Child representatives appeal to the Security Council to use its influence to prevent and end conflicts and protect children

“We know that it is your responsibility to promote world peace”

A day before the opening of the Special Session on Children, three child participants from the Children’s Forum made a strong appeal to the United Nations Security Council to do everything possible to prevent and end conflicts and to protect children from the consequences of war. The three, Wilmot (16) from Liberia, Eliza (17) from Bosnia and Herzegovina and José (18) from East Timor participated on 7 May in a public meeting of the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict. The children transmitted a strong and clear message from the Children’s Forum to the Security Council and said: “War and politics have always been an adult’s game, but children have always been the losers.” The three told the Council about the impact of the war on their lives and their contributions to peacebuilding in their communities. It was only the second time that children had addressed the Security Council, the first time being 20 November 2001, when a 14-year old child ex-combatant, Alhaji from Sierra Leone, addressed the Council during the debate on children and armed conflict.

Other participants in the Security Council meeting were: the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu; Former Minister of Education of Mozambique and author of the landmark report on the Impact on Children of War, Graça Machel; and the Executive Director of UNICEF, Carol Bellamy. Many Council Members had high-level representation during the meeting.

In their speeches, the children described their personal experiences in war. Wilmot told the Council that at age five, he had fled from Liberia to Sierra Leone with his mother: “I was too young at the time to really understand what was happening. I heard the sounds of guns. I saw people running. I saw people shooting. I saw people being killed. People as young as I was were dying… I was later told that a war was going on.” Eliza from Bosnia and Herzegovina said: “ War… it sounds horrible and it’s very hard to describe how awful it is when you actually live through one. Your whole world is falling apart.” José from East Timor was at school when the fighting began, he told the Council: “During September 1999, I was at my school at that time. The directors of my school, myself and eighteen of my friends were taking care of many people who came to shelter at my school… There were about 4,000 refugees. We saw that everyone around us was afraid.”

The children also explained to the Security Council how they are involved in trying to promote peace and how they support the war-affected children in their countries. “Today in East Timor,” José told the Council, “I am a journalist at my school. I have learned so many things from talking to children, especially street children.” Wilmot spoke about his involvement in a television programme that discusses the plight of children along with issues relating to the well-being of children, and a radio programme, run by children themselves, that has been effective in sending out the message of peace across the country. Eliza talked about her involvement in a youth center in Banja Luka where she works together with a group of young people for the promotion of child rights: “We are trying to help the refugees, to help them fit in… We are doing also workshops in the schools. Through the workshop the children get to know what their rights are – like the right to live, the right to home, education, participation, the right to play. The more they are aware of what they can do and what they have a right to do then more things will be done. Together we can do it.”

In a strong appeal, all three children demanded that the Council use its mandate and influence to prevent and end conflicts and to protect children affected by war. Wilmot from Liberia said: We know that it is your responsibility to promote world peace.” Eliza, in her statement, said: “..we need your help. The best thing you can do is stop the war – prevent it. And that is something that this Council has power to do. The real question is – is that power used.” This was also emphasized by José, who said: “What we need from you is your help to keep our peace and unity so that all children in East Timor can get an education and live in a peaceful country. No more war.”

Graça Machel, former Minister of Education for Mozambique, said that although some improvements for the protection of war-affected children have been made, children in more than 50 countries still live in realities of armed conflict, and are facing high risks of exploitation, abduction and recruitment as child soldiers. Therefore, there is a need to include child protection concerns into the peace and security work of the Security Council. Olara Otunnu, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict provided some concrete recommendations in this regard, such as the inclusion of provisions for the protection of children in peacekeeping mandates and training for peacekeepers in child rights. UNICEF’s Executive Director, Carol Bellamy said that one of the biggest challenges in conflict situations continues to be the difficulty of ensuring full and unhindered access of children to essential services. She also reassured the Council that UNICEF will continue to invest in education in conflict situations, in particular education for girls: “As a means of ensuring the long-term well-being and sustainable protection of the rights of war-affected children,” Bellamy said.

At the end of the debate, the Security Council adopted a Presidential Statement, in which it underlined its commitments for the protection of children affected by armed conflict as an essential component of its work to promote and maintain international peace and security. Since 1998, the Security Council has held four debates on children affected by armed conflict and adopted three resolutions on the issue: 1261 (1999), 1314 (2000) and 1379 (2001). The Security Council meeting of 7 May builds on its previous work and reaffirms its commitment to the protection of children in armed conflict and for the integration of child protection concerns into its work.