ReliefWeb

posted on JUNE 26, 2015 by SYLVIE SONA

In light of the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Resolution 1612, UNICEF and the Joint Technical Working Group (JTWG) is launching an awareness-raising campaign all over the Democratic Republic of Congo from 26 June to 26 July, to celebrate 10 years of fighting against serious violations of children’s rights during armed conflicts.

Adopted by the United Nations Security Council on 26th July 2005, Resolution 1612 created a monitoring and reporting mechanism (MRM) on six serious violations that are committed against children during armed conflict: the recruitment and use of children, killing and mutilation of children, sexual violence committed against children, attacks against schools or hospitals, child abduction and refusal for humanitarian organisations to gain access to children.

The Joint Technical Working Group, made up of the DRC Government, MONUSCO, UNICEF and other partners, aims to ensure the establishment of an Action Plan to put an end to serious violations of children’s rights in armed conflict.

Over one month, several activities will be put in place throughout the whole country. These include broadcasting adverts, programs, theatre pieces and organising press meetings.

During this awareness-raising campaign, children from West, East and Southern DRC will, over the course of a workshop, discuss the monitoring and reporting mechanism on serious violations of children’s rights during armed conflict in DRC. The workshop is organised by UNICEF with a view to allow children to express their opinions and to contribute efficiently to the promotion of their rights, in general, and during armed conflict in particular.

The establishment of this mechanism in DRC in August 2006 has resulted in significant progress, including the signature, in 2012, of the Action Plan for the fight against the recruitment and use of child soldiers but also other serious violations of children’s rights by armed force and DRC security services.

But this is not enough. In 2014, 855 children were identified as direct victims of armed conflicts. To this number must be added at least 31 000 children whose education has been affected by these conflicts, 19 attacked hospitals and 7 cases of rejection of humanitarian aid.

Considerable progress in 2014 can be seen in that only a single case of child recruitment in DRC’s armed forces was documented. UNICEF brings its support to programs that assist children, including the victims of armed conflict, in areas such as health, nutrition, water hygiene and sanitisation, education, and protection.

About Mechanism 1612

Security Council Resolution 1612, adopted in 2005, established a monitoring and reporting mechanism (MRM) for six serious children’s rights violations, namely the recruitment or use of child by parties to the conflict, the killing or mutilation of children, the rape of children or other serious acts of sexual violence, abduction, attacks against schools and hospitals, and restrictions to humanitarian access. Once a party yo a conflict has been included in the “black list” of the Secretary-General’s report on children and armed conflict, the only way for it to be taken off the list is to sign and put in place an Action Plan.

About UNICEF

At UNICEF, we promote the rights and well-being of every child, in everything that we do. We work in 190 countries and territories in the whole sold with our partners to make this commitment a reality, investing special efforts to reach the most vulnerable and marginalized children, in the interest of all children, wherever they may be. For more information on UNICEF and its work: www.unicef.org

For more information, please contact

Yves Willemot, Head of Communications, UNICEF DRC, + 243 (0) 81 88 46 746, ywillemot@unicef.org
Sylvie Sona, Communications Officer, UNICEF RDC, + 243 (0) 817096215, ” nssona@unicef.org.

For more information on the situation children in DRC and on UNICEF’s action: www.ponabana.com