Protection of children is a fundamental peace and security concern. In many conflict-affected countries, UN peacekeeping operations are the largest actor on the ground and their contribution is vital to protecting children. The Security Council has addressed this issue since the late 1990s, requesting in Resolution 1261 (1999) that the Secretary-General ensure “personnel involved in United Nations peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace-building activities have appropriate training on the protection, rights and welfare of children”.
In addition, in 2001, the Security Council called for the inclusion of specific provisions for the protection of children in mission mandates and for the deployment of Child Protection Advisers (S/RES/1379).
Over the last 20 years, the efforts of our civilian and uniformed personnel have transformed the lives of countless boys and girls. Peacekeepers have helped release thousands of children associated with armed forces and groups, and provided vital technical support to legislative reforms aimed at strengthening national child protection systems.
How is UN Peacekeeping protecting children?
The implementation of the child protection mandate is a whole-of-mission responsibility.
Peacekeepers engage in dialogue with parties to conflict to halt and prevent grave violations against children.
Peacekeepers play a crucial role in supporting monitoring and reporting on grave violations against children and in ensuring that child protection is included in peace negotiations and agreements.
Preventing violations against children is essential to achieving lasting peace. Peacekeeping personnel work to identify early warning signs of grave violations against children, including recruitment and use by armed forces and groups, and take action to prevent their occurrence.
In the context of mission transitions, peacekeeping personnel possess the tools to preserve and transfer child protection knowledge, data, and capacities to successor entities and ensure that the gains made in preventing and responding to child protection concerns last in the long-term.
Over the years, thousands of military and civilian peacekeepers have received training on child rights and child protection. We work to reinforce the capacity of UN peacekeeping personnel to proactively halt and prevent grave violations against children, including by continuously strengthening our policies, guidance, and training.
Building the capacity of national counterparts to help them fulfill their child protection responsibilities is also key.
To strengthen our accountability to the populations we serve, peacekeeping operations are enhancing their capacity to evaluate child protection performance and the impact of their work across all civilian and uniformed components. This ensures that peacekeeping operations can adapt to new, emerging challenges.
Who are Child Protection Advisers?
Child Protection Advisers provide peacekeeping operations with dedicated, specialized capacity to support the implementation of their child protection mandates.They advise mission leadership and mainstream child protection considerations into all aspects of UN peacekeeping operations.
They advise mission leadership and mainstream child protection considerations into all aspects of UN peacekeeping operations. They work in close collaboration with other mission components, including military and police, to ensure coherence and exchange of information related to grave violations against children.
They monitor and report on the six grave violations against children under the UN Security Council-mandated Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict, co-chair the Country Task Forces on Monitoring and Reporting, and contribute to the annual and country reports of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict. Systematic data collection supports efforts to provide responses to children and communities who have suffered violations, hold perpetrators to account, and prevent further violations.
They engage with state and non-state parties to conflict, leading high-level advocacy for child protection. Evidence gathered through monitoring and reporting also informs advocacy for actual, long-term change for conflict-affected children and their communities.
They raise awareness about child protection. Through events and campaigns, including on UN Peacekeeping radio stations, they promote child protection issues and ways to prevent grave violations against children.
They deliver mission-wide training on child protection to ensure that UN civilian and uniformed personnel possess the necessary knowledge and skills to protect children.
They build the capacity of national counterparts to help them fulfill their child protection responsibilities and support and promote national legal reform to protect children.
Photo credit: MONUSCO