Dag Hammarskjöld Library at Uppsala University
Children in Armed Conflict
- © United Nations
Millions of children are exposed to the horrors of armed conflict. Countless children have been killed, raped, seriously injured and permanently disabled and forced to witness or even to take part in horrifying acts of violence.
The United Nations has called for stronger efforts to protect children in armed conflict and to stop the use of child soldiers. In 1993, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to appoint an expert to study the impact of armed conflict on children. This resulted in the key report Impact of Armed Conflict on Children (A/51/306 and Add.1).
Following the recommendations of this report a Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict was appointed by the Secretary-General in 1997.
He has obtained important commitments from governments, and, as a consequence, a framework of norms and standards for the protection of children in armed conflict has evolved.
The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict was launched in 2005 to review reports, monitor the implementation of UN mechanisms and make recommendations to the Council to promote the protection of children in armed conflict.
Documentation
The official web site of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict provides background information and an overview of issues and missions with links to full text documents and reports.
The United Nations has adopted important legal instruments for the protection of children in armed conflict. A collection of these instruments can be accessed from the official web site of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, section Key Documents:
Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, entered into force in 1991, with additional Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, adopted in 2000.
Resolutions are posted at the official web site of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Key Documents, Resolutions.
ILO Convention 182: Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, adopted in 1999.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted in 1998, entered into force in 2002.
The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, adopted in 1990, entered into force in 1999.
The fourth Geneva Convention, adopted in 1949, entered into force in 1950: Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilians in War, Additional protocols I and II 1977.
Machel Study 10-Year Strategic Review "Children and Conflict in a Changing World" contains a survey of progress but also many gaps in the implementation and monitoring of the new norms, standards and programmatic guidelines. It also points to the changing nature of conflict and presents new threats to children.
Yearbook of the United Nations provides an overview of the United Nations work relevant to UN action for the protection of children in conflicts. A complete collection of yearbooks is held by the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, Uppsala, and the Libraries at UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva. Since October 2008 the complete full text collection of The United Nations Yearbooks is available online at http://unyearbook.un.org/.
Databases and Indexes
The official web site of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict, section Issues serves as a gateway to UN action for children in armed conflict.
A web portal to UN action for the protection of children in armed conflict with links to UN main bodies and focal points and full text documents and reports is posted at the UNICEF official web site,, section Child protection from violence, exploition and abuse.
The UN Library online catalogue UNBISnet contains reports, documents and articles related to UN activities with links to
full texts for recent years. Subject search can be performed using relevant terms from the UNBIS THESAURUS.
Printed Indexes