Presidential Statement nº S/PRST/2020/3 of the United Nations Security Council

• Year: 2020
• Issuer: Security Council of the United Nation

United Nations

S

/PRST /20 20/3

Security Council

Distr. : Genera l

12 Febr uary 20 20

Orig inal: En glish

20-021 49 (E) 13022 0

*2002149*

Statement by the President of the Security Council

At the 8721st meet ing o f the Secu rity Council , held on 12 Februa ry 20 20, i n

conn ection wi th the C ouncil’s consider ation of the item entitled “Child ren and a rmed

conf lict”, the Pr esident of th e Security C ouncil mad e the followi ng stateme nt on

beha lf of th e Counci l:

“The S ecurity Coun cil reite rates it s primar y respon sibility for t he

main tenance of inte rnationa l peace and se curity i n accord ance wi th the Charter

of the U N, an d, in this conne ction, its c ommitme nt to addre ss th e wid espread

impa ct of armed conflict on c hildren, and the lon g-term conse quences this has

for d urable peace, s ecurity and dev elopmen t.

“The Securit y Counc il recal ls that all par ties to armed confli ct must

comp ly stri ctly wi th the obligat ions ap plicable to th em unde r inter national law

for th e protec tion of ch ildren in armed co nflict, i ncludin g those co ntained i n the

Gene va Conv entions of 12th Au gust 194 9 and th e Additio nal Prot ocols of 1977

as wel l as in the C onventi on on the R ights of th e Child an d its Opti onal Prot ocol

on th e involve ment of C hildren in armed conflict , and welc omes th e steps ta ken

by a number of Me mber St ates to make commit ments t o protec t child ren

affec ted by ar med conflic t, in cluding thro ugh the ratifica tion of t he O ptional

Proto col to th e Co nvention on the Rights of the Child on the involve ment of

child ren in armed confli ct and throug h ongoi ng in ternatio nal and region al

initi atives o n Child ren and Ar med Co nflict, inclu ding the intern ational

conf erence hel d i n P aris in 2007 on pr otecting ch ildren fro m u nlawful

recr uitment or use by arm ed fo rces or armed gro ups and the follo w-up

conf erence h eld in P aris in 2017, a nd the c ommitm ents dur ing the conferen ces.

“The Se curity Cou ncil reiter ates furthe r i ts strong con demnati on of all

viol ations of app licable intern ational law i nvolving the recruit ment a nd use of

child ren by parties to arme d confli ct as w ell as their r e-recru itment, killing and

maim ing, r ape an d oth er for ms of sexual viol ence, abductio ns, at tacks against

scho ols and hospit als as well as denia l of hu manitar ian access by par ties to

arme d confl ict and all o ther vi olation s of in ternati onal la w, incl uding

inter nationa l hum anitaria n law, human righ ts law and refug ee la w, committ ed

again st c hildren in situati ons of ar med conflict and dem ands that all r elevant

part ies im mediate ly put an end t o such pract ices and ta ke sp ecial measure s to

prot ect child ren.

“The Secur ity C ouncil remain s conv inced that t he pr otection of children

in a rmed co nflict s hould b e an im portant aspect of any compre hensive strateg y

to reso lve confli ct and susta in peace an d stresses also th e importan ce of adopt ing