Foreign Affairs CommitteeWritten evidence from: World Vision UK, Save the Children UK, Child Soldiers International and War Child UK

Summary and Recommendations

Guided by international standards and norms, the UK Government must meet its international legal and moral obligations to protect children from the negative impacts of conflict. These obligations include the importance of international cooperation to improve children’s lives and consider the potential impact on children of all foreign policies.

Placing children more centrally into the FCO Human Rights and Democracy report and within the activities of the FCO will help the UK government meet its responsibilities to children affected by armed conflict. Specific recommendations to improve the impact of the FCO’s work include:

The FCO should include details of activities to support victims of armed conflict in next year’s report. We also recommend that the FCO collaborate with NGOs already engaged in victim support to maximise the results of programmes to reintegrate children, support reconciliation and rebuild lives.

The implementation of the Action Plan for “Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls” and the UK National Action Plan (NAP) for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) on Women, Peace and Security should include tailored interventions and advocacy to address the specific needs of girls. Additionally, the action plan should include age disaggregated indicators for the impact of the initiatives and activities to be carried out and for the annual reporting on the Action Plan to include these measurements.

The UK Government should ensure that the Ministerial Champion for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Overseas has the resources and support to promote effective initiatives to tackle violence against women and girls in fragile and conflict affected countries.

The FCO should amend the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) Human Rights Guidance to define child soldiers in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on the involvement of children in armed conflict, to include recruitment and use both by armed forces and by armed groups in other countries.

In order to further develop a child sensitive approach to the implementation of the Building Stability Overseas Strategy, the FCO should hold a one-day workshop to further identify concrete opportunities for the implementation of BSOS to be child-sensitive and identify solid, practical methodologies and tools that could be adapted and used by the UK Government to ensure greater child-sensitive implementation of BSOS.

The UK Government must continue its active membership on the United Nations Security Council Working Group and support to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC) to address the grave violations against children in armed conflict. The FCO should also increase coordination between its work aimed at holding perpetrators to account and the work of DFID to help those impacted by conflict rebuild their lives.

In the 2012 report, the FCO should expand the section on children and armed conflict to include further evidence of activities on this agenda. In particular, the report should include progress made and support by the UK Government in those countries identified as recruiting and using child soldiers. The FCO should also work with the Ministry of Defence to ensure that assistance under the Defence Assistance Fund for the Conflict Pool is not used to support the use of child soldiers in foreign militaries.

The FCO should work with the Ministry of Defence to withdraw the UK Government’s interpretative declaration to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, as an indication of its leadership in protecting the rights of children in conflict-affected areas.

1. Introduction

1.1 World Vision, Save the Children, Child Soldiers International and War Child collectively work in more than 120 countries to help eradicate poverty and injustice and create a better world for children to live and thrive in. Together, we are committed to using our vast global experience to address the impacts of armed conflict on children by strengthening the protective environment around children and advocating for the UK Government to do the same.

1.2 Our overarching goal is to see children accorded greater priority in the UK’s overseas peace-building and stability policies. We recognize that children have the power to transform societies and, without an explicit focus on their role in development and peace-building, long-term sustainable stability and security will never be achieved.

1.3 We welcome this opportunity to provide written evidence to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee on the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Human Rights Report 2011 for which we have focused on activities related to the impact of armed conflict on children.

2. Overview

2.1 This evidence considers the extent to which the FCO is meeting its obligations and recommends ways in which the FCO, alone and as part of the Conflict Pool, could better prioritise children in its peacemaking, stability and security agenda. It also highlights where the inclusion of additional information in future reports could promote greater understanding and coherence around the role of children’s rights in the UK Government’s work on peace-building, stability and security overseas.

2.2 Guided by international standards and norms including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict as well as UN Security Council Resolutions (1325, 1612, 1882 and 1998), the UK Government must meet its international legal and moral obligations to protect children from the negative impacts of armed conflict. These obligations include the importance of international cooperation to improve children’s lives and the obligation to consider all policies and practices in the light of the best interests of the child.1

2.3 Placing children more central to the FCO Human Rights and Democracy report and within the activities of the FCO will help the UK government meet its responsibilities to children affected by armed conflict.

3. Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law

International Criminal Court (pages 49–51)

3.1 We welcome the support the UK Government has given to the ICC over the past year. The UK Government has taken a leading role in promoting and supporting the work of the ICC, and it should continue to use its influence to ensure that the Court enables children or their representatives to seek remedies for violations against them and receive appropriate reparations by the Court. Accountability is only one step in the process of access to justice for victims. However, programming to promote reintegration and community reconciliation are also keys to justice.

3.2 For this reason, we value the FCO’s donation to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC’s) Trust Fund for Victims. In light of the first verdict of the court in the trial of Thomas Dyalo Lubanga, the court’s capacity to support victims is at a critical stage. The international community also has an obligation to assist efforts in conflict affected countries. We welcome the FCO’s commitment to explore opportunities to provide further support for victims and for developing national capacity and action to combat impunity and hope to see evidence of these efforts in the next report.

3.3 Recommendation: The FCO should include details of activities to support victims of armed conflict in next year’s report. We also recommend that the FCO collaborate with NGOs already engaged in victim support to maximise the results of programmes to reintegrate children, support reconciliation and rebuild lives.

4. Equality and Non-discrimination

Women’s Rights (pages 60–64)

4.1 We welcome the UK Government’s recognition of the affect discrimination and gender based violence can have both on women and girls. The cross-government strategy “Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls” provides a strong opportunity to improve the lives of girls and women around the world. However, we are disappointed that the strategy’s implementation lacks a focus on children and recognition of their specific needs. Our experience shows that the interventions and advocacy directed at promoting equality for women and protecting them from violence are not equally appropriate for children and inclusive of their concerns.

4.2 Recommendation: The implementation of Action Plan for “Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls” should include tailored interventions and advocacy to address the specific needs of girls. Additionally, the action plan should include age disaggregated indicators for the impact of the initiatives and activities to be carried out and for the annual reporting on the Action Plan to measure include these measurements.

4.3 We also welcome the commitment of the Government to having a Ministerial Champion for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Overseas. It is vital that the individual responsible is given the necessary resources and support to be able to champion appropriate measures to tackle this important issue around the globe.

4.4 Recommendation: The UK Government should ensure that the Ministerial Champion for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Overseas has the resources and support to promote effective initiatives to tackle violence against women and girls in fragile and conflict affected countries.

5. Countering Terrorism

Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) Human Rights Guidance (pages 82–83)

5.1 We welcome the guidance for UK government staff on assessing the human rights implications of security and justice work overseas and the inclusion of “violations of the rights of the child” amongst the human rights risks to be considered. However, we believe that the example of “ensuring that soldiers under the age of 18 take no direct part in hostilities” is misleading in that it may be interpreted too narrowly.

5.2 Recommendation: The FCO should replace the phrase “ensuring that soldiers under the age of 18 take no direct part in hostilities” with “including unlawful recruitment of children and their use in hostilities” in the OSJA Human Rights Guidance, with an explanatory footnote defining the term according to the Optional Protocol to the UNCRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict (Optional Protocol), to include recruitment and use both by armed forces and by armed groups.

6. Reducing Conflict and Building Stability Overseas

Building Stability Overseas Strategy (pages 94–95)

6.1 We welcome the UK Government’s commitment to working collaboratively across the FCO, DfID and the Ministry of Defence to address instability and conflict overseas through the Building Stability Overseas Strategy (BSOS) and the three pillars under this strategy: early warning, rapid crisis prevention and response and investing in upstream prevention.

6.2 The strategy recognizes that “conflict and violence have a particularly negative impact on women, children and young people” and that violence against children is a consequence of bad governance. Despite this, and without an implementation plan of activities, the BSOS remains a strategy that fails to address the long term impacts of conflict on children or to approach stability in a child sensitive manner.

6.3 Our global experience has shown that investing in children is a key component to initiatives that seek to break the cycle of conflict and violence, not least because children comprise the majority, and the future, of societies affected by conflict. Only by focusing on rebuilding the lives of children and giving them opportunities and hope for the future can cycles of conflict be effectively broken.

6.4 We also believe that children and youth offer the most powerful resource that countries in conflict have for achieving long term reconciliation and reconstruction. Children also have a key role to play in conflict prevention and peace-building and this must be recognised and supported in reintegration and recovery efforts.

6.5 World Vision has been actively working with the FCO Conflict Group to pursue a child-focused approach to BSOS implementation and we are all looking forward to continued collaboration in this area.

6.6 Recommendation: As discussed favourably in our ongoing dialogue with FCO to further develop a child sensitive approach to BSOS implementation, we reiterate our recommendation to the FCO that they should hold a one-day workshop to:

further identify concrete opportunities for the implementation of BSOS to be child-sensitive; and

identify solid, practical methodologies and tools that could be adapted and used by the UK Government to ensure greater child-sensitive implementation of BSOS.

Women, peace and security (pages 103–105)

6.7 We welcome the cross-government commitment to delivering the UK’s National Action Plan on UN Security Council Resolution 1325, dealing with women, peace and security (1325 NAP). However, we are concerned that the approaches used do not sufficiently reflect the specific situation and needs of children. As with the “Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls” strategy, the specific needs of girls are not clearly addressed in the implementation of the 1325 NAP. The UK Government must recognise that responding to the situation of children early will, in the long run, support the situation of women.

6.8 Recommendation: The implementation of the 1325 NAP should include tailored interventions and advocacy to address the specific needs of girls. Additionally, the Action Plan should include age disaggregated indicators for the impact of the initiatives and activities to be carried out and for the annual reporting on the Action Plan to include these measurements.

Children and Armed Conflict (pages 105–106)

6.9 We welcome the inclusion of a specific section on children and armed conflict in the FCO 2011 Human Rights and Democracy Report and the on-going commitment the FCO has shown to supporting this agenda, through participation in the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (UNSC Working Group), support to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC) and active participation in the March 2012 Wilton Park World Vision conference on children and armed conflict. We hope to see this section of the report expanded upon in the next report as a reflection of increased commitment to supporting this agenda and pursuing the outcomes of the Wilton Park conference. We particularly believe that this commitment must help to address the impacts of conflict on all children—including separated children, child soldiers and other children who have been traumatized or physically injured as a result of the conflict.

6.10 Recommendation: The UK Government must continue its active membership on the UNSC Working Group and support to the SRSG-CAAC to address the grave violations against children in armed conflict. The FCO should also increase coordination between its work aimed at holding perpetrators to account and the work of DFID to help those impacted by conflict rebuild their lives.

6.11 Recommendation: In the 2012 report, the FCO should expand the section on children and armed conflict to include further evidence of activities on this agenda. In particular, the report should include progress made and support by the UK Government in those countries identified as recruiting and using child soldiers. The FCO should also work with the Ministry of Defence to ensure that assistance under the Defence Assistance Fund for the Conflict Pool is not used to support the use of child soldiers in foreign militaries.

6.12 We also welcome the UK Government’s commitment to taking action to protect children in conflict zones, including by working to stop the recruitment and use of child soldiers and by funding rehabilitation and protection projects for children.

6.13 However, we are disappointed that the UK Government still fails to set an example of establishing high standards on the issue of children and armed conflict by failing to remove the interpretative declaration entered upon ratifying the Optional Protocol, which makes and exception to allow for the deployment of under-18s in certain circumstances. The UK Government therefore continues to permit a lower standard for children in the UK than that proposed by the international community.

6.14 Recommendation: The FCO should work with the Ministry of Defence to withdraw the UK Government’s interpretative declaration to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, as an indication of its leadership in protecting the rights of children in conflict-affected areas.

7. Human Rights in Countries of Concern

7.1 We welcome the inclusion of “Children’s rights” as an area covered within Section IX of the report. However, we feel that the situation and needs of children affected by armed conflict are not sufficiently reflected within the country-specific information). This shortcoming weakens the UK Government’s evidence to address and support stability in the long run.

7.2 Recommendation: The FCO’s work on conflict prevention and stability should take greater consideration of the impact of conflict and instability on children in countries of concern.

25 May 2012