Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) legal, (b) political, (c) diplomatic, (d) financial and (e) material steps he is taking to promote warring parties’ compliance with international standards for the protection of children in armed conflict.

The UK use our permanent UN Security Council (UNSC) membership to ensure conflict-related child protection issues remain a key part of UNSC discussions and that UN operations address child protection issues. We regularly calls upon all UN Member States to comply with international legal obligations and endorse and fully implement key child protection instruments, in particular the Safe Schools Declaration - a political commitment to protect education from attack.

As a member of the UNSC Children and Armed Conflict Working Group, the UK applies diplomatic pressure to warring parties to enter into concrete UN action plans to verify and release any children associated with armed groups and forces, to prevent re-recruitment and ensure the provision of appropriate reintegration and rehabilitation assistance. Recently, we have negotiated strong calls to action for parties to conflict in Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia. We also press for the inclusion of child protection provisions in UN peacekeeping mandate renewals and resolutions. Financially, we will fund UNICEF to strengthen monitoring and reporting on grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict.