A/HRC/46/39
I. Introduction
1.
The present report covers the period from December 2019 to December 2020 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 on challenges
remaining on the children and armed conflict agenda. The Special Representative further
elaborates on her activities with regard to the request of the 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. In the report, she also elaborates on the impact of the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on her work and on ending and preventing grave
violations against children more broadly.
II. Working with human rights entities and mechanisms
2.
With a view to achieving the universal ratification of the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, the
Special Representative continued to advocate with Member States. On the occasion of the
anniversary of the Optional Protocol, on 25 May 2020, she issued, jointly with the Chair of
the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral on Violence against Children and the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual
exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child
sexual abuse material, a press release on protecting children from sale, sexual exploitation,
and recruitment and use in hostilities. Public events to mark the anniversary of the Optional
Protocol that the Special Representative had planned to attend in Brussels and Geneva were
cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
3.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Committee
continued to raise the situation of children affected by armed conflict in the national reviews
of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Special Representative continued to cooperate
with the Committee on the Rights of the Child and took note of the Committee’s observations
on the initial report of the State of Palestine (CRC/C/PSE/CO/1). The Committee urged the
State of Palestine, inter alia, to fully implement the Palestinian Security Forces Military
Service Act No. 8 of 2005 and article 46 (1) of the Palestinian Children’s Act, which prohibits
the recruitment and involvement of children in hostilities, and to take prompt measures to
investigate, prosecute and sanction the perpetrators in cases of the recruitment of children.
The Office of the Special Representative will continue to work with the United Nations on
the ground to support the implementation of these recommendations.
4.
The Special Representative continued to cooperate closely with the Human Rights
Council. On 2 July 2020, she made a virtual presentation of her report to the Council
(A/HRC/43/38). The Special Representative submitted contributions to the universal periodic
reviews of Lebanon, Myanmar and Somalia. During the interactive dialogue on Libya in
2020, for which her Office had previously submitted a contribution, States highlighted the
protection needs of children in the context of the armed conflict and reiterated the points
noted in the Special Representative’s submission. The Office of the Special Representative
will support Libya in implementing the recommendations relating to children and armed
conflict.
5.
The Special Representative continued her engagement with the special procedures of
the Human Rights Council to exchange information and identify common areas of concern.
In February 2020, she met with the commissioners of the Independent International
Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic and, in June 2020, she had a telephone
call with the Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar. In October
2020, the Special Representative met virtually with the Special Rapporteur on the sale and
sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other
2