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- 1. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers 1 CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT MAJOR CLEO BIGWOOD FORCE GENDER AND CHILD PROTECTION OFFICER MONUSCO
- 2. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Scope • Who is a Child and what threats do they face • The changing nature of Armed Conflict • The Six Grave Violations • The Framework for Child Protection • The FORCE contribution – MONUSCO case study • The Force Commander’s Directive • The Focal Point Network • Roles and Responsibilities 2
- 3. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Who is a Child? Article I of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that a child is “every human being below the age of 18 years” 3 For all peacekeepers and other UN personnel, a child is any person under the age of 18 years
- 4. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Children are Vulnerable • What threats do children face during armed conflict? 4 • Why do you think children are more at risk than adults during armed conflict?
- 5. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers The Nature of Armed Conflict is Changing Intra-state conflict Regional conflict Ethnic & sectarian violence Number of armed groups has increased Proliferation of weapons Rape and violence as tool of war Civilians targeted Civilian/Child casualties 5
- 6. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Film: Child Protection in Peacekeeping Missions 7
- 7. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers The Six Grave Violations • MRM • Grave violations are against international law • Reports of violations are sent to the UN Security Council • UN Peacekeepers contribute to reporting on these violations 8
- 8. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Killing and Maiming Any action that results in the death or serious injury of one or more children. 9 • Shelling • Crossfire • Cluster munitions • Landmines • Unexploded Ordnances (UXO’s) • Suicide bombs
- 9. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Recruitment & Use of Child Soldiers been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to: 10 A child associated with armed forces and groups (commonly referred to as ‘Child Soldiers’) refers to any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has • Fighters • Cooks • Porters • Spies • For sexual purposes
- 10. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Abductions The unlawful removal, seizure, capture, apprehension, taking or enforced disappearance of a child either temporarily or permanently for the purpose of any form of exploitation of the child. • Recruitment • Information gathering • Forced labour • Sexual exploitation and abuse 13
- 11. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Rape and Sexual Violence • Rape • Sexual slavery • Forced prostitution • Forced pregnancy • Enforced abortion • Girls are especially vulnerable during wartime 12 A violent act of a sexual nature to a child.
- 12. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Attacks Against Schools and Hospitals • Physical attacks and threat of attacks on buildings (targeted/indiscriminate attacks) • Attacks or threats against school children • Attacks or threats on personnel, doctors, nurses or teachers (killing, maiming, harassment, coercion, abduction) 13 • Looting and destruction of buildings • Military use of schools and hospitals
- 13. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Denial of Humanitarian Access • Attacks against humanitarian workers • Looting of humanitarian aid • Denial of access for service delivery 14 Blocking free passage or timely delivery of humanitarian assistance to persons in need (including children).
- 14. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers FRAMEWORK FOR CHILD PROTECTION 15
- 15. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Overview of Frameworks International Legal Framework Intl’ Human Rights & Humanitarian Laws Treaties related to child protection Conventions related to child protection Security Council Framework Resolutions on children and armed conflict Child protection provisions in peacekeeping mission mandates DPKO/DFS Framework Policies related to child protection Prohibition of SEA and child labour Legal Obligation of UN Peacekeepers to Protect Children 3
- 16. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Protection Of Children Under IHRL • Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) • Optional Protocol on Children and Armed Conflict (2000) – Children are entitled to special protection during war – Prohibits the compulsory recruitment of persons under the age of 18 into national armed forces – Prohibits voluntary or compulsory recruitment of persons under the age of 18 into armed groups 17
- 17. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Protection Of Children Under IHL • Children should not be the objects of attack • Children are entitled to special protection, care and aid • Children must be evacuated from besieged or encircled areas • If detained or interned, children must be held in separate quarters from adults • Prohibits child recruitment, child participation in hostilities and the death penalty on children under 18 years of age 18
- 18. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Who Is Bound By IHL? • States and organized groups • UN peacekeeping forces 19 • UN military personnel who violate IHL are subject to prosecution in their national courts
- 19. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers The ICC Case of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo 20 Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was found GUILTY of forcibly enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15. Lubanga was the first war criminal convicted by the ICC and sentenced to fourteen years in prison on 10 July 2012. - Bosco Ntanganda
- 20. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers The Force 21
- 21. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Force Child Protection Officer • Advise the FORCE Commander (or leadership) on all issues related to the protection of children • Liaise between child protection actors and FORCE • Establish an alert system to transmit information received on any of the six grave violations through command channel and also to the child protection unit/section 22
- 22. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Force Child Protection Officer • SOPs on the hand-over of child soldiers • Guidelines on children’s issues including • Detention • Conduct during interaction with children • Prevention of all forms of exploitation of children including child labour and sexual exploitation 23
- 23. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers The Force Contribution 24 • Utility at Tactical level • Sector training • Act, Protect, Report • DDR process – highlighted as a work on point
- 24. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Example from MONUSCO: FC directive • Act, protect, report • Patrol planning (incorporate CP) • Contingency plans to protect children • SOPs on temporary sheltering child soldiers • Children seeking protection or surrendering • Hand over of children to CPS • Focal points designated in team sites and bases The overriding principle is that the FORCE will take the immediate action to secure the safety of children and involve CPS at the earliest possible opportunity 25
- 25. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers CHILD PROTECTION MILITARY ROLES AND TASKS
- 26. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers FORCE CP focal points: Responsibilities • Establish and maintain links to CP actors • Establish and maintain situational awareness on CP threats • Implement CP policies • Mainstream CP in own operations and contingency planning • Zero tolerance on SEA and child labour 8
- 27. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Understanding the Operational Environment/Situational Awareness 1. What are the threats to children in my Area of Operation? (Who, What, Why, When, Where) 2. What are the government and community doing about it? 3. What are other parts of the mission, UN agencies, IOs/NGOs and local NGOs doing about it and how can we work together? 28
- 28. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Monitoring and Reporting Mandate If one of the six grave violations against children has taken place, report – Type of violation – Number of boy and girls affected – Perpetrator – Location – Date and time of incident – Nationality and other relevant factor of the child NOTE: do not interrogate children. Not all information might be available. 29
- 29. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers When Monitoring & Reporting Do Don’t Consider best interests of child Put child in danger Know and coordinate with the CP actors in your AOR Neglect to share information with the CP actors Analyse protection threats and risks for children Forget the child specific threats Discretely take notes of details and keep information confidential (location, armed group or unit, number of children, sex of child, violation) Interview, interrogate or take photos of the child Be aware of your impact (as a uniformed person) on the child if they have been violated by a soldier rebel Keep professional distance to child 30
- 30. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Do Don’t Assist child soldiers when they surrender or get captured Send child away and tell them they have to come back the next day because you need to inform child protection first Inform CPA and hand over to nearest child protection actor as soon as possible Hand them over to the host state army without consulting child protection Transmit your knowledge on child protection issues to national military counterparts Underestimate your role as a positive role model Encourage host nation army not to use schools as bases in their operations Use schools as bases When Conducting Military Operations 31
- 31. Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Specialised Training Materials on Child Protection for UN Peacekeepers Questions 32
Editor's Notes
- Intro. MONUSCO Function in FHQ – cross cutting theme throughout gender and CRSV Not an expert in the area but can tell you of it’s importance across missions Impact of conflict on children transcends generations and does irreparable damage to communities – elongating conflicts over and above the period of actual fighting So, this presentation is going to cover the basics of children in armed conflict, but I want as much interaction from you as possible – like I say, I’m not an expert and I’d love to hear your thoughts and experience.
- Please ask questions throughout.
- So as a start lets discuss who a child is… Who can tell me what the UN definition of a child is? So 18. Anyone have a different definition in their home country? So yes. Although it may differ country to country, when you’re working with the UN, wearing a blue beret, 18 or under is a child. This is pertinent because different rules apply to children and the way we deal with situations change when we’re dealing with children – determing age can prove problematic – anyone got any suggestions for what to do when you’re not sure of the age of a person? Er on the side of caution. If reason to believe this person is a child, treat as such.
- So let’s have a discussion. What threats do children face during conflict? Trafficking, forced marriage, slavery (labour / sexual), loss of parents, lack of education (all associated long term effects), misunderstanding of morals etc, recruitment Why more at risk? Vulnerable. Unable to protect themselves. Unknowing of right and wrong – easily influenced. Moral compass undeveloped So yes – ultimately conflict affects children in some of the most disastrous ways – having a long lasting effect that ripples through the recovery period of a nation. Children that have experienced conflict will be the future of a region – so what? How they are treated, the education they receive and the experiences they have will all impact how the area recovers. That’s why it’s so important to have mechanisms in place to deal with these issues and look to prevent them where possible.
- So wars and conflict are not what they were. They are evolving. (touched on Monday) We all have different experiences of war but conflict in some regions of the world have developed new tools. Over and above state on state warfare we have intra-state conflict, which comes with it it’s own problems in terms of intervention. We have regional conflict which often is fed by ethic / sectarian violence. And in places such as the DRC we see a regional conflict fought over ethnicity and resources – which combined with a corrupt Gov with a weak security sector leads to a large number of armed groups (120 in Goma alone!) – cyclic event – the fighting breeds more fighting. And more fighting means more weapons… and the cycle goes on. But we’re seeing now, more than ever, an increase in civilians being targeted for effect – mass casualty impact (ISIS / Violent extremism) but also the use of rape as a weapon of war. Rape and sexual abuse are not just a by product of war but are used deliberately…as a military strategy. The opportunistic rape and pillage of previous centuries have been replaced in modern conflict by rape as a orchestrated combat tool. Systematic rape of women in Bosnia to an estimated 200,000 women raped during the battle for Bangledeshi independence in 1971, to Japanesr rapes during the 1937 occupation of Nanking – the past century offers too many examples. Rape is now used in ethnic conflicts as a way for attackers to perpetuate their social control and redraw ethnic boundaries. Women are seen as the producers ad carers of the community – impregnating women of other communities is viewed as a way to destroy the opposing community. But it is not just women affected. The rape of men also has a devastating effect. Not only an emasculating act, the rape of a man can lead to the breakdown of the social fabric of a community – due to the after effects / mental health issues. So what has this to do with children? Children not only witness these acts… they are often caught up in them. Raped themselves or even forced to commit these acts to family members and so forth to ensure they are shunned from a community and are fully incorporated into an armed group. ISSUES OF IMPUNITY – despite CRSV now being documented (ie MARA DRC) countries, even after conflict, seem reluctant to tackle it. Sectarian violence and/or sectarian strife is a form of communal violence inspired by sectarianism, that is, between different sects of one particular mode of ideology or religion within a nation/community.
- Conflict affects children in multiple ways. Anyone suggest any?
- 10 mins to here without discussion.
- So before we look at what the 6 grave violations are I’ll talk to you briefly about the MRM Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) on grave violations of children's rights in situations of armed conflict – 2005 the Sy council requested in resolution 1612 the UN SG to establish a monitoring and reporting mechanism – managed by country based task forces and co-led by UNICEF. Through the task forces in conflict affected countries covered by the MRM, UNICEF and partners collect information on grave violations committed against children to share with the UN Security Council and to develop appropriate responses to respond to children’s needs. As co-chair of each country-based MRM task force, UNICEF engages with government forces and rebel groups perpetrating recruitment or use of children, killing, maiming, rape or other sexual violence to develop action plans to end and prevent these violations from taking place, noting that governments hold ultimate responsibility for protecting children and ending impunity for grave violations against children. What’s key here is that UN peacekeepers contribute to the reporting here – in fact we’re key as realisitically in some cases we’re the people who will have the most acess / exposure to these situations
- The above image shows liberated girls who were forced to work as porters and domestic slaves for the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda awaiting treatment for their injured feet at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Kitgum
- PHOTO: Students return to a school damaged during war.
- I’m going to talk briefly about the framework because whilst it’s fed into the work we’re doing I’ve not got long and I think it’s pertinent to discuss the real so what’s of the framework for you…as potential peacekeepers.
- Now I’m not a lawyer or a policy author so I can only talk briefly on this. But Our legal obligation to protect children, as peacekeepers, falls from 3 main areas. Int Legal framework – inclusive of Int HR and Humanitarian law, treaties and conventions Sy Council Resolutions – all resolutions pertaining to children in conflict and direction on CP in peacekeeping missions And the DPKO / DFS framework – policies Resolutions 1261 (1999) In 1999, the first resolution on children and armed conflict placed the issue of children affected by war on the Security Council’s agenda. The resolution identified and condemned 6 grave violations affecting children the most in times of conflict, and requested the Secretary-General to report on the issue.
- PHOTO: Ex-combatant at the transit camp during the visit. 06 February 2014, Bweremana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Photo # 579212.
- It’s important we, as peacekeepers understand this at the operational and tactical level so that we can integrate these considerations into planning and execution of Ops.
- 19
- Example case: Thomas Dyilo – Former president of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC) founded in 2000. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo (born 29 December 1960) is a convicted war criminal from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the first person ever convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).[1] He founded and led the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) and was a key player in the Ituri conflict (1999–2007). Rebels under his command have been accused of massive human rights violations, including ethnic massacres, murder, torture, rape, mutilation, and forcibly conscripting child soldiers.[2][3][4] On 17 March 2006, Lubanga became the first person arrested under a warrant issued by the ICC.[5] His trial, for the war crime of "conscripting and enlisting children under the age of fifteen years and using them to participate actively in hostilities",[6] began on 26 January 2009,[7] and he was found guilty on 14 March 2012. Now in prison in DRC
- How must the Force contribute to the Protection of Children. MONUSCO
- So ultimately the whole force should be aware of their responsibilities in regards to CP and the things they can and can’t do to ensure children are protected to the best of our abilities. But this isn’t always the case. Training not adequate, awareness just not there. So Gender and Child Protection Officer in FHQ.
- Also talk here about negotiating for the release of child soldiers Wanted to talk more about it but running low on time. Force should work closely with CPS (who often have the best contact with armed groups) to negotiate the release of child soldiers from AGs. In case of MONUSCO leverage is found using the FARDC (Gov forces) recently taken off the UN black list and released all child soldiers – other AGs take this seriously and are willing to come to the table. Force must enable that – security / logistics / whatever it takes – because that is a real life win.
- 28
- These indicators will give you an idea if there are specific threats for children. If parents are afraid of sending their children to school, this can be a sign that recruitment is taking place I the school. If you see no children in the streets, this is a sign that a threat to these children is perceived by the population. It is important to look at boys and girls separately because threats to them are sometimes different at an early age. Have violations already taken place, note down as much as possible. Do not interrogate the child or take pictures of her or him. Alleged perpetrator Location Type of violation Circumstances and details of the violation. Number of children involved Date and time Age, sex, nationality and other important factor of the child
- TRAINER NOTES Summary and questions So by way of summary. I think my key point here, if you take nothing else away, is the positive impact the peacekeeper can have on the ground when it comes to Child Protection. The rewards are great but through misunderstanding and mistreatment the damage can also be severe. Training / cleasr D&G is key. Sufficient time should be allowed for answering questions. The trainer should actively encourage questions from the learners.