May I Ask a Question, Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict?”
Moderator of the Briefing: Mr. Eric Falt, Director, Outreach Division, Department of Public Information welcomed everyone and Introduced the Program with a quote by Secretary General Ban Ki Moon “The protection of children in armed conflict is a litmus test for The United Nations and the organization’s Member States it is a moral call and deserves to be placed above politics” at the Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict, July 2008. He went on to say that this issue of ensuring safety of children unfortunately is not always placed above politics and instead that children are used as human shields, front line targets forced to fight as child soldiers.
- The Briefing Started with a documentary which you can link to here:
http://www.un.org/children/
CHILDREN AND CONFLICT IN A CHANGING WORLD
Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, was appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2006, and re-appointed by UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon in 2007. Started by speaking about Grace on the 29 April there was an open debate at the Security Council and Grace Apollo spoke to the Council. She shared her story of being a young girl whose class was kidnapped in Northern Uganda with all of her classmates by the LRA. The head of the school an Italian nun followed them into the bush and was able to persuade them to give half the girls back. Grace was not in that half she was kept there and made into a combatant and a slave for many years until she escaped. She went back to Gulu where she continued with her studies and onto university there too. She is now at Clarke University doing her MA. She shared her story in graphic detail to the Council. Applause is not allowed in the Security Council but they applauded her for a long time. Her story is one that highlights the need to do something about children and armed conflict. The office Ms. Coomaraswamy works in was created after Ms. Graça Machel’s report on Children and Armed Conflict in 1996 and the commitment of the international community to create a post at the at the highest level of the UN Under Secretary General post to push these issues forward. The office from the beginning with Mr. Olara A. Otunnu (appointed in 1997) her predecessor and now Ms. Coomaraswamy mainly focuses on fighting impunity for crimes against children. As it is the perpetrators who decide whether children become soldiers or not. So to aim towards the perpetrators they can create a deterrent affect against this around the world.
When the international court filed it’s first case on the issue of recruitment and use of child soldiers one of the first things Ms. Coomaraswamy did was file an amicus which calls for a broad interpretation of the term child soldiers so that children who are not just on the front lines or commanders and combatants can get the protection of the law. This she will have to defend in September. Another way they have fought against impunity is through Security Council Resolution 1612. Her predecessor first brought this to the Security Council this is the only issue on Human Rights in which the Security Council is very deeply engaged. Mr. Otunnu used to write an annual report he gave to the Council and then presented the issue of the list of shame which lists the parties that use and recruit children especially. The list has been given since 1997 and the Security Council in 2005 set up a working group to monitor in more detail the persistent violators to move toward targeted measures and set up monitoring and reporting mechanism in areas where there is conflict. Ms. Coomaraswamy is working to expand the list of crimes against children to be recognized so that sanctions can be made to stop such crimes with expanded lists of shame to change what is going on. They have the full support of the Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on this issue.
Her office also advocates other issues relating to children in armed conflict. One being the reintegration of children by advocating for reintegration programs which are inclusive and community based and they support partners in the field in the process. These programs are for a period of two to three years so that children can learn skills and adapt back into their communities and full family support as well.
Ms. Coomaraswamy urges everyone to raise awareness of this issue so this can be stopped around the world.
When the audience posed questions Sondra Hernandez from Pathways to Peace suggested that the younger generation in USA finds violence in movies to be cool and that perhaps with more understanding they can come to realize the seriousness of this issue and help to change it. Ms. Coomaraswamy responded that indeed the moral outrage is not widespread as yet. She explained that one of the reasons children are recruited is because of an under developed concept of death. She pointed out that nothing is glamorous when the bullets start flying.
This is a very serious issue and reintegration is not easy, psychologically it is challenging as the children become old beyond their years and have to be assessed accordingly. Some girls have more challenges because they cannot fit into the traditional subservient roles after going through such atrocities. Ms. Coomaraswamy says though that UNICEF is bringing children to the table more and more to be part of suggesting policy changes. Also that children are surprisingly resilient even after facing such fearsome situations.
Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy talking with someone from UNHCR before leaving the Briefing.
- You can view a full UN web-cast of the briefing below:
21 May 09 Special Event: DPI/NGO Briefing - “May I ask a question, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict?” (Radhika Coomaraswamy).
[Webcast: Archived Video - English: 2 hours and 14 minutes ]
- an update of the strategic review after 10 years is below
There are many challenges on the world stage confronting children and using them for armed conflict is dangerous and sad. Ms. Coomaraswamy pointed out that the changing nature of war is adding to the complexity of reintegrating children back into communities once they have been rescued, escaped or the militants have changed their policies and let them go. In addressing peacebuilding programs that work to create ways to alleviate conflict and encourage dialogue it is hopeful that all those working to change things for the better will be able to do so for these children. To help our world it is important not to exploit children in such ways, instead it is important to nurture children to enable them to nurture our world.
Kymberly Schneider