Side event at the margins of the UNSC Open Debate on CAAC: “Strengthening the Monitoring, Reporting and Response to the Abduction of Children”
18 July 2022. CFR3, 10:00-11:30
Opening Statement
Dear co-sponsors, colleagues, distinguished panelists and guests, I wish to welcome you all, also those following virtually, to this event at the margins of tomorrow’s Open Debate of the Security Council on Children and armed conflicts. Our title today is “Strengthening the Monitoring, Reporting and Response to the Abduction of Children”.
Let me start by thanking the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict; the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF; the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children; the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons; the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, connected from Mogadishu; the Assistant High Commissioner for Protection of UNHCR, connected from Geneva; and the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at Save the Children, Victoria Ward.
As shown by this year’s Secretary-General’s Report, all around the world, children continue to be disproportionately affected by armed conflicts, suffering violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law.
As observed over the last years, abduction is often a triggering cause of other grave violations, namely recruitment and use of sexual violence, as recognized by resolution 2225 (2015) of the UN Security Council.
To this end, the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and UNICEF drafted this year, with the support of Italy, a Guidance Note on Abduction, aimed at strengthening the implementation of resolution 2225 (2015) including monitoring and reporting and advocacy and dialogue with parties to conflict, which we will be presented later by the Special Representative Gamba.
