Children in Armed Conflict

This resource supports investigating and punishing crimes of enforced disappearance and extrajudicial execution. It is based off a series of seminars and includes the perspectives of judges, prosecutors, non-governmental organizations, local authorities, journalists, and human rights practitioners. In addition to contextualizing both crimes under international law and in armed conflict, the resource includes guidance for investigation, using forensic science, and identifying direct and indirect victims of enforced disappearance. It discusses three specific situations (p.48-56) in which children are considered victims of enforced disappearance: when subject to enforced disappearance; when born during the captivity of a mother subjected to enforced disappearance; and when a parent, legal guardian, or other relative is subject to enforced disappearance. This resource was written in Spanish and translated to English, and is available in both languages.

This Framework is a practical resource that promotes accountability for serious violations of international law committed against children in armed conflict (CAC). It responds to the significant gap that exists in preventing and remedying these serious violations - and is designed to assist policymakers and practitioners working at all levels to bridge this gap. It provides individuals and organizations working in child protection, justice, peacebuilding, and related fields with a comprehensive definition and structure for understanding CAC accountability and practical guidance for developing well-informed, context-specific, and feasible options for advancing CAC accountability.

This resource is the Spanish version of the "Children in Armed Conflict Accountability Framework." El Marco de Rendición de Cuentas frente a los niños, las niñas y los jóvenes afectados por los conflictos armados es un recurso práctico que promueve mecanismos para abordar casos de violaciones graves derecho internacional cometidas contra los niños, las niñas y los jóvenes en situaciones de conflicto armado (rendición de cuentas sobre NNJ). Elaborado como respuesta al importante vacío existente en materia de prevención y reparación de este tipo de violaciones, este Marco aporta los siguientes elementos: 1. una definición completa y estructura para entender la cuestión de la rendición de cuentas sobre NNJ; 2. orientaciones metodológicas prácticas que pueden ser adaptadas y aplicadas en diferentes contextos con el objeto de aumentar las acciones de rendición de cuentas sobre NNJ.

This resource shares lessons learned and best practices from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and outlines the need for a global strategy to deal with the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence crimes. It recognizes that sexual violence is committed against women, men, and children. It examines the investigation phase, pre-trial and trial phase, and appeal and post-trial phase. Annex D provides an example investigation work plan. Annex E provides an interview checklist.

This resource lays out guidelines for implementing programs that protect education from attack. Included is a 10-step guideline for working in collaboration with local communities, examples for various case studies around the world, and strategies for staffing, working with local partners, and using child participation. The document uses Cote d’Ivoire as a case study of how communities worked with UN agencies and international NGOs and presents key findings.

With a focus on reparations, this resource examines how attacks against education during insecurity and armed conflict have previously been redressed and how they may be redressed in the future. It considers education as a form of reparation and explores how education may minimize the risk of future conflict. The appendix includes international and regional treaties, as well as relevant cases.

This resource outlines the military use of education institutions and the consequences of such use on students, teachers, and scholars. It includes an overview a list of initiatives to address armed forces’ and armed groups’ use of education institutions, including the UN Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism, Committee of the Rights of the Child, and voluntary commitments by non-state armed groups. It also provides relevant laws restricting the use of education institutions by armed forces and groups.

This resource outlines an ethical approach to participatory assessment with refugee children and adolescents and provides guidelines on conducting participatory workshop. Part of UNHCR’s tool for participatory assessment in operations, it was developed to provide guidance on suitable ways to specifically engage with girls and boys. Included are several participatory workshop methods, a participation and protection checklist, and sample activities.

This resource aims to establish common principles amongst child protection actors. It provides guidance on strengthening coordination, improving the quality of programming, and improving accountability within child protection work. Standard 11 on page 102 examines children associated with armed forces or armed groups and provides key actions, measurements, and guidance notes on advocacy, awareness, prevention, release, identification and verification, interim care, family tracing and reunification, reintegration, and family reunification. Standard 14 on page 128 discusses justice for children and provides key actions and measurement indicators.

Intended to emphasize programs on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) that include men and boys, this resource provides guidance on accessing survivors, providing protection, and delivering medical, legal, and social services. It contains key considerations for inclusive SGBV programming and a list of key resources.

This resource serves as a compliment to the 2008 UNHCR Guidelines for Determining the Best Interests of the Child. It provides an overview of the international and national legal frameworks and places determination of best interest within a child protection framework. It also explains the process for determining the best interests of the child and includes guidance on principles and procedures for communicating with and interviewing children.

This resource provides an overview of state obligations under international law to prosecute persons accused of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and enforced disappearances, specifically focusing on crimes against children. Using an example of the Omar Khadr case, this resource also explores international norms regarding children accused of participating in the commission of these crimes.

This resource provides an overview of the international legal framework, and explains the practical applicability of the law and standards as they relate to children and armed conflict. This resource also discusses internally displaced children; sexual violence against children; child labor; children and landmines and cluster bombs; children and small armed and light weapons; child victims, witnesses and perpetrators of crimes; and the role of children in peace processes.

This resource is intended to accompany the Integrated DDR Standards (IDDRS) document. As an operational guide, this resource summarizes key guidance from each IDDRS module. Guidance 5.20 and 5.30 focus on youth and children DDR; it examines reintegration programming, advocacy, and prevention of recruitment.

Intended for Save the Children staff at headquarters and field offices who work on children’s participation, this resource provides practice standards, a toolkit of activities, and guiding questions for planning participation activities. This resource also provides guides to including children in advocacy and campaigning, fundraising, media and communications, recruitment, governance, and emergencies.

This resource is intended to provide legal interpretive guidance for governments, legal practitioners, decision makers, the judiciary, and other practitioners who need assistance carrying out refugee status determination in the field. This resource also provides guidelines on carrying out this determination in a child-sensitive manner and includes an overview of the relevant international legal framework.

This resource is intended to provide guidance for children’s activities in pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis contexts, with particular attention to achieving justice for children at the national level. This resource includes nine guiding principles and a framework for a justice approach to child protection and child participation.

Intended for those who work with Christian Children’s Fund programs, this resource aims to strengthen child and youth involvement. It discusses preparing a child friendly enabling environment and consulting, planning and implementing programs with children and young people. The appendices provide tools and activities to engage children and youth.

This resource builds on the practices of domestic child protection systems and details UNHCR’s formal procedure for the ‘best interests determination’ (BID) of a child. This process is designed to facilitate adequate child participation without discrimination. This resource includes guidance on setting up a BID procedure, collecting information, balancing competing rights, and informing the child and follow-up measures.

This resource provides an overview of the legal standards and responsibilities to protect women and girls. It discusses issues such as displacement, prevention, reintegration, participation in peacebuilding processes, and the administration of justice during displacement for formal, traditional, and transitional mechanisms. Chapter 6 provides an overview of the international and regional legal framework. This resource is intended for UNHRC staff, both at headquarters and in the field, and protection partners.

Written for staff and managers of relief agencies and children’s agencies active in emergency response, this resource provides a guide for programming with children’s participation in emergencies. This resource considers: providing information for children; involving children in assessments, planning and decision making; feedback and complaint mechanisms for children; and children’s and young people’s associations in emergencies.

This resource was created as a companion to the UN’s Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law. It was intended to help guide non-governmental and civil society organizations advocate for victims’ rights as primary concern in state action.

This resource aims to provide guidance for local grassroots organizations in the protection of children from sexual violence and sexual exploitation. It explores relevant legal and policy frameworks and existing protection frameworks. This resource also includes key actions to minimizing the risks of sexual violence, such as advocacy and campaigning, protection committees, creating safe spaces, and psychosocial support and education. The annex includes checklists for action.

This resource is intended to guide practitioners on a range of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration activities and programs. Module 5.20 looks specifically at youth and DDR and considers socio-economic reintegration strategies for youth and young-ex-combatants, gender issues, and socio-political integration. Module 5.30 examines children and DDR and considers programming, access of children to DDR programs, prevention of recruitment and re-recruitment of children, and DDR programming for girls.

This UN General Assembly resolution provides principles related to State's obligations concerning reparations to victims of international humanitarian and human rights abuses. Victims have a right to be treated humanely and with respect, to access justice and relevant information, and to be afforded adequate and effective reparation without discrimination.

This resource aims to provide guidance to program managers and researchers on collecting information from and about young people on their health and social welfare conditions, as well as those who have experienced trafficking, abuse, or displacement. It considers basic ethical principles regarding children’s participation. The annex includes a sample survey and consent form.

Using case studies from Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, this resource focuses on strategies to prevent children’s recruitment in armed forces and groups. Strategies to prevent recruitment include developing targeted messages, avoiding separation, providing alternative care, schooling and skills training, and improving livelihoods. Intended to inform initiatives by governments, the UN, and non-governmental organizations, this resource also provides an overview of what constitutes voluntary and forced recruitment.

This resource focuses on children affected by armed conflict who become separated from their families, as well as unaccompanied children and orphans. It includes principles and guidelines for special issues related to refugee children and promoting children’s rights. The annex provides a list of key international instruments relating to separated children.

This resource contains ICRC documents related to children affected by armed conflict. Documents include: a summary table of international humanitarian law provisions applicable to children; an overview of child protection and humanitarian assistance activities for children; and a summary of the ICRC’s communication programs for young people and mine action programs.

This resource provides a thematic overview of key child protection concerns, including international law and policy instruments, and guidance on programming in emergencies. The appendix includes sample forms and assessment questions. The annex includes sample forms to use with separated children and assessment questions.

This resource is a compilation of legal standards and norms regarding children and armed conflict, including the rights of the child, international humanitarian law, law on refugees and internally displaced persons, international criminal law, and UN Security Council resolutions.

A fact sheet developed by the ICRC’s advisory service on international humanitarian law, this resource explains the general and special legal protection afforded to children during armed conflict under the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols and the role of States and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in upholding these protection standards.

This resource considers ethical issues and challenges around involving children in M&E programs given children’s right to part to participate. It provides an overview of what participation means and issues such as accountability, protection of children’s best interests, informing children, informed consent, and equity and non-discrimination. It also includes a checklist of questions for research and monitoring and evaluation managers when including child participation in research.

Part of OHCHR’s professional training series, this resource provides an outline of training on human rights topics, group exercises, instructions, guidance for trainers, and handouts, including on the protection of juveniles. This resource is designed to complement OHCHR’s International Human Rights Standards for Law Enforcement and the Human Rights Standards and Practice for the Police: Expanded Pocket Book on Human Rights for the Police.

Intended for UNHCR staff and its operational partners, this resource provides guidelines on the protection and care of refugee children. It includes an overview of treaty standards, cultural considerations, psychosocial well-being, personal liberty and security, legal status, education, and unaccompanied children. The Annex provides UNHRC’s policy on refugee children.