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On December 4, 2003 more than 600 students (Grades 5-12) from five countries came together at the United Nations for a Student Conference on War Affected Children. Many Philadelphia area students came by bus for the day and interacted with students from Canada, Dominican Republic, Ireland, Mexico, and various parts of the United States. Children affected by war is a big issue with young people. Gathering in Conference Room Four at the United Nations they learned about the plight of child soldiers and the work of the UN to help them. They viewed a film on child soldiers |
with Michael Douglas called What's Going On? They learned that there are about 300,000 children fighting today as child soldiers. In the afternoon they interacted with panelists facilitated by GEM President Wayne Jacoby to learn about War Affected Children from the perspective of a young man, Michael Kuch, caught up in the civil war in Sudan, to an older person, Eva Olsson a Holocaust Survivor. The day's program was coordinated through the UN Office on Children and Armed Conflict with the all day |
participation of Michelle Morris. A highlight of the day was meeting and interacting with Olara Otunnu, Special Representative fo the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict. They learned that the issue of child soldiers is complex and is only part of the problems affecting children in armed conflict.
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Children and Armed Conflict From the Security Council Meeting: January 20, 2004 |
| Children represent our future, our hope for one day to finally live in peace and prosperity. But how can we live in harmony while the rights of children are being violated? A few years ago, the issue of "children and armed conflicts" was added to the Security Council's agenda. Different innovative initiatives, such as advocacy, protection and rehabilitation, have been developed and ensured by different groups such as the NGO's (non-governmental organizations), UNICEF (United Nations Childrens Fund), and other civil groups to protect the children whose rights were being violated when exposed to armed conflict. The efforts deployed by the United Nations are: Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR), the creation of the Child Protection Advisors (CPA's) and the collaboration with parties to conflict. | Unfortunately, despite all these measures used to prevent mistreatment of children, the situation has not changed a lot. It remains grave and unacceptable. The special representative of the UN Secretary General for Children & Armed Conflicts, Olara A. Otunnu, recognized the following as part of the contimuing exploitation of children during his presentation to the Security Council on January 20, 2004: "Recruitment and use of children as soldiers; killing and maiming of children; grave sexual violence against children; the illicit exploitation of natural resources; abduction of children; and the denial of humanitarian access to children". In his report, Mr. Otunnu cited the different parties to armed conflicts, who continue to violate with impunity the rights of children by using them as child soldiers. 32 parties in 6 countires are already on |
the agenda of the Security Council and 22 parties in 9 countries are not on the agenda yet. Therefore, Mr. Otunnu proposed the establishment of a systematic and coordinated monitoring and reporting mechanism-divulging abuses committed against children by parties to armed conflict. The international as well as local and regional actors should work together in order to prevent the reoccurrence of child abuse and to have peace at last.
Contributed by Milly Barolette, |