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Congo-Kinshasa: Child Protection - Launch of 'Watchlist' Report On Monitoring Mechanism
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United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
16 May 2008
Posted to the web 16 May 2008
Nina Yacoubian
A press conference was held in the Canadian embassy in Kinshasa on May 15, 2008, to launch the "Watchlist" NGO report on the monitoring and communication of information mechanism concerning children in armed conflicts in the DRC. The Canadian government, who funded the report, reaffirmed its engagement and support to "all the concrete initiatives to improve the protection of children touched by armed conflict."
In attendance was the Canadian ambassador to the DRC Sigrid Anna Johnson, UNICEF representative Steven Laurier, Watchlist researcher Sarah Spencer, and UNICEF-MONUC Child Protection officer Ramatou Toure.
In her short speech, Ms. Johnson explained that the report constitutes "a new possibility for states to make considerable progresses in this regard" arising from resolution 1612 adopted in 2005 by the United Nations Security Council. This resolution recommends the installation of a mechanism of monitoring and communication concerning the violations of children's rights in periods of conflict.
"With the adoption of resolution 1612, the United Nations Security Council moved from condemning violations of children's rights to the establishment of a complete mechanism of monitoring and of communication of information on children in armed conflicts," Ms. Johnson added.
Furthermore, she announced that Canada contributed $129,000 Canadian dollars to fund the Watchlist report.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in his November 2007 report that seven armed groups in the DRC were using children to participate in hostilities, in particular the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC), the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and the CNDP groups of rebel General Laurent Nkunda.
Mr. Laurier of UNICEF said that more than 30,219 children were demobilised in the DRC since the launching of the national Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programme. But he estimated that there are still approximately 3,000 children in the ranks of armed forces and groups in the DRC.
He demanded of the NGOs that defend the rights of children in armed conflict to continue their training work on the mechanisms of monitoring and communication of information.
"Last year with the support of MONUC and UNICEF, 151 people, including 35 women from local and international NGOs, as well as United Nations agency staff profited from this training," he added.
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MONUC, through its Child Protection division and under the mandate of resolution 1279 adopted in 1999, continues to work with the competent authorities to identify the priorities as regards protection of the children in DRC, and to make recommendations on the implementation of the strategies and activities necessary.
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| Copyright © 2008 United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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