Children and Armed Conflict

  • 11 February 2020

    Children and Armed Conflict Briefing

    What's in Blue

    Tomorrow (12 February) the Security Council will hold a high-level briefing on “Integrating child protection into peace processes to resolve conflict and sustain peace”. The meeting, initiated by Belgium, the chair of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict...

  • February 2020

    Children and Armed Conflict

    Monthly Forecast

    As Council president in February and the chair of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, Belgium is planning a high-level briefing on “Integrating child protection into peace processes to resolve conflict and sustain peace”, to be presided over by the country’s Foreign Minister, Philippe Goffin. Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde are expected to be in attendance, and King Philippe will most likely make a statement. The anticipated briefers are Secretary-General António Guterres, AU Peace and Security Commissioner Smaïl Chergui and Jo Becker, chair of the advisory board of the NGO network Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict. On the same day as the briefing, there will be a related high-level event to launch the practical guidance for mediators to protect children in situations of armed conflict. A presidential statement is a possible outcome.

  • Tomorrow (26 November), Security Council members will hold an Arria-formula meeting on how to better support children once they have been separated from armed forces and armed groups. In this regard, the meeting will focus on how bridging the “humanitarian-development-peace”...

  • 1 August 2019

    Children and Armed Conflict Open Debate

    What's in Blue

    Tomorrow (2 August) the Security Council will hold an open debate on children and armed conflict, which will be chaired by Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz. Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba will present the Secretary-General’s annual...

  • August 2019

    Children and Armed Conflict

    Monthly Forecast

    The Council is expected to hold an open debate on children and armed conflict in August. The debate will focus on the Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict, which was circulated at the end of July. The open debate will be chaired by Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz. Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba will present the Secretary-General’s annual report. Other speakers are likely to include the Executive Director of UNICEF, Henrietta Fore; Mariatu Kamara, UNICEF Canada’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict; and Majok Peter Awan, a former child soldier and currently a UN child protection officer.

  • Tomorrow morning (12 February) at 10 am in Conference Room 6 there will be an open Arria-formula meeting on the protection of children affected by armed conflict in contexts where humanitarian space is shrinking, with a specific focus on the...

  • Tomorrow (26 October), Poland, in partnership with Bolivia, France, Germany and South Africa, will organise an Arria-formula meeting on the plight and rights of children born of wartime sexual violence. The briefers include Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual...

  • On Monday (9 July), the Council will hold a high-level open debate on children and armed conflict with the theme, “Protecting Children Today Prevents Conflict Tomorrow”. The meeting will be chaired by Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. Special Representative for...

  • July 2018

    Children and Armed Conflict

    Monthly Forecast

    In July, the Council will hold a high-level open debate on children and armed conflict with the theme, “Protecting Children Today Prevents Conflict Tomorrow”. Sweden, the chair of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, has chosen to focus on how protecting children affected by armed conflict can contribute to conflict prevention and sustaining peace. The meeting will be chaired by Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba will present the Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict circulated on 27 June. Other speakers include the executive director of UNICEF, Henrietta Fore, and Yenny Londoño, a civil society representative from Colombia. A resolution is expected to be adopted during the debate.

  • This afternoon (7 May), Council members will hold an Arria-formula meeting on “Ending and Preventing Grave Violations against Children through Action Plans: Best Practices from African States”. The Arria-formula meeting has been organised by Poland in partnership with Côte d’Ivoire,...

  • 20 November 2017

    Open Debate and Resolution on Human Trafficking

    What's in Blue

    Tomorrow (21 November), the Security Council will hold an open debate on trafficking in persons in conflict situations, organised by Italy. Secretary-General António Guterres, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Yuri Fedotov, and Special Rapporteur on...

  • November 2017

    In Hindsight: Children and Armed Conflict

    Monthly Forecast

    The children and armed conflict agenda has had a difficult few years. Increasingly complex crisis have led to a deteriorating situation for children in conflict situations and a rise in violations against them.

  • Tomorrow (31 October), the Security Council will have an open debate on children and armed conflict focused on the Secretary-General’s annual report on this issue. The debate will be presided over by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International...

  • This report covers key developments during 2016 and through mid-October 2017. It pays particular attention to the role of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, with an account of its evolution since it was established in 2006, and highlights the activities of the Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

  • 12 October 2017

    Arria-Formula Meeting on Attacks on Schools

    What's in Blue

    Tomorrow morning (13 October), France, Italy, Sweden and Uruguay are organising an Arria-formula meeting on the issue of attacks on schools. The briefers will be Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba; Joy Bishara, one of the female...