[afro-nets] In preparation of People's Health Assembly II - part 27

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

In preparation of People's Health Assembly II - part 27
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ACTION PLAN FOR SYSTEMATIC WORLDWIDE REPORTING OF CHILD ABUSE

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy for
children and armed conflict (CAAC) today launched an action plan
for systematically monitoring and reporting of child abuse in
situations of armed conflict, or in "situations of concern,"
with a view to triggering a strong international response.

In the past several years, CAAC issues had benefited from in-
creased visibility and advocacy, while key regional and multi-
lateral organizations had adopted many CAAC norms as their own,
Special Representative Olara Otunnu told a news conference at
which he discussed Mr. Annan's report to the Security Council.

The estimated number of child soldiers had declined to 300,000
from 380,000 in the last 18 months, Mr. Otunnu said.

"In spite of these advances, the situation for children remains
grave and unacceptable on the ground," he said. "The key to
overcoming this gulf lies in instituting an international com-
pliance regime."

The regime would list all offending parties, whether from the
government or rebel side, in all situations of concern, "whether
or not those situations are on the agenda of the Security Coun-
cil," Mr. Otunnu said.

He noted that his mandate did not define the term "armed con-
flict," adding that being listed in the report "should not be
construed as a legal determination that there exists a situation
of armed conflict within the meaning of the
<"http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/93.htm";>Geneva Conventions
and their Additional Protocols."

Violations included recruiting children as soldiers, abducting,
maiming, or killing them, subjecting them to rape and other sex-
ual violence and attacking schools and hospitals, he said.

For widespread and unacceptable patterns of violation, the Secu-
rity Council should take such measures as imposing travel re-
strictions on leaders, excluding them from future governance
structures or amnesties, arms embargoes and military assistance
bans and restrictions on the flow of financial resources, Mr.
Otunnu said.

Other "destinations for action" would be the General Assembly,
the Commission on Human Rights, the International Criminal
Court, regional organizations and, as the first line of re-
sponse, the national governments within whose borders the chil-
dren are endangered.

The report updates developments in nine countries on the Secu-
rity Council's agenda, including Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), Iraq, the occupied Palestinian ter-
ritory and Sudan.

Eight others were either not on that agenda or were in other
situations of concern. They are Colombia, Myanmar, Nepal, North-
ern Ireland, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Sri Lanka
and Uganda.

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sent by <vern.weitzel@undp.org>