'This really must stop': a more effective monitoring of violations against children in armed conflicts.

In today's conflicts, civilians are frequently the victims of egregious and horrific violations of their security and rights. Children and adolescents in particular regularly face sexual violence, mutilation, murder and torture, as well as the destruction of their families, communities and civilian infrastructure meant to support them. Children have the right to and require special protection from violent conflict, and this protection is essential to allow conflict-affected communities a chance to survive and rebuild a sustainable peace.

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In 1996, Graca Machel published a ground-breaking study, commissioned by the United Nations, on The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children. Her recommendations have led to significant improvement in policies and programmes to protect them, which include: the UN Security Council adopted five resolutions relating to the protection of children in armed conflicts, deeming this a matter of international peace and security; the United Nations appointed a Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict; and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) created the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict to respond to the need for better monitoring of and reporting on the impact of conflicts on children.

For many years, UN Member States and agencies and NGOs alike have agreed that one of the primary measures to protect children's security and rights during conflict is to develop an effective reporting system within the UN system. It should be able to communicate quickly and effectively the reality of abuses taking place on the ground to those who have the power to take action, such as the Security Council. Due to the absence of a well-coordinated system within the world Organization to monitor and report on violations against children, international policy makers often have insufficient knowledge to rely on as they devise plans that could be the first step in ending abuses. At the same time, many front-line workers who experience and witness abuses may feel disconnected, hopeless or ignored by the outside world.

Local NGOs with first-hand access to information about violations against children and adolescents often do not have a clear and effective channel to inform decision makers. At the same time, policy makers far removed from conflict situations often struggle to make decisions based on too little information. Sadly, without an adequate exchange of clear and reliable information, effective action to protect children's security and rights will always be limited.

NGOs and UN agencies both play central roles in gathering and depositing information with decision makers. The major shortcoming is that no rigorous and effective system exists to coordinate these activities, direct them through the necessary steps to achieve compliance and report on actions taken.

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In a June 2003 visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Security Council members, who came face to face with the grim reality of boys and girls being associated with fighting forces, stated on their return: "This really must stop." Stopping abuses is the goal of Council resolution 1539 (2004) of 22 April on children and armed conflict. It recognizes the critical role that information exchange plays in protecting children and calls on the Secretary-General to devise, preferably within three months, a systematic and comprehensive monitoring and reporting mechanism within the UN system. Such a mechanism would significantly enhance the ability of the international community to take immediate and decisive action to protect children affected by conflict. Drawing on its experience as the only global network that monitors and reports on violations against children in specific conflict situations, the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict has identified several key components for an effective mechanism.

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A comprehensive monitoring and reporting system must consist of two interrelated components. First, there must be the collection of primary, reliable information on basic violations so that the Security Council, national governments and others can take measures toward achieving compliance with international child protection standards. Second, there must be reliable information to assess the level of compliance by parties with their legal obligations to cease violations against and protect children in armed conflict. There is no sharp line between the two components because circumstances in the field are invariably fluid. The process of gathering information on basic violations may overlap in time and location with information on levels of compliance. As an example, during a meeting between a Security Council emissary and a party known to use or recruit child soldiers, the emissary might encounter information about new or other unreported violations against children. This information on basic violations, collected while verifying compliance, must be properly reported for appropriate action to be taken. As this indicates, the two components must be rigorously coordinated to maximize their effectiveness.

Moreover, experience also shows that abuses against children will end only when the first step of gathering information is followed by a clear plan on where to deposit the information, how to verify it, and what possible enforcement actions to take that would lead to compliance. More important, it is fundamental that those who deposit information see a clear connection between reporting an incident and remedial actions on behalf of children whose rights were violated. For example, it is particularly distressing to note that even in situations where the information about basic violations is well known and has been presented to UN agencies and Security Council members by concerned groups, neither the Council nor its representatives have taken action even to incorporate the issue into a resolution pertaining to the country.

Previous Council resolutions on children and armed conflict--1379 (2001) and 1460 (2003)--mandated it to pay particular attention to the security of children in deliberations on specific conflict situations. Significant gaps in this area are documented in the Watchlist's research. Undertaken between 1 November 2002 and 31 October 2003, the research revealed that only 9 of the 54 resolutions adopted by the Council address child security and protection, or just protection, and cover only five specific conflict situations. Similarly, of the 44 country-specific reports the Secretary-General presented to the Council during that same period, only 16 include substantive discussion on child protection. These reports address a total of eight conflict areas.

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Additionally, checks and balances are needed in any monitoring and reporting system to ensure that specific political interests of a UN Member State cannot block effective action to protect vulnerable children. An effective system will recognize that civil society organizations play an essential role in monitoring and reporting. Watchlist advocates having a clear role for civil society organizations at both national and international levels to provide an independent element that is crucial to an effective monitoring and reporting system. It would recognize the inherent capacity and expertise of local groups and collaborate with them respectfully, building systems that will endure past an initial international response.

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These are some of the key benchmarks against which Watchlist will measure specific proposals for an effective monitoring and reporting system. Most importantly, it must lead to specific actions and compliance with international standards of child protection.

For the Watchlist's country reports and further information on the implementation of Security Council resolutions on children and armed conflict, visit http://www.watchlist.org

Julia Freedson (left) is the coordinator and Clelia Peters (right) is a programme specialist for the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, an NGO network that since 2001 has been monitoring, reporting and disseminating information on violations against children in specific armed conflicts. Its country reports cover a full spectrum of threats and abuses children face in armed conflict. Watchlist links those with first-hand information on violations of children's security and rights with decision makers who can take action to end these violations.

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