“On my way to school, I fear suicide attacks, kidnapping and [I’m afraid] that someone might kill me. There is war in my country. People are killing children; we are not protected. And we don’t have proper schools. Lots of people got killed and there is no safe place for people.” Hemat*, 10, Afghanistan.
This is one child’s story, but as yesterday’s published UN Secretary-General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict shows, there are many more stories like this behind the statistics. Throughout 2019, the UN has verified over 25,000 grave violations against children – half of which were committed by non-state actors and a third by government and international forces. This amounts to approximately 70 recorded violations per day. With cases vastly underreported, and the difficulties of verifying all violations, the real number is likely to be much higher.
Yet the report delisted parties to conflict, including the Saudi-led Coalition and the Tatmadaw in Myanmar, despite confirmed violations in 2019.
What is the UN’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict?
15 years ago, in July 2005, the UN Security Council passed a resolution (SCR 1612) that requested the implementation of a Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) to review six categories of grave violations of children’s rights in armed conflict. These include killing and maiming of children, recruiting or using children by armed forces or armed groups, attacks against schools and hospitals, rape and other grave sexual violence, abduction and denial of humanitarian access.
Why is it important?
The establishment of the MRM was seen as a significant step towards reducing the levels of violations committed and strengthening the protection of children living in conflict. Its purpose is to increase compliance with international law, and change the behaviours of parties to conflict to stop and prevent violations from occurring.
It remains one of the most important instruments that monitor the impact of conflict on children, particularly as it seeks to hold perpetrators to account by listing them in its annex and working with them to create action plans on how to stop the violence committed towards children.
What’s happened with the 2020 report?
The UN Secretary-General has removed the Saudi-led Coalition from its annex despite the Coalition killing and injuring at least 222 children in Yemen, as well as being linked to at least four attacks on schools and hospitals. Yesterday’s airstrike on a car returning from a local market that killed 13 civilians, including four children, will be another case added to a long list of violations.
The report has also delisted the Tatmadaw in Myanmar for the recruitment and use of children, despite the UN having verified the recruitment of at least eight boys, in addition to the killing and maiming of children as well as sexual violence.
Other armed actors have also not been listed despite committing a verified pattern of grave violations. This includes Russian forces in Syria, international forces in Afghanistan and Israeli forces in the occupied Palestinian territory.
This follows a dangerous pattern that we have seen recently. In 2016, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon admitted that he would not list the Saudi-led Coalition for violations in Yemen because of the political pressure that was applied on him.
What can the UK government do?
The integrity and effectiveness of the UN Secretary-General’s annual report and MRM hangs by a thread. In order for it to be effective, the process of listing parties to conflict that commit violations must be free from politics, and always solely based on evidence.
If the report and its action plans lose credibility, and promote a sense of impunity and double standards, there will be no incentive for perpetrators to adhere to international law. This would have disastrous consequences for children living in armed conflict.
At the same time, undermining these critical UN tools and processes serves to undermine multilateralism, particularly at a critical juncture in global politics when the rules-based system and the institutions that underpin them are challenged.
As a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council and one of the biggest funders of the Office of the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict, the UK should lead the way in calling for an independent assessment on how the UN Secretary-General has implemented the listing and delisting criteria, and for the UN to develop a robust due diligence system. The increased transparency will help protect the Secretary-General from pressure by exposing the lobbying efforts by countries to protect parties who violate the law.
With its ambition to be a ‘global force for good’, the UK must also continue to champion international law and the importance of holding perpetrators of violence to account. Undermining the rules-based international system creates a culture of impunity and a lack of accountability. This would not have negative consequences for children in armed conflict, but also the government’s broader national interests in trade and cooperation on matters such as climate change, as well as media and religious freedom.
75 years ago, the UN was founded on principles that aim to maintain international peace and security, and promote human rights. Taking action to right the wrongs in this report is the first step in protecting children like Hemat* and standing up for the UN’s values in today’s world.
*Name changed for protection
