beside us to implement the road map. If there is time, allow me to underline certain essential measures already undertaken by my Government aimed at accelerating Chad’s de-listing from the list and at preventing any violations against children. First, in early July we improved the aforementioned legislation on prohibiting the recruitment of minors by adopting a draft directive, worked out with the support of UNICEF. A programme of work has been agreed upon with respect to the joint verification, involving the Chadian national army and a United Nations task force, of the situation in the eight military regions. The first pilot joint mission will launch activities in two regions on 24 and 30 June. Other regions will follow in July and August. Draft legislation on child protection, including civilian status and penalties for recruitment and the use of children under the age of 18, was submitted to the National Congress on 31 May. It has also created a department on child protection within the national army. Once again, it appears unfair to us that, for procedural reasons, our entire army should be denigrated and its reputation tarnished in the eyes of the world. We call for the clear-sightedness of those who defend the rights of children and who, it is certain, are playing a role that we respect, but who appear to assess the situation in Chad more unfavourably than it deserves to be, thereby exacerbating the situation, which is much healthier than that in many countries throughout the world. In conclusion, I reaffirm that there are no longer any child soldiers in the Chadian national army or the Chadian contingent in Mali and that Chad is cooperating actively with the United Nations to ensure that the Chadian national army no longer appears on the Secretary-General’s list. Chad respects and will continue to respect its commitment to the rights of the child in armed conflict. Allow me to conclude by congratulating you, Sir, on having organized this important debate. I also congratulate all of the eminent persons present on their important and relevant comments which have been closely followed by the Chadian delegation.

I now give the floor to the representative of Canada.

I thank you, Sir, for the opportunity to address the Security Council on behalf of the Friends of Children and Armed Conflict. The 38 Member States that make up this informal network, representing all five regional groups of the United Nations, are Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Liechtenstein, Mali, Mexico, Namibia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Africa, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uruguay. The Friends of Children and Armed Conflict thank the United Kingdom presidency for holding this debate and thank the Special Representative and the other briefers for providing the Security Council with timely information and analysis on the impact of armed conflicts on children around the world. In that regard, however, the Group of Friends regrets that today’s debate could not be held in an open format, as has been the case in the past. The traditional open debate provides all Member States with the opportunity to publicly reconfirm their commitments to the protection of children in situations of armed conflict throughout the world and to provide advice and recommendations to the Security Council for further concerted action from the wider membership on an issue relevant to all of us. The 38 Member States that constitute the Group of Friends on Children in Armed Conflict reaffirm their support in the strongest terms for the work that the Security Council has undertaken to ensure the full protection of children from the grave violations committed against them in armed conflict. Since 1999, the Security Council has established a robust system of protection that has been tirelessly implemented by the Council’s partners in the field, including the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, UNICEF, the task forces and civil society organizations. Part of the system of protection is ensuring that the Security Council is seized of and receives information concerning the situation of children affected by armed conflict. In that regard, the Group of Friends welcomes the recent annual report of the Secretary-General (S/2013/245) on children and armed conflict and reiterates the importance of such annual reporting, so that the Council may better protect children affected by conflict and hold perpetrators to account. (spoke in French) The Group of Friends welcomes the recent signing of action plans by the Governments of Myanmar, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In that regard, the Group of Friends calls on Member States to establish local groups of friends, such as the one established in Kinshasa, to support the Governments concerned and the United Nations in the implementation of the action plans. We applaud the work of the Special Representative to promote the conclusion and implementation of action plans with listed Governments and now call on the Special Representative to redouble her efforts with non-State actors. The Group of Friends further urges the relevant Member States to allow for dialogue between the United Nations and non-State actors in order to influence them to cease violations against children and conclude and implement action plans to that end. The Group of Friends also wishes to see greater transparency in action plans and calls for signatory parties to widely disseminate action plan commitments to facilitate community-wide efforts to monitor and support implementation efforts. (spoke in English) The next true test of the Council’s work in halting violations against conflict-affected children is how the Council deals with the category of parties listed by the Secretary-General as persistent perpetrators. Those parties to conflict, which chronically violate children’s rights and which have been listed in the Secretary- General’s annexes for more than five years, make up more than half of the parties listed by the Secretary- General. The Group of Friends reiterates its call for the Council to ensure that grave violations against children trigger the imposition of sanctions in all the relevant Sanctions Committees, to take decisive action against persistent perpetrators and, in those cases where there is no designated Sanctions Committee, to consider how to address that gap through proactive means. We welcome the recent discussions in the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict on options for increasing pressure on persistent perpetrators. In that regard, we call for a Secretary-General’s report specifically addressing perpetrators and how to hold them accountable. The Group of Friends also calls on the Council to ensure that the Special Representative regularly briefs the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, the Council’s relevant Sanctions Committees and the Security Council directly, especially on emerging situations such as Libya, Syria, the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and northern Mali. (spoke in French) Concrete measures for holding perpetrators to account for grave violations against children continue to be rare, as indicated by the Secretary-General in his annual report; yet, holding perpetrators to account is a crucial element for protecting children’s rights. The Group of Friends encourage Member States to strengthen national accountability mechanisms and judicial capacities, including by developing child- protection legislation that criminalizes all serious violence perpetrated against children. In those cases where national authorities are unwilling or unable to hold perpetrators to account, due, for instance, to a lack of capacity or resources, international justice mechanisms, including through the work of the International Criminal Court or ad hoc and mixed tribunals, can and should play a complementary role. Another means by which accountability measures can be reinforced, and by which the Council can make a direct positive difference in the lives of the world’s children caught in conflict, is to strengthen provisions for the protection of children in all the relevant Security Council mission mandates. The Group of Friends further calls for the Council to ensure that child- protection advisers are deployed in sufficient numbers to carry out a mission’s child-protection tasks, and that they have direct access to senior mission leadership.

I now give the floor to the observer of the European Union. Mr. Vrailas: I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union (EU) and its member States. Croatia, Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Iceland, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia align themselves with this statement. We thank today’s briefers for their presentations and express our appreciation to Special Representative Zerrougui for her highly esteemed work. Her tireless efforts have contributed to the advancement of the children and armed conflict agenda. We would like to assure her of the EU’s strong support for her mandate. We welcome the opportunity to speak today. Acknowledging the practical reasons for the format of the debate at this meeting, we look forward to returning in the future to the practice of addressing the subject in open debates. The annual report of the Secretary General (S/2013/245) reminds us of the challenges ahead. We have seen progress in some areas — for example, with the increasing number of action plans. Still, children in too many countries are suffering terribly from armed conflict. The situation in Syria is of a special and most urgent concern. Children there have been suffering for more than two years from the most heinous crimes. In addition, the difficult situation of children in Mali and the Central African Republic has been highlighted in the Secretary-General’s report. The widespread targeting of schools and their military use is very worrisome. Children are threatened when schools or hospitals are being attacked or occupied by armed groups. We strongly urge conflict parties to end that practice. The report also highlights the growing practice of States to arrest and detain children, making them particularly vulnerable to sexual violence. Urgent action is required to prevent and address sexual violence against children, including by providing appropriate and accessible services for their rehabilitation and reintegration, which demonstrates the importance of the Security Council’s work on the issue. We also support the work of the delegation of Luxembourg as it chairs the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. We welcome today’s presidential statement (S/PRST/2013/8). In order to achieve further progress, we would refer to the valuable findings of the recent seminar organized by Liechtenstein and the non-governmental organization Watchlist. Let me just mention some of those findings. Briefings by the Special Representative of the Secretary- General to Security Council, its Working Group and the relevant Sanctions Committees, such as the one she made following her visit to Syria, should be a regular feature. In addition, the Working Group toolbox should in general be fully applied to perpetrators of grave violations. Those recommendations go hand in hand with those in the report of the Secretary-General and would contribute to adequately addressing the issue of persistent perpetrators. Still, 29 parties have been listed for a period of five years or more. The instrument of regular Security Council Working Group field trips would help in the follow-up on the implementation of action plans, as would well-coordinated local networks of Governments and United Nations actors. In that regard, it is also essential that Member States allow the United Nations unconditional access to armed non-State actors. The International Criminal Court (ICC) continues to play a crucial role in fighting impunity. Serious crimes of international concern should be dealt with by national judicial systems, but when they are unwilling or unable to do so, States parties to the Rome Statute should consider referring those situations to the ICC. Further institutional dialogue between the ICC and the Security Council and effective follow up of referrals made by the Security Council to the ICC could assist in ensuring accountability. As it is crucial to implement existing commitments, I would like to provide the Council with an update on the EU’s strong commitment. The EU and its member States spent €200 million between 2009 and 2012 on assistance related to children and armed conflict in the countries listed in the Secretary-General’s report. The EU is also systematically addressing child protection in all of the EU’s crisis-management missions and operations. For example, the EU has adopted minimum training standards and in 2013 introduced a specialized training programme on children and armed conflict for its diplomatic staff, in cooperation with UNICEF. EU training missions, the most recent one being in Mali, provide training to armed forces on, inter alia, humanitarian and human rights law. Children have the right to be free from fear and want. Let us make sure that they can enjoy their childhoods, so that they will become strong, self-confident and responsible members of our communities.

I now give the floor to the representative of the Syrian Arab Republic.

I now give the floor to the representative of Myanmar.

At the outset, I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for organizing this meeting on the important issue of children and armed conflict. We would also like to express our appreciation to the Secretary-General for providing us with the report contained in document S/2013/245. And I take this opportunity to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ms. Leila Zerrougui, for her positive commendation of the Government of Myanmar on the important steps it has taken to better protect children. Indeed, my delegation is pleased to see many positive conclusions about my own country in the Secretary-General’s report. The very first paragraph on Myanmar highlights the fact that “[i]n 2012 there were encouraging commitments and actions by the Government of Myanmar to prevent and end grave violations against children” (S/2013/245, para. 99). It also acknowledges that the number of cases of the recruitment and use of children by the national armed forces has decreased, thanks to prevention measures and strengthened recruitment processes. That progress was the result of the wide-ranging democratic reform measures instituted by the new Government just over two years ago, which included its renewed commitment and efforts towards promoting and protecting the fundamental rights of the people, including women and children. The signing on 27 June 2012 of an action plan between the Government of Myanmar and the United Nations country team was a historic development that demonstrated the Government’s firm commitment to ending the recruitment and use of underage children by the armed forces. The implementation of our action plan has gained momentum with the launching, in cooperation with the country task force on monitoring and reporting, of an awareness campaign among the armed forces, at various levels, designed to increase understanding of the laws and regulations prohibiting underage recruitment. There were reports of a slight rise in the number of complaints of underage recruitment in 2012 compared to 2011, but that was due not to actual recruitment increases but to enhanced awareness of the complaint mechanism and a newfound freedom of expression. Just seven months after the signing of the action plan, a total of 66 underage recruits were allowed to demobilize and reintegrate with their parents on two occasions. During 2012 alone, 538 potential underage recruits were rejected at the screening stage. The number of demobilized so far may not yet match the list of suspected underage recruits provided by the country task force, as it is a time-consuming job to check and verify them thoroughly around the country; the list may also include fabricated complaints. My delegation fully recognizes that many challenges remain to be addressed. There may still be some cases of individuals who are guilty of illegal recruitment, intentionally or unintentionally. The Government does not condone such individual violators. We must therefore distinguish isolated cases of certain individuals from the policy of the armed forces as a whole, which have laws prohibiting the recruitment of underage children for military services. With regard to access to operational regiments, since the action plan was launched the Government has already allowed the country task force to make at least 10 visits to monitor regional commands, basic military training facilities, military recruitment centres and mobile recruitment teams. Visits to some areas have been put on hold due to the absence of many officers and other ranks from their regiments on ongoing national duty for overriding reasons of defence, security, disaster prevention or resettlement. The absence in large numbers of the rank and file does not make for effective or meaningful monitoring visits. As my delegation has stated time and again, the best way to enhance the protection of children in armed conflict is to address the root causes of those conflicts by promoting peace, national reconciliation, sustainable development, poverty eradication and the protection of human rights. The reported violations took place during military clashes in Kachin State more than a year ago. That fighting is now a thing of the past. The guns have fallen silent in every corner of the country since the Government recently reached ceasefire agreements with almost all the armed groups, including the remaining group of the Kachin Independence Organization, which has also struck an agreement with the Government in recent peace talks. Just last week the Government granted humanitarian access to Kachin State for the first time in a year. We hope that the spread of peace and security will eliminate the alleged violations in both our armed forces and non-State armed groups. The action plan and renewed commitment are now in place to further address the issue. The Government needs greater encouragement from the United Nations, with full understanding of our challenges, in order to speed up its implementation. If the United Nations can increase its support for Myanmar’s efforts to achieve full implementation of the action plan, and de-list Myanmar’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw Kyi, Myanmar could become a model success story of the ending of the use of child soldiers. To that end, Myanmar looks forward to working closely with the Office of the Special Representative and the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict.

I now give the floor to the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

I would like to ask the interpreters to listen carefully to my statement, as I will try to skip details in view of the limited time available. At the outset, I would like to say how pleased I am, Sir, to see you presiding over the Security Council for the month of June. My delegation is grateful to the Council for putting on its agenda an issue that particularly affects the Democratic Republic of the Congo, that of children and armed conflict. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the Secretary-General for his latest report on the issue (S/2013/245). And I thank Ms. Leila Zerrougui, Mr. Hervé Ladsous, Ms. Yoka Brandt and Mr. Gregory Ramm for their work on the problem of children and armed conflict. On 28 June 2012 Mrs. Radhika Coomaraswamy, the former Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, stated in her annual report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva that “thousands of children continue to be killed, maimed, abducted, subjected to sexual violence, denied humanitarian access and deprived of health care in many countries” (A/HRC/21/38, para. 2). She went on to say that in several countries children were also “used as suicide bombers and human shields”. That description corresponds exactly to the purgatory that Congolese children endure daily owing to the presence of various foreign and domestic armed groups, particularly the rebels of the Mouvement du 23 Mars (M-23), the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda, the Allied Democratic Forces-National Army for the Liberation of Uganda and others who plunder the western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In fact, the language of weapons and violence has resurfaced in North Kivu since the M-23 rebels who deserted from the ranks of the Congolese army in April 2012 turned their weapons on the regular army. The conflict situation currently prevailing in that part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and more specifically in and around North Kivu, has led to a resurgence in violence and crime, the primary victims of which are women and children. Massive displacements due to violence continue in North Kivu, where it is well known that many children are kidnapped by the rebel forces of M-23 and pressed into forced labour for mining. Children are also used to break up rocks to make gravel in quarries. Once broken up, coltan is used in electronic devices. The highly radioactive nature of that substance explains the frequency of respiratory ailments, which are sometimes fatal, among those who handle it. Many Congolese children have been used to transport and mine coltan. Those who survive are traumatized by the acts of vandalism and barbarity committed against them by M-23 rebels. Thousands of child victims of violent attacks by M-23 have suffered serious physical and psychological damage. Adequate reparations are needed to cover emotional damage, for example in cases of depression, loss of self-esteem, stress, involuntary abortions for young girls who were raped, infant mortality and sexually transmitted infections. In areas affected by insecurity, education has been suspended because dozens of classrooms have been destroyed, and some schools are overcrowded due to the arrival of displaced children or are serving as temporary housing for persons displaced within their own countries. My delegation is speaking on behalf of children whose families, usually in dire economic straits, cherish the hope that concrete steps will be taken to provide them with reparations. In terms of education, children displaced by fighting have virtually no access to school, which makes them more vulnerable to being recruited by armed groups. We also note that many schools have not resumed classes following the clashes provoked by armed groups in South Kivu. Moreover, it remains true that in recent years the armed forces and non-State armed groups have used schools and universities for military purposes in violation of the right to education laid out in the main international instruments on human rights. Their acts constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. My delegation takes this opportunity to appeal to the armed groups operating in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to put an end to their mistreatment of children and to comply with their international obligation to protect the safety and rights of children. In terms of security, the Security Council must take into account the protection of children’s rights, including in peace negotiations, and the urgent need to end impunity for crimes against children. It must also support the development of programmes and policies to protect children and improve their living conditions. In conclusion, my delegation protests the intentional and generalized targeting of schools, teachers and students as a tactic of war. In his 2013 annual report on children and armed conflict (S/2013/245), the Secretary-General recognizes that the military use of schools is widespread. Of the 22 cases covered in the report, 19 involve violations related to education, including schools being bombed and razed by the warring parties and students and education personnel being threatened, kidnapped and killed. Finally, my delegation welcomes the Security Council’s commitment to working for the protection of children from serious violations committed against them in armed conflict.

I now give the floor to the representative of the Central African Republic.

Today’s agenda item on the plight of children in times of conflict provides me with the opportunity to congratulate you, Mr. President, on your country’s accession to the presidency of the Council for this month and to assure you of my delegation’s support during your presidency. I take this opportunity to reiterate my gratitude to your predecessor, the Permanent Representative of Togo, who carried out his work in an exemplary manner last month while presiding over the Council. I express our gratitude to Luxembourg, represented by Ms. Sylvie Lucas and the Deputy Prime Minister, and which chairs the important Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. I also thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue, Under-Secretary-General Ladsous, UNICEF and Save the Children, which is indeed doing exemplary work on this issue that is so important for humankind. The agenda item under discussion today is a crucial issue for us, as it relates to children and the future of humankind and of our shared world, which must be protected from threats, particularly in conflict. The situation concerning children in the Central African Republic, which improved slightly in 2012, has once again become alarming and even critical since the crisis that led to regime change on 24 March. Indeed, whether it is the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), children enrolled in the various rebel groups, or simply those deprived of education because of the war, the children of the Central African Republic are experiencing severe hardships that compromise both their future and their lives. In the case of the LRA, attacks often target schools, where the rebels recruit children for use as child soldiers or to carry loot and stolen and pillaged items if they are boys or as sex slaves and cooking staff if they are girls. It is the same for other rebel groups, in particular the Séléka, which has recruited children for the same tasks. What is distressing is that even those previously removed from conflict and who have passed through transition centres and returned to their family and social environment are recruited again. These children, including street children in cities, have not been not spared forced or voluntary recruitment. While the proper place for children is and remains in their family, at school, on the playground or at recreation centres, those affected by conflict are enrolled in so-called self-defence militia to protect their village, becoming choice targets in conflict. Those fleeing into the bush with their parents to avoid being killed are exposed to the weather, mosquitoes and wild beasts and risk certain death. Meanwhile, schools, if they are not destroyed, simply become barracks where tables, benches and textbooks are used for firewood. What kind of a world do we live in? Teachers themselves try to shelter in the bush to save their own lives and those of their family members. This sad picture, as I just said, ruins any hope of building a peaceful country, as its future workforce will not be adequately trained or educated. The scourge can be contained or ended in the Central African Republic only if we build a State of law that respects and guarantees rights and freedoms, including those of children; create a peaceful environment where families can do their best to create a decent life for themselves with a view to promoting the healthy emotional and physical development of the child; and make school a second venue for socialization, after the family, by ensuring that it remains status-neutral and protected from conflict and that its facilities and property are not occupied, vandalized or destroyed by belligerents; and only if the State, civil society and non-governmental organizations mobilize financial, human and logistical resources to that end. That is why a reasonable share of the budgets of these moral and physical entities must be set aside and increased each year for children and their development. The Central African Republic, a fragile country and victim of recurrent conflict, must break the cycle of rebellion if it wishes to build a State of law and effectively preserve its achievements, and do its all to comply with international standards in order to protect children in their lifestyle and environment. That is why we express the desire to strengthen our cooperation with the United Nations, UNICEF and non-governmental organizations involved in the issue in order to find ways and means to eradicate the scourge. If, as the saying goes, “the child is the father of man”, in the future we must spare no effort to protect children if we want this to be a world of peace, security and, above all, development.

There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.