Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict Newsletter

Yemen Peace Talks Lead to Agreement on Unconditional Release of Child Prisoners: At a UN briefing on June 6, the Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC), Leila Zerrougui, reported that during peace talks, the parties active in the Yemen hostilities agreed to the unconditional release of all child prisoners. Government forces, pro-government forces, Houthi forces, and other extremist armed groups have recruited and used children. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that children captured in fighting or suspected of being sympathizers to the opposition have been detained and often held in abusive or poor conditions. Saudi Arabia subsequently handed 54 child prisoners between the ages of 8 and 17, captured while fighting the Houthis, over to the Government of Yemen on June 7.
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Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict Releases Statement Addressing Parties to Conflict in Afghanistan: On May 12, the Chair of the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (SCWG-CAAC) released a public statement on the basis of its conclusions on the situation in Afghanistan. The conclusions, following examination of the Secretary General’s report on children and armed conflict in Afghanistan, had previously been adopted on March 2. Addressing all parties active in the armed conflict in Afghanistan, the Chair of SCWG-CAAC condemned the continuation of sexual violence, killing and maiming, abduction, and the recruitment and use of children, as well as attacks on schools and hospitals, and called on parties to immediately cease all violations and abuses against children. In its conclusions, the Working Group expressed concern with the rising issue of attacks on schools, as well as the use of schools for military operations; HRW recently wrote about the increased rate at which Afghanistan’s schools are becoming battlegrounds.
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Fund Launched to Preserve Education in Crisis and Emergency Situations: At the World Humanitarian Summit, held on May 23 and 24 in Istanbul, the Education Cannot Wait fund was launched to respond to emergency and crisis situations in which the education of children and young people is disrupted. Through developmental and humanitarian responses, its primary function is to fulfill their universal right to education and safeguard the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal of inclusive and equitable quality primary and secondary education for all. Currently, 75 million children, living in 35 crisis-affected countries, are not getting an adequate education. Education Cannot Wait aims to alleviate the barriers to education created through conflict, which can disrupt education by displacing children and families or through the destruction of schools.
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New Evidence Incriminates Congolese Peacekeeping Troops in Summary Execution: Amid allegations that peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic have been involved in serious abuses against the people they are charged with protecting, HRW has uncovered new evidence that peacekeepers from the Republic of Congo engaged in the killing of at least 18 people, including several children, between December 2013 and June 2015. Twelve bodies were uncovered in a grave outside the peacekeeper’s base, which HRW believes to be the bodies of 12 people who disappeared after having been detained in March 2014. Among the victims were a 10-year-old boy, 7-month-old baby, an 18-year-old male, a 16-year-old female, and a 17-year-old female. Other evidence reveals that Congolese peacekeeping troops were also involved in torture, public executions, and excessive use of force. To date it does not appear that any of the soldiers involved are being held accountable for their actions.
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