Attachments
Summary
The present report, submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) and subsequent resolutions on children and armed conflict, is the sixth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Central African Republic and covers the period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2023.
The report documents the effects of conflict on children in the Central African Republic, highlighting trends and patterns of the six grave violations against children, namely, the recruitment and use of children, the killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, attacks on schools, hospitals and protected persons in relation to schools and/or hospitals, the abduction of children and denial of humanitarian access. Where available, the report contains information on perpetrators.
The report provides a series of recommendations addressed to all parties to the conflict aimed at ending and preventing grave violations against children and strengthening child protection in the Central African Republic.
I. Introduction
1. The present report, prepared pursuant to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) and subsequent resolutions on children and armed conflict, covers the period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2023. It is the sixth report of the Secretary-General on the situation of children affected by armed conflict in the Central African Republic to be submitted to the Security Council and its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. The report highlights trends and patterns of grave violations committed against children by parties to the conflict in the Central African Republic and provides details of the progress made to end and prevent such violations since the previous report (S/2021/882) and the adoption by the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict of its conclusions on the situation of children and armed conflict in the Central African Republic (S/AC.51/2022/5). Where possible, perpetrators of grave violations are identified.
2. In annex I to the most recent report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (A/77/895-S/2023/363, under the list of parties that have put in place measures during the reporting period aimed at improving the protection of children, Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique (FPRC), Mouvement patriotique pour la Centrafrique (MPC) and Union pour la paix en Centrafrique (UPC), as part of the former Séléka coalition, remained listed for the recruitment and use of children, the killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, and attacks on schools and hospitals. Furthermore, under the list of parties that have not put in place measures during the reporting period to improve the protection of children, local militias known as the anti-balaka and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) remained listed for the recruitment and use of children, the killing and maiming of children and rape and sexual violence against children. In addition, LRA also remained listed for the abduction of children.
3. Information contained in the present report was verified by the United Nations country task force on monitoring and reporting on grave violations against children in the Central African Republic, co-chaired by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Armed groups continued to be the main perpetrators of grave violations during the reporting period, including those that are signatories to the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in the Central African Republic. However, violations were also attributed to government forces and other security personnel. Military offensives led by the Armed Forces of the Central African Republic and other security personnel, attacks by armed groups against the Armed Forces and other security personnel and an increase in the indiscriminate use of explosive ordnance, as well as fighters living within their communities, hampered the ability of the country task force to safely monitor and report on grave violations. Therefore, the information contained in the present report does not represent the full extent of the grave violations committed against children in the Central African Republic, and the actual number of grave violations is likely higher