FORUM: The Human Rights Council

QUESTION OF: Protecting the rights of child soldiers in sub-Saharan Africa

MAIN SUBMITTED BY:Libya

CO SUBMITTED BY:Poland, Czech Republic, Brazil, Peru, India, Greece, Denmark

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL,

Reaffirming the parameters in Security Council’s Resolution 1261(1999) in which Article 10 proclaims “Special measures should be taken to protect children, in particular girls, from rape and other forms of sexual abuse and gender-based violence in situations of armed conflict”,

Aware of the estimated 300,000 children engaged in armed conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa, with many forcibly recruited or abducted to join armies,

Reminding Nations that we must act accordingly to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which has agreed that everyone is entitled to all rights and freedoms set forth, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status,

Recalling the Charter of the United Nations obligates all Nations to promote the universal respect for, and observance of human rights as well as take joint and separate action,

Welcoming the strategy of Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) of child soldiers in Member nations to execute successful peacekeeping,

Nothing with regret that the recruitment of children in the military for armed conflict as well as violation of the children's’ rights is an ongoing problem severe in many Nations in Sub-Saharan Africa,

Deeply concerned that engaging in warfare could not only bring severe physical and mental traumas to under aged soldiers, but also deeply influence their further development negatively,

Disturbed that soldiers under the age of 16 continue to participate in wars in over 25 countries, namely Sub-Saharan Africa, and that the percentage of child soldiers in armed conflicts has gone up to 70% since the beginning of the 21st century,

Expecting governments of Nations to have an active role in aiding, protecting, and providing the relief of child soldiers involved in armed conflicts,

  1. Requests the formation of consistent and all-inclusive regional blocs devoted to counteracting further child soldier enlistment though security crackdowns with features, such as, but not limited to:

a)Systems and routine procedures dedicated to inhibiting arms proliferation and illegal trafficking, such as but not limited to:

  1. restricting mass import and export allowances and implementing limits on the number of military supplies
  2. revising current border trade checkups to ensure that illegal traffickers are not exploiting trade loopholes,

b)Incorporating current child soldiers in disbanding paramilitaries from within, through ways such as but not limited to:

  1. providing UN service broadcastsapproved by a member nation’s security department about permitting protection and amnesty to child soldiers who give up their munitions and whereabouts of their paramilitary,
  2. offering opportunities for decommissioned child soldiers to become representatives of UN child soldier establishments and speaking platforms;
  1. Urges for the formation of the Organization for the Safety and Upkeep of Children Rights which will work with NGO’s who can share expertise in this field such as Child soldiers International, War Child, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to be to be known as OSUCR in short, which will perform the duties such as but not limited to:

a)partaking in global fundraisers where finances raised will go towards aiding child refugees and displaced soldiers within Sub Saharan Africa.

b)helping rescue operations with assets such as transport, manpower, equipment and ammunition, should they be faced with violent retaliation when saving children,

c)implementing security services at major borders and ruralized areas of the region where militaries recruit children,

d)monitoring groups that abduct children and forcibly employ them as soldiers,

e)forming an individual database, where all appropriate information relevant to child conflict, such as patrol details, sites of paramilitaries and intelligence regarding criminals, can easily be disseminated to member nations of OSCUR,

  1. establishing hotlines among countries geographically located on the trafficking route and active pathways of concerned groups;
  1. Encouragesmember nations to support displaced children by establishing connections with organizations such as UNICEF, Children Not Soldiers and Save the Children, to aid child soldiers through the following means of:

a)publicizing the recent problems of the refugee crisis and child soldier exploitation to the mass public within their own countries, so that donations will beprovided, through means such as but not limited to:

  1. charity auctions,
  2. walkathons;

b)delivering basic healthcare and medical support to children in need, through means such as but not limited to vaccines,

c)Referring troops to places of crisis to rescue these children;

d)finding the family, and re-uniting (if possible),

e)Enrolling students into a formal or non-formal education system in which educators have experience with children who suffer from mental and physical harm such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD);

  1. Endorses the creation of an integration program to rehabilitate the children that have been affected by this issue in ways such as but not limited to:

a)Asking the UN to continue to aid and assist UNICEF and theirefforts in offering psychological help to children suffering from post-traumatic disorders

  1. Through initiating psychotherapeutic events that involve drawing and painting, creative writing, music concerts, screening of anti-violent films and documentaries, and communication with fellow participants,
  2. opening spaces for them to freely visit and unburden themselves to designated counselors,
  3. Creating capable orphanages to provide a stable and healthy environment for child soldiers who have lost their parents a place to live;

b)Recommends launching programs and associations like the National Committee on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR) in which a child over 16 years of age and in condition to work has the opportunity tostudy a skill, regardless of their capabilities, to enable them to participate in their nation’s economy and have a sustainable means of income, through feature such as but not limited to,

  1. inviting guest speakers who would share personal experiences with reintegration to society after being rescued from military environment,
  2. connecting individuals to external job offices which allow them to receive adequate training for practical skills required by desired jobs;

c)conduct a survey on every region for the number of people who have first-hand experiences as child soldiers to clarify the location and number of rehabilitation centers in a state,

d)examine the location suitable for construction of rehabilitation centers by taking proximity to conflict zones and residential areas into account;

  1. Calls upongovernments to provide full amnesty to child soldiers in light of the coerced actions they may have taken and the abuse they endured, with the goal that amnesty helps them settle into a normal life;
  1. Proposes all member states to support campaigns and inform the public on the issue of child soldiers and its magnitude by:

a)broadcasting infomercials through local devices such as, but not limited to:

  1. magazines,
  2. television/newscasts,
  3. radio,
  4. newspaper,
  5. official accounts on social media;

b)appointing influential celebrities as Special Ambassadors to disseminate the information on a wide range of age groups,

c)recommending the screening of relevant documentaries and films to local schools during lunchtimes and after school sessions,

d)collaborating with artists to design and install participatory artworks addressing the issue and along with donation box in public areas,

e)cooperating with specialized Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) such as Red Cross Youth Child Soldier Project to continuously devise alternatives to currently available advertisement methods in order to keep public on the surface with seriousness of the issue;

7.Suggests severe punishments, military action, and political measures to be taken against military organizations, governments, and parties, to prevent the recruitment and further protect and end the violation of rights of child-soldiers by means such as but not limited to:

a)sopping allying and cooperating with said parties,

b)having leaders of said groups be tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure justice that addresses both the perpetrators’ responsibility and the rights of victims.