an Eldis Resource
Violations against children in armed conflicts: an action plan for monitoring, reporting and response
Action plan for protecting child rights and security in conflict
Authors:
; Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
Publisher:
Watchlist/Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, 2004
This paper presents a practical and detailed Action Plan for a system which monitors, documents and responds to violations of children’s rights, with the goal of protecting the security and rights of children in armed conflicts. It is aimed at UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, member states, UN agencies, NGOs and civil society organizations.
The plan identifies various activities that must be carried out at the local, country, regional and international levels and the actors that will carry out this work.
It states that national governments ultimately have the primary responsibility for protecting children in their territory, and it is assumed that all governments are strongly encouraged to step in to prevent and remedy violations according to their national and international obligations.
Action Plan points include:
- collect primary information on the six violations to be monitored under this system: abductions; recruitment and/or association with fighting forces; sexual violence; maiming and killing; targeting of schools and hospitals; denial of humanitarian access
- create reports and targeted recommendations for action in a variety of formats to be routed to different actors, including clear and realistic recommendations for actions to be taken by those actors
- develop responses and solutions with clear strategies and for taking action at the local, national, regional and international levels.
