A/HRC/43/38
I. Introduction
1.
The present report covers the period from December 2018 to December 2019 and is
submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 73/155, in which the Assembly
requested the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed
Conflict to submit a report to the Human Rights Council on the activities undertaken in
fulfilment of her mandate, including information on her field visits, on progress achieved
and challenges remaining on the children and armed conflict agenda. In light of the thirtieth
anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Special Representative also
takes stock of its importance vis-à-vis the protection of conflict-affected children. The
Special Representative further elaborates on her activities with regard to the request of the
General Assembly in its resolution 72/245 to increase her engagement with States, United
Nations bodies and agencies, regional organizations and subregional organizations, and to
increase public awareness activities, including by collecting, assessing and disseminating
best practices and lessons learned, in accordance with her mandate.
II. Convention on the Rights of the Child: a stepping stone
towards protecting conflict-affected children
2.
Concern for children’s rights and their protection brought world leaders together in
November 1989 to make a historical commitment to children. The Convention on the
Rights of the Child is much more than a human rights convention for the protection of
children and the fulfilment of their rights. It is the recognition that children, including those
affected by armed conflict, are holders of human rights and should be considered not only
as objects of protection but as individuals who can be agents of change by exercising their
rights. It is the recognition that the strength of societies is tied to the flourishing of their
children.
3.
The Convention is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.
Childhood, as separate from adulthood and lasting until 18 years of age, is a protected time,
in which children grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity and without
discrimination. The Convention was instrumental in improving the lives of children around
the world, with millions of children being vaccinated, eating healthy, living safely and
going to school and protected by laws and policies recognizing their rights. Conflict
remains the greatest threat to those principles and to the realization of children’s rights. In
1996, Graça Machel, in her report on the impact of armed conflict on children (A/51/306),
emphasized the disparity between the horrific situations faced by children during conflict
and the promises made by Governments in the Convention. For children trapped in conflict
zones, the concept of childhood often stays a distant dream. During times of war, the
vulnerability of children is compounded by the violence and turbulence that accompany
conflict, and children are more than ever in dire need of specific protection.
4.
Human rights continue to apply to situations of armed conflict to the extent that they
are not supplanted by international humanitarian law. Accordingly, the Convention on the
Rights of the Child is at the heart of the international legal framework for the protection of
children in armed conflict and a guiding source of operative principles and standards for the
children and armed conflict mandate. Some of the rights contained in the Convention of
particular relevance to the situation of children in armed conflict are the right to life (art. 6),
the prohibition on recruitment and use of children in armed conflict (art. 38) and the right to
protection against all forms of physical, sexual or other forms of violence, abuse or
exploitation (arts. 19 and 32–38). In addition, article 39 provides that States parties shall
take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social
reintegration of a child victim of armed conflict.
5.
Furthermore, the mandate on children and armed conflict, particularly in advocating
for the reintegration of children, contributes to the overall realization of the rights of
children, such as the right to birth registration and to acquire a nationality (art. 7), to health
(art. 24), to an adequate standard of living (art. 27), to education (art. 28), and to rest and
leisure and to engage in play and in recreational and cultural activities (art. 31).
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