United Nations Security Council Resolution 1379 – Children and armed conflict
Resolution 1379 (2001)
The Security Council,
Recalling its resolution 1314 (2000) of 11 August 2000,
Further recalling its resolutions 1261 (1999) of 28 August 1999, 1265 (1999)of 17 September 1999, 1296 (2000) of 19 April 2000, 1306 (2000) of 5 July 2000,1308 (2000) of 17 July 2000 and 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000 and the statements ofits President of 29 June 1998 (S/PRST/1998/18), 12 February 1999 (S/PRST/1999/6), 8July 1999 (S/PRST/1999/21), 30 November 1999 (S/PRST/1999/34), 20 July 2000(S/PRST/2000/25) and of 31 August 2001 (S/PRST/2001/21),
Recognizing the harmful and widespread impact of armed conflict on children andthe long-term consequences this has for durable peace, security and development,
Bearing in mind the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and recalling the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security and, in this connection, its commitment to address the impact of armed conflict on children,
Underlining the need for all parties concerned to comply with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations and with international law, in particular thoseregarding children,
Having considered the report of the Secretary-General of 7 September 2001 onthe implementation of resolution 1314 (2000) on children and armed conflict,
- Expresses, accordingly, its determination to give the fullest attention tothe question of the protection of children in armed conflict when considering thematters of which it is seized;
2. Expresses its readiness explicitly to include provisions for the protection of children, when considering the mandates of peacekeeping operations, and reaffirms, in this regard, its readiness to continue to include, where appropriate,child protection advisers in peacekeeping operations;
3. Supports the ongoing work of the Secretary-General, the SpecialRepresentative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, theUnited Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Office of the United Nations High Commissionerfor Human Rights, other agencies of the United Nations system and otherinternational organizations dealing with children affected by armed conflict;
4. Expresses its intention, where appropriate, to call upon the parties to aconflict to make special arrangements to meet the protection and assistancerequirements of women, children and other vulnerable groups, including through thepromotion of “days of immunization” and other opportunities for the safe andunhindered delivery of basic necessary services;
5. Underlines the importance of the full, safe and unhindered access ofhumanitarian personnel and goods and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to allchildren affected by armed conflict;
6. Expresses its intention to consider taking appropriate steps, in accordancewith the Charter of the United Nations, to address the linkages between armedconflict and terrorism, the illicit trade in precious minerals, the illicit trafficking insmall arms and light weapons, and other criminal activities, which can prolongarmed conflict or intensify its impact on civilian populations, including children;
7. Undertakes to consider, as appropriate when imposing measures underArticle 41 of the Charter of the United Nations, the economic and social impact ofsanctions on children, with a view to providing appropriate humanitarianexemptions that take account of their specific needs and their vulnerability and tominimize such impact;
8. Calls upon all parties to armed conflict to:
(a) Respect fully the relevant provisions of applicable international law relating to the rights and protection of children in armed conflict, in particular theGeneva Conventions of 1949 and the obligations applicable to them under theAdditional Protocols thereto of 1977, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, the Optional Protocol thereto of 25 May 2000, and the amended Protocol II to the Convention on Prohibition or Restriction on the Use ofCertain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injuriousor to Have Indiscriminate Effects, the International Labour Organization ConventionbNo. 182 on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour and the OttawaConvention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer ofAnti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, and notes the inclusion as a warcrime in the Rome Statute of the conscription or enlistment of children under the ageof fifteen years into the national armed forces or using them to participate activelyin hostilities;
(b) Provide protection and assistance to refugees and internally displacedpersons, the majority of whom are women and children, in accordance withapplicable international norms and standards;
(c) Take special measures to promote and protect the rights and meet thespecial needs of girls affected by armed conflict, and to put an end to all forms ofviolence and exploitation, including sexual violence, particularly rape;
(d) Abide by the concrete commitments they have made to the SpecialRepresentative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, as well asrelevant United Nations bodies, to ensure the protection of children in situations ofarmed conflict;
e) Provide protection of children in peace agreements, including, whereappropriate, provisions relating to the disarmament, demobilization, reintegrationand rehabilitation of child soldiers and the reunification of families, and to consider,when possible, the views of children in those processes;
9. Urges Member States to:
(a) Put an end to impunity, prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimesagainst humanity, war crimes, and other egregious crimes perpetrated againstchildren and exclude, where feasible, these crimes from amnesty provisions andrelevant legislation, and ensure that post-conflict truth-and-reconciliation processesaddress serious abuses involving children;
(b) Consider appropriate legal, political, diplomatic, financial and materialmeasures, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, in order to ensurethat parties to armed conflict respect international norms for the protection ofchildren;
(c) Consider, where appropriate, measures that may be taken to discouragecorporate actors, within their jurisdiction, from maintaining commercial relationswith parties to armed conflicts that are on the Security Council’s agenda, when thoseparties are violating applicable international law on the protection of children inarmed conflict;
(d) Consider measures against corporate actors, individuals and entities under their jurisdiction that engage in illicit trade in natural resources and smallarms, in violation of relevant Security Council resolutions and the Charter of the United Nations;
(e) Consider ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rightsof the Child on Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and the InternationalLabour Organization Convention No. 182 on the Elimination of the Worst Forms ofChild Labour;
(f) Consider further steps for the protection of children, especially in the context of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the children of the World (2001-2010);
10. Requests the Secretary-General to:
(a) Take the protection of children into account in peacekeeping plans submitted to the Security Council, inter alia, by including, on a case by case basis,child protection staff in peacekeeping and, as appropriate, peace-building operations and strengthening expertise and capacity in the area of human rights, where necessary;
(b) Ensure that all peacekeeping personnel receive and follow appropriate guidance on HIV/AIDS and training in international human rights, humanitarian andrefugee law relevant to children;
(c) Continue and intensify, on a case by case basis, monitoring and reportingactivities by peacekeeping and peace-building support operations on the situation ofchildren in armed conflict;
11. Requests the agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations to:(a) Coordinate their support and assistance to parties to armed conflict infulfilling their obligations and commitments to children;(b) Take account of ways of reducing child recruitment that is contrary toaccepted international standards when formulating development assistance programmes;
(c) Devote particular attention and adequate resources to the rehabilitation ofchildren affected by armed conflict, particularly their counselling, education andappropriate vocational opportunities, as a preventive measure and as a means ofreintegrating them into society;
(d) Ensure that the special needs and particular vulnerabilities of girlsaffected by armed conflict, including those heading households, orphaned, sexuallyexploited and used as combatants, are duly taken into account in the design ofdevelopment assistance programmes, and that adequate resources are allocated tosuch programmes;
(e) Integrate HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, care and support intoemergency, humanitarian, and post-conflict programmes;
(f) Support the development of local capacity to address post-conflict childrehabilitation and reintegration concerns;
(g) Promote a culture of peace, including through support for peaceeducation programmes and other non-violent approaches to conflict prevention andresolution, in peace-building activities;
12. Encourages the international financial institutions and regional financialand development institutions to:
(a) Devote part of their assistance to rehabilitation and reintegration programmes conducted jointly by agencies, funds, programmes and State parties to conflicts that have taken effective measures to comply with their obligations toprotect children in situations of armed conflict, including the demobilization andreintegration of child soldiers, in particular those who have been used in armedconflicts contrary to international law;
(b) Contribute resources for quick-impact projects in conflict zones wherepeacekeeping operations are deployed or are in the process of deployment;
(c) Support the efforts of the regional organizations engaged in activities forthe benefit of children affected by armed conflict, by providing them with financial and technical assistance, as appropriate;
13. Urges regional and subregional organizations and arrangements to:
(a) Consider establishing, within their secretariats, child protectionmechanisms for the development and implementation of policies, activities andadvocacy for the benefit of children affected by armed conflict, and consider the views of children in the design and implementation of such policies and programmeswhere possible;
(b) Consider including child protection staff in their peacekeeping and fieldoperations and provide training to members of such operations on the rights andprotection of children;(c) Take steps leading to the elimination of cross-border activitiesdeleterious to children in times of armed conflict, such as the cross-borderrecruitment and abduction of children, the sale of or traffic in children, attacks oncamps and settlements of refugees and internally displaced persons, the illicit tradein precious minerals, the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons, andother criminal activities;(d) Develop and expand regional initiatives to prevent the use of childsoldiers in violation of international law and to take appropriate measures to ensurethe compliance by parties to armed conflict with obligations to protect children inarmed conflict situations;
14. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to include in his writtenreports to the Council on conflict situations his observations concerning theprotection of children and recommendations in this regard;
15. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the Council by 31October 2002 on the implementation of this resolution and of resolutions 1261(1999) and 1314 (2000);
16. Requests the Secretary-General to attach to his report a list of parties toarmed conflict that recruit or use children in violation of the international obligations applicable to them, in situations that are on the Security Council’sagenda or that may be brought to the attention of the Security Council by theSecretary-General, in accordance with Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations, which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peaceand security;
17. Decides to remain actively seized of this matter.
Adopted by the Security Council at its 4423rd meeting, on 20 November 2001.
