Attachments
Summary
The present report, submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) and subsequent resolutions, is the eighth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It covers the period from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2022 and the information provided focuses on the six grave violations committed against children, the perpetrators thereof and the context in which the violations took place.
The report sets out the trends and patterns of grave violations against children by all parties to the conflict and provides details on progress made in addressing grave violations against children, including through the implementation of action plans and other child protection commitments.
The report concludes with a series of recommendations to end and prevent grave violations against children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and improve the protection of children.
I. Introduction
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The present report, submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) and subsequent resolutions, covers the period from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2022. It is the eighth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 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 Democratic Republic of the Congo and provides details of the progress made to end and prevent such violations since the previous report (S/2020/1030) and the adoption by the Working Group of its conclusions on the situation of children and armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (S/AC.51/2020/10). It also contains information on progress and challenges in the dialogue with parties to the conflict. Where possible, parties responsible for grave violations are identified. In annex I to the most recent report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (A/76/871-S/2022/493), the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) remained listed for sexual violence against children under the list of parties that have taken measures aimed at improving the protection of children, while 12 armed groups continued to be listed for one or more violations under the list of parties that have not put in place such measures.
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The information contained in the present report was verified, through the monitoring and reporting mechanism on children and armed conflict, by the United Nations country task force on monitoring and reporting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is co-chaired by the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The ability of the country task force to verify information on violations was at times hampered by security constraints, the activities of armed groups, the “state of siege” in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces and ongoing military operations by FARDC against armed groups. Public health threats such as the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and measures related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic during the reporting period have also posed serious challenges with regard to accessing locations and verifying incidents. Consequently, the information contained in the present report does not represent the full extent of grave violations committed against children in the country, and the actual number of violations is likely higher. Where incidents were committed earlier but verified only during the reporting period, that information is qualified as relating to an incident that was verified at a later date.