NGOs heartfelt plea for better protection of children in armed conflict

A few weeks ago we signed a letter calling the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to publish a complete and acurate list of perpetrators of violations against children in his upcoming annual report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict (see more here).

After the release of this report, it is clear that our plea has not been heard. The IBCR is therefore joining 24 other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to express its disappointment in a new letter aimed to the Secretary-General. Its targets  in particular the significant disparities between the evidence presented in the report and the parties listed in its annexes for committing grave violations against children in armed conflicts.

The NGOs urge the Secretary-General to reconsider his decisions to de-list the Saudi-led coalition for killing and maiming children in Yemen, and the Tatmadaw for recruiting and using children in Myanmar. They also urge the Secretary-General to take steps to ensure that going forward, the annexes accurately and consistently reflect the evidence collected and verified by the UN’s Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM), in line with existing criteria. Additional evidence of other concerning disparities between the annual report and its annexes is included in an attached annex.

*The Tatmadaw is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (Burma).

Read the complete letter

Signatories list: 

1. Amnesty International
2. Bahrain Institute for Rights & Democracy (BIRD)
3. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
4. Center for Civilians in Armed Conflict (CIVIC)
5. Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
6. Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute
7. Defence for Children International (DCI)
8. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
9. Global Justice Center
10. Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
11. Human Rights Watch
12. International Bureau for Children’s Rights
13. International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP)
14. Médecins du Monde
15. Mwatana for Human Rights
16. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
17. Physicians for Human Rights
18. The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative
19. Salam for Democracy and Human Rights
20. Save the Children
21. Terre des Hommes International Federation
22. Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
23. Women’s Refugee Commission
24. World Federalist Movement – Institute for Global Policy (WFM-IGP)
25. World Vision International

© Michal Knitl 123RF