(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
It is not only adults who are fighting for life in the Mediterranean. There are also children, many children, who flee violence and terror. Children are not saved in today's armed conflicts. In addition to being hit by bombs and bullets, they are often used deliberately as war targets or actors to hit the opposing party harder. Tens of millions of children around the world are deliberately murdered and mutilated, abducted, sexually abused and exploited as soldiers. Homes, schools and hospitals are attacked and children are denied food, water and health care.
Ten years ago, the United Nations Security Council began a systematic effort to strengthen children's protection during war. The Council has its own working group and each year the UN Secretary-General writes a report (S / 2015 / 409). The Council then concludes measures to give children better protection, both in general and in specific situations around the world. Last this happened 18. June.
The Secretary-General addressed 23 countries, stating that the world has never faced such serious challenges when it comes to conflicting children.
This is especially true in countries with severe crises: In Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian state, Nigeria, the Central African Republic, Syria and South Sudan, children in 2014 were exposed to extreme violations. These added to the list of abuses in protracted conflicts such as in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia. Moreover, in 2015, the situation worsened in Yemen, with a large number of dead and injured children.
Abductions. Recently, mass abductions of civilians, including children, have become increasingly widespread in the context of violent conflict. This often means that children are killed and mutilated, recruited and used as soldiers or subjected to sexual violence. Some armed groups or governments have deprived children of their liberty, arrested them and subjected them to torture. In 2014, in addition, several children were abducted to terrorize or turn certain ethnic or religious groups into gunshot wounds. This was especially true of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and Boko Haram in Nigeria.
The increase in the extent and frequency of abductions creates an ever-increasing need for the protection of children and young people. They need safe release, family tracking, medical, psychological and legal assistance and support for voluntary return where border crossings have occurred. Measures are also needed to counteract the long-term consequences of an abduction.
Imprisoned children who are believed to be associated with extreme groups are treated as guilty instead of victims.
Campaign. Extreme violence reached unprecedented heights in 2014, and was very often aimed at children – to achieve as many casualties as possible, terrorize entire communities and create worldwide rage. Extreme groups have used schools as targets, and many children have been injured and killed in military operations led by regional or international coalitions or neighboring countries. Also militia-
Troops supporting the government have recruited child soldiers and sexually abused children. Imprisoned children who are believed to be associated with extreme groups are treated as guilty instead of victims.
The return of children who have been recruited and used for extreme violence requires extensive measures over a long period of time.
The UN is now focusing on more than 51 armed groups that have committed serious violations of children. UN representatives as well as international and regional organizations have initiated dialogue with several of the groups to end abuse and release the children. In all, more than 10 children were released from armed groups around the world in 000 and received support to return to their families. In March 2014, the UN Special Representative and the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, launched a campaign: "Children, not soldiers" to end the use of children in government forces by the end of 2014. Many countries have joined the campaign, and during the first This year, six of the seven affected countries – Afghanistan, Democratic Congo, Yemen, Myanmar, Somalia and South Sudan – made action plans to follow up, while Sudan did not. A first country, Chad, implemented the measures in the plan. Other governments have passed laws criminalizing the recruitment of children, taking children out of the military and organizing information campaigns. Furthermore, Norway, among other things, has taken the initiative to secure schools in armed conflict, and the organization AIDS Free World has launched a campaign to hold UN peacekeepers accountable for sexual abuse.
Invisible children. All this is important, but still very little. It is appalling that the world community is not doing much more to protect innocent children from the unimaginable horrors of war, and to hold those responsible to account. The Security Council recommends measures, but efforts must be followed up – significantly increased efforts by many parties.
It is particularly outrageous that no more is being done to protect children in countries such as Nigeria, Sudan and South Sudan. The Security Council and the international community have paid close attention to the Middle East and Ukraine. But in Nigeria, there have long been intolerable violations of girls. Schools in the Nuba Mountains in Sudan are being bombed with cluster munitions, and in South Sudan a barbaric ethnic struggle is largely directed at children. The world community has intervened elsewhere to protect victims of humanitarian crises and war crimes. Why not in Nigeria, Sudan and South Sudan? Is there more to it when it is "only" girls or black Africa?
Skard is a former director of UNESCO and UNICEF.
toriskar@online.no
