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Self Report 2019

The self-report on WHS Commitments below is organized according to the 24 transformations of the Agenda for Humanity. It is based on commitments pledged at the time of report submission. Click on the 'Expand' symbol to expand each section and read the reporting inputs by transformation.

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  • 2A
    Respect and protect civilians and civilian objects in the conduct of hostilities

    Individual Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict will continue high-level advocacy efforts and remind parties of their obligations vis-a-vis children and armed conflict under international humanitarian law, international human rights law and refugee law. The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict will also work to enhance the national and international legal frameworks for child protection, in particular through the "Children, Not Soldiers" campaign (which supports Member States to criminalise recruitment and use of children, build the rule of law, and institutionalise birth registration and age verification) and by continuing to encourage Member States to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
    • Advocacy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict will strengthen advocacy with parties to conflict to stop the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, which kill and maim children, destroy schools and hospitals and have consequences for the safety of children long after hostilities have ceased. The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict will also work with parties to conflict to protect educational institutions, in particular through advocating for and supporting the development of operational strategies to reduce the military use of schools in armed conflict.
    • Advocacy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    The Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict visited the Sudan in February 2018 to assess the progress made by the Government in the implementation of its action plan addressing child recruitment and use, signed in March 2016. In that regard, the Special Representative welcomed the significant advances made by the Government, while encouraging swift implementation of the remaining measures of the action plan.

    In May 2018, the Special Representative also travelled to Myanmar to ascertain the level of implementation of the action plan to end and prevent child recruitment and use by the Tatmadaw, signed in June 2012. She held constructive discussions with the Government, including on the progress made in the implementation of the action plan and the steps remaining, the expeditious passage of the draft child law and the inclusion of child protection issues in the ongoing peace dialogue. The authorities committed to implementing those measures by the end of 2018.

    In September 2018, the Special Representative travelled to South Sudan to engage with the Government and its security forces on the large numbers of grave violations committed against children and to advocate for the strengthening of reintegration efforts. While she welcomed the release of almost 1,000 children from armed groups in 2018, in the context of the integration of armed groups into the national security forces, she urged the Government to take immediate and concrete actions to end grave violations against children and recalled the importance of ensuring accountability. 

    To discuss trends, challenges and best practices in responding to grave violations against children affected by armed conflict, in cooperation with UNICEF, the Special Representative launched a series of regional workshops bringing together members of different United Nations country task forces on monitoring and reporting. The workshops aim more specifically at fostering exchanges and generating lessons learned on the monitoring and reporting mechanism of grave violations and United Nations engagement with listed parties.

     

    B. Please select if your report relates to any initiatives launched at World Humanitarian summit
    • Education Cannot Wait
    • The Peace Promise
    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Adherence to standards and/or humanitarian principles
    • Buy-in
    • IHL and IHRL compliance and accountability
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Issues related to insecurity and lack of access make the operations of the Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) and the reporting mechanism to the Security Council more difficult, as well as complicating direct engagement with parties to the conflict which is essential to achieving change. Lack of capacity in CTFMRs is also an issue.
     

     

    3. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    UN and other actors to strengthen engagement and joint advocacy for the respect of international humanitarian law and protection of civilians, in particular children.

    Keywords

    IHL compliance and accountability, Protection

  • 2C
    Speak out on violations

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict will use all appropriate fora to speak out and systematically condemn serious violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, and will advocate directly with relevant parties to conflict, and those who have influence on them, to make concrete commitments to stop and end grave violations against children. The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict will also advocate for and provide strong support to national and international accountability efforts.
    • Advocacy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to speak out and systematically condemn serious violations of international humanitarian law and serious violations and abuses of international human rights law and to take concrete steps to ensure accountability of perpetrators when these acts amount to crimes under international law.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    The Special Representative visited Sudan in February 2018 to assess the progress made by the Government in the implementation of its action plan addressing child recruitment and use, signed in March 2016. In that regard, she welcomed the significant advances made by the Government, while encouraging swift implementation of the remaining measures of the action plan.

    In May 2018, the Office of the Special Representative supported the organization of an Arria formula meeting for Security Council members on the theme of “Ending and preventing grave violations against children through action plans: best practices from African States”. The meeting was spearheaded by the Permanent Mission of Poland to the United Nations, in partnership with the Permanent Missions of Côte d’Ivoire, France and Sweden.

    Also in May 2018, the Special Representative also travelled to Myanmar to ascertain the level of implementation of the action plan to end and prevent child recruitment and use by the Tatmadaw, signed in June 2012. She held constructive discussions with the Government, including on the progress made in the implementation of the action plan and the steps remaining, the expeditious passage of the draft child law and the inclusion of child protection issues in the ongoing peace dialogue. The authorities committed to implementing those measures by the end of 2018.

    In September 2018, the Special Representative travelled to South Sudan to engage with the Government and its security forces on the large numbers of grave violations committed against children and to advocate for the strengthening of reintegration efforts. While she welcomed the release of almost 1,000 children from armed groups in 2018, in the context of the integration of armed groups into the national security forces, she urged the Government to take immediate and concrete actions to end grave violations against children and recalled the importance of ensuring accountability. 

    B. Please select if your report relates to any initiatives launched at World Humanitarian summit
    • Education Cannot Wait
    • The Peace Promise
    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Adherence to standards and/or humanitarian principles
    • IHL and IHRL compliance and accountability
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Issues related to insecurity and lack of access make the operations of the Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) and the reporting mechanism to the Security Council more difficult, as well as complicating direct engagement with parties to the conflict which is essential to achieving change. Lack of capacity in CTFMRs is also an issue which impacts raising violations.

    3. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    UN and other actors to strengthen engagement and joint advocacy with parties to conflict for the respect of international humanitarian law and protection of civilians, in particular children.

    Keywords

    IHL compliance and accountability, Protection

  • 3A
    Reduce and address displacement

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict will use high-level advocacy to emphasize that internally displaced and refugee children must be granted safety and security, protected against violations and abuse and taken into account in efforts to implement Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals.
    • Advocacy
    • Leave No One Behind

    Core Commitments (5)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new approach to addressing forced displacement that not only meets immediate humanitarian needs but reduces vulnerability and improves the resilience, self-reliance and protection of refugees and IDPs. Commit to implementing this new approach through coherent international, regional and national efforts that recognize both the humanitarian and development challenges of displacement. Commit to take the necessary political, policy, legal and financial steps required to address these challenges for the specific context.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Commit to promote and support safe, dignified and durable solutions for internally displaced persons and refugees. Commit to do so in a coherent and measurable manner through international, regional and national programs and by taking the necessary policy, legal and financial steps required for the specific contexts and in order to work towards a target of 50 percent reduction in internal displacement by 2030.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Acknowledge the global public good provided by countries and communities which are hosting large numbers of refugees. Commit to providing communities with large numbers of displaced population or receiving large numbers of returnees with the necessary political, policy and financial, support to address the humanitarian and socio-economic impact. To this end, commit to strengthen multilateral financing instruments. Commit to foster host communities' self-reliance and resilience, as part of the comprehensive and integrated approach outlined in core commitment 1.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Commit to collectively work towards a Global Compact on responsibility-sharing for refugees to safeguard the rights of refugees, while also effectively and predictably supporting States affected by such movements.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Commit to actively work to uphold the institution of asylum and the principle of non-refoulement. Commit to support further accession to and strengthened implementation of national, regional and international laws and policy frameworks that ensure and improve the protection of refugees and IDPs, such as the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol or the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala convention) or the Guiding Principles on internal displacement.
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Refugees

    The displacement of children as a result of armed conflict has been a key focus for the Special Representative throughout the reporting period. She travelled to Geneva and Malta in March, May and July 2018 to meet representatives of United Nations agencies and Member States, including the President of Malta, of international and regional organizations, including the European Union, and non‑governmental organizations (NGOs). Discussions focused on reinforcing joint efforts to address gaps between policy and practice regarding the issue of children on the move, including unaccompanied children.

     

    B. Please select if your report relates to any initiatives launched at World Humanitarian summit
    • Education Cannot Wait
    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Adherence to standards and/or humanitarian principles
    • IHL and IHRL compliance and accountability
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    The widespread scale of displacement and the political environment surrounding the issue has resulted in advocacy being ineffective even in relation to children.

    3. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    A human rights based approach is needed to ensure that children are not double victimized when in migration flows (through detention etc) after they escape conflict zones.

    Keywords

    Displacement