United Nations Human Rights Council

Children in Armed Conflict

An age old reprehensible problem, children being involved in armed conflict and consequently losing their childhood and innocence to a cause they obscurely know about, continues to proliferate in various parts of the world today. Grave child rights violations in situations of armed conflict represent a profound challenge to the international legal order. Since the entry into force in 2002 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, it has been ratified by 139 Member States and ratifications continue. However, running counter to this is the shocking reality that in far too many situations of armed conflict children are routinely brutalized and their most fundamental rights contravened. It is critical, therefore, for the international community to remain steadfast, resolute and focused on ensuring accountability and fighting impunity for grave violations. The UN Human Rights Council will be discussing further actions which can be taken against the perpetrators of such crimes and solve differences with members who are yet to ratify the convention.