A/HRC/31/19
IV. Working with United Nations human rights mechanisms
46.
The Office of the Special Representative has continued to work closely with the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights with a view to
mainstreaming children and armed conflict issues and contributing to the monitoring and
reporting of grave violations against children, both in mission and non-mission settings.
47.
The Office of the Special Representative contributed to the work of the human rights
mechanisms by submitting information for the universal periodic review process of the
Human Rights Council. Those submissions and interactions with the human rights
mechanisms reinforced common advocacy efforts and actions for the promotion and greater
protection of the rights of children in situations of armed conflict. For instance, the Special
Representative was pleased to see that the report of the Working Group on the Universal
Periodic Review on Myanmar to be made available in late 2015 will include
recommendations on the adoption of measures to end and prevent the recruitment and
participation of children in military activities, as well as on the implementation of policies
to ensure full protection of civilians, particularly children, in zones of armed conflict.
48.
The Special Representative was also pleased to see that concerns relating to children
affected by armed conflict were considered and often reflected in the concluding
observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the reports of Colombia
(CRC/C/COL/CO/4-5) and Iraq (CRC/C/IRQ/CO/2-4). The Special Representative will
continue to use these observations for advocacy purposes with the Member States
concerned, urging the States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to
implement the recommendations of the Committee. She invites the Committee to consider
issuing regular substantive statements on issues relating to children and armed conflict.
Moreover, she calls upon the Committee to include references to meeting the specific needs
of children in conflict and post-conflict settings in its general comment No. 19 on public
spending and the rights of the child (to be published in 2016).
49.
References and recommendations relating to children and armed conflict by United
Nations human rights mechanisms are welcomed as they are important advocacy tools in
the work of the Special Representative.4 The Human Rights Council and the Committee
against Torture are encouraged to continue to include language on the protection of children
affected by armed conflict.
50.
With regard to the special procedure mandate holders of the Human Rights Council,
the Special Representative welcomes the Special Rapporteurs’ efforts to highlight issues
related to children and armed conflict in their respective thematic or country-specific
reports and recommendations and encourages the mandate holders to continue to pay due
attention to the challenges that compromise the rights, development and well-being of
children in situations of conflict.
51.
As a member of the Human Rights up Front initiative, the Office of the Special
Representative continued to contribute to the development of a United Nations information
management system on human rights violations, as well as to the design of a new human
4
During the period under review, a number of Human Rights Council resolutions included such
references, including resolutions 29/16 on the grave and deteriorating human rights and humanitarian
situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, 29/25 on ensuring accountability and justice for all violations
of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, 30/7 on human
rights in the administration of justice, including juvenile justice, 30/19 on capacity-building in the
field of human rights in the Central African Republic, 30/20 on assistance to Somalia in the field of
human rights and 30/26 on technical assistance and capacity-building for human rights in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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