Armed Conflict: Children

(asked on 3rd December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to strengthen routes for holding to account those responsible for violations of children’s rights in conflict.


Answered by
James Cleverly Portrait
James Cleverly
Home Secretary
This question was answered on 8th December 2020

The UK's objectives on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) are primarily pursued through our engagement with the UN. The UK is an active permanent member of the UN Security Council Working Group on CAAC, which leads the international response to violations committed against children in conflict, including calling for all perpetrators of such acts to be swiftly brought to justice and held accountable. The Working Group focuses on responding to the UN Secretary-General's annual report and country specific reports on CAAC which assess the treatment of children within conflict zones and list governments and armed groups for committing grave violations against children. Recently, we have made strong calls for action from parties to conflict in Afghanistan, Yemen Colombia, Somalia, Sudan and Nigeria. We also press for the inclusion of child protection provisions in UN peacekeeping mandate renewals and sanctions resolutions.

The UK is the largest single financial contributor to the office of the UN Special Representative to the Secretary General (SRSG) for CAAC, contributing £1.3m over the last six years in support of her core mandate, including advocacy for and the negotiation of Action Plans to end the recruitment and use of children. The UK increased its funding to £550,000 in FY20/21.

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