2024-04-14 21:36:02
In a press release published Thursday and having sanctioned its meeting of February 27 under the presidency of Morocco on “the fight against the use of child soldiers”, the CPS condemned with the greatest firmness the continued recruitment and use of children on the continent by all belligerents in a conflict, including non-state armed groups and forces, as well as terrorist organizations, whether for direct participation in hostilities or for any other purpose.
The PSC also highlighted the need for Member States to take strong punitive measures against all perpetrators of violations and abuses against children, including state and non-state actors.
The Council also reaffirmed the need to comprehensively address the root structural causes of conflict as a durable solution to prevent the recruitment and use of children by all parties in situations of armed conflict, as well as the need to integrate child protection in early warning mechanisms and conflict prevention, peacemaking and peacebuilding processes and post-conflict reconstruction.
The PSC encouraged Member States to treat children involved in armed conflict primarily as victims and to take appropriate measures to prevent the detention or prosecution of children for their alleged involvement in armed groups, including all non-state armed groups and those designated as terrorist groups.
The Council further stressed the need to integrate child protection into Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) processes to ensure the establishment of a child-friendly environment that prioritizes their children. needs and ensures equal access to unmarried mothers, girls victims of sexual violence and girls formerly associated with combatants in all aspects of the DDR process, and, in this regard, requested the Commission to The AU to review the guidelines on DDR for children based on the evolving context on the continent, with a view to effectively curbing the re-recruitment of children by armed groups.
The PSC stressed the need for appropriate programs for the effective reintegration of former child soldiers, including the provision of psychosocial support, stressing that it is imperative to develop a child-friendly social protection framework in situations of conflict to address the underlying causes of vulnerability.
He also underlined the importance of adopting a holistic and plural approach, both global and local, theoretical and practical, which combines combat and prevention to confront the scourge of child soldiers.
The PSC also encouraged Member States to invest in education, which plays a key role in preventing the recruitment and use of children and in the successful reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces and armed groups.
2024-04-14 21:36:02