Security Council meeting 4037-Resu.1

Mr. van Walsum (Netherlands)

Mr. President, I should like to join my colleagues who spoke this morning in expressing my satisfaction at seeing you chair this important meeting. In the second half of this year the United Nations and its principal organs are favoured with a generous portion of Namibian chairmanships. We also wish to commend your country for having taken the initiative to devote a public meeting of the Council to the issue of children and armed conflict.

I am grateful to Special Representative Otunnu for his statement on the subject. He has shown once again that with him the advocacy of the cause of children and armed conflict is in able hands.

The protection of children appears to be one of those issues which unite all nations. This is borne out, for instance, by the almost universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is also accepted throughout the world that children require particular protection in situations of armed conflict. Today it is the Security Council that will take a step to bring us closer to this goal.

It is important to realize that this is an item which will not disappear from the agenda after today's work. In the preparation of this meeting one could sense the determination of all members of the Council to see to it that the issue of children in armed conflict will be addressed every time the Council takes action to maintain or restore peace and security.

In various instances the Council has done so in the recent past. This debate therefore comes at the right time: we can build on concrete experience and plan further action. That is the essence of the draft resolution before us, and it has the full support of my delegation.

As we pointed out on an earlier occasion, it is of particular importance that personnel involved in peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace-building activities be familiarized with subjects such as the protection, rights and welfare of children. They should be specifically trained to deal with child soldiers.

By definition child soldiers are under age by international or national standards and are therefore unfit for participation in armed conflict. Tragically, these child soldiers, often in their early teens, are not only the victims of the armed conflict in which they are caught up, but, as recent experience has shown, they can be the perpetrators of atrocities as well. An integrated approach should lead to their disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in society.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child and other instruments contain clear prohibitions with regard to the use of child soldiers. These norms have to be respected. In the field of standards-setting some further progress is being made. The Netherlands has begun the process leading to the ratification of International Labour Organization Convention No. 182, which prohibits forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. Obviously, States are free to go beyond the minimum standards; in that case the norms that provide the highest degree of protection to children will prevail.

This Council has had before it many reports on individual situations where the rights of children were violated on a massive scale. In such cases it is the responsibility of all States and the international community to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.

From the outset the Netherlands has been supportive, including financially, of the work of the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict, Under-Secretary-General Otunnu. By drawing attention to the impact of armed conflict on children, both in general and in concrete cases -- such as in the countries he visited -- he is fulfilling his important mandate, which was modelled on the recommendations contained in the watershed report by Ms. Graça Machel.

My delegation also wishes to pay tribute to the important work of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and of other agencies, such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees -- as well as the contribution of the International Committee of the Red Cross and numerous other organizations -- in alleviating the impact of armed conflicts on children. UNICEF has been instrumental in effectuating active child protection for many years. It also applies its child-rights perspective to the situation of children in conflict situations. I am sure the recently launched Peace and Security Agenda for Children will further guide UNICEF in its worldwide activities aimed at the protection of children. That the Netherlands is one of the major donors to UNICEF's programme, we owe largely to the remarkable support and trust the organization has generated among individual Dutch contributors.

The Netherlands is prepared to increase its support for projects benefiting children affected by armed conflicts. At present, we lend support to several projects aimed at the rehabilitation of child soldiers in Africa.

In all this, we let ourselves be guided by a complex of considerations. First, it goes without saying that the fate of individual children is the subject of our concern. But beyond that, we are dealing with the fate of nations. Children unsettled and traumatized by armed conflict risk growing up to be a liability for their society, whereas children saved from this scourge can help build a healthy society and prevent the next conflict.

The President

I thank the representative of the Netherlands for his kinds words addressed to my country and myself.

Mr. Fowler (Canada)

It is indeed a pleasure to see you, Sir, presiding over the work of the Security Council today. You clearly have many friends around this table and within these walls. Twenty-two years ago, as a junior member of the Canadian Security Council delegation, I had the distinct pleasure of working with you and President Nujoma, as the Gang of Five sought to negotiate Namibia's freedom -- a process that culminated in resolution 435 (1978), passed in September 1978, which, far too many years later, led to the independence of your country. It is a delight to now serve on the Security Council with a vigorous and effective Namibian delegation and an honour to meet today under your presidency.

Mr. Fowler (Canada)

Let me begin by congratulating you, Sir, for your initiative in calling this open debate on children and armed conflict. I would also like to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict for providing the context for our debate, in particular by presenting his assessment of the harsh realities faced by children affected by war. I also wish to thank the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for circulating to Council members her excellent overview of the important work that UNICEF is doing in the field. My delegation considers it indeed unfortunate that Ms. Bellamy could not be present to participate in this important debate, where UNICEF's unique expertise would have been most valuable.

The protection of civilians during armed conflicts is a central aspect of human security. Children, as the most vulnerable civilian group, deserve the Council's special consideration. In the open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, held last February at Canada's initiative, the Council devoted particular attention to child victims of war, and we believe that this issue must remain a priority on our agenda.

Children are the future of the global community and of human security. Ensuring respect for their rights, their protection and their welfare is a collective obligation, and any failure on our part in these areas necessarily undermines our efforts to promote the rule of law. As States we must do our utmost to comply fully with our obligations under the relevant international instruments, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Geneva conventions and their protocols. Children are increasingly the innocent victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity. We must therefore put an end to the culture of impunity through unflagging support for the international tribunals and the timely establishment of the International Criminal Court. In addition, if we are to achieve effective reconciliation and ensure the full participation of children in their societies, we must work to ensure that war-affected children are rehabilitated and reintegrated into their communities. By failing to address the effects of armed conflict on children, we risk jeopardizing the prospects for sustainable peace.

The Lomé Peace Agreement for Sierra Leone focuses appropriately on war-affected children. Its signing is an important turning point for the international community. The conflict in that country has been dubbed the "children's war" because of how many of the victims and perpetrators of violence have been children. This is why the successful disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers will be a decisive element in rebuilding a climate of security and stability.

National efforts to address accountability and reconciliation after the traumatic events which occurred in Sierra Leone will also be crucial. Canada welcomes the Security Council's expansion of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) and supports efforts for the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants, which must specifically recognize the special needs of children.

Mr. Fowler (Canada)

Canada strongly supports the work of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Mr. Olara Otunnu. As we are all too aware, the legal norms and standards which exist to protect the rights of children are most often honoured in the breach. Mr. Otunnu has raised the profile of children's rights in conflict-affected areas with particular leaders on all sides of a withering array of devastating conflicts, with non-governmental organizations, and with domestic constituencies throughout the world. More substantively, his numerous missions to conflict-affected countries, including Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone and Colombia, have resulted in commitments to stop recruiting and deploying children under the age of 18.

We also strongly support the efforts of other key bodies within the United Nations system as they seek to protect children caught up in conflicts throughout the world. Agencies such as the United Nations Children's Fund and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as well as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, all drawing on years of experience with children, have critical roles to play on the ground in implementing effective programmes to address the needs of war-affected children. This makes it the more important that those involved in addressing this problem within the United Nations system coordinate and collaborate carefully so that no effort is wasted. While we recognize that some progress has been made in this area, more is clearly required.

My delegation is deeply troubled by the growing number of child soldiers, now numbering more than 300,000 -- not only the children who use and carry weapons, but also the many young girls and boys who serve fighting factions as water carriers, messengers or sex slaves. The practice of employing children as weapons of war must be stopped. We must also be creative in finding solutions which can integrate children who have been left orphaned or abandoned by families, clans and communities. Children should be offered real alternatives to joining armies or rebel groups, or indeed to living alone on the streets.

To this end, Canada has a three-track approach. First, we support the development of a strong optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, aimed at raising the age of recruitment in the armed forces and the age at which people may legally participate in hostilities. Canada is taking measures to be in a position to support the strongest possible standard by the time the working group next meets, in January 2000.

Secondly, civil society partnerships are central to the way Canada approaches human security. Complex problems, such as that of war-affected children, call for multifaceted responses. Governments alone cannot prevent abuses against children trapped in conflicts; nor can they alone heal the impact of war-related trauma. Close cooperation among international organizations, regional bodies and civil society, such as the international non-governmental organization Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, is crucial to devising coordinated responses and imaginative solutions.

Thirdly, we recognize the importance of regional initiatives. Canada congratulates the Organization of African Unity and the Organization of American States on their regional efforts to combat the use of child soldiers and to assist the plight of war-affected children more generally. The African Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers, held in Maputo last April 1999, and the Latin American regional conference, held in July, have built momentum at the regional and subregional levels. These conferences have succeeded in bringing Governments together with civil society to examine the problem in an effective partnership. They tell us that solutions too will require partnerships and, to be sustainable, must be built on local and regional initiatives which recognize traditional values.

Two weeks ago the Secretary-General called for "days of tranquillity" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to enable the country's more than 10 million children to be immunized against polio, measles and diphtheria. Canada believes that the Council should support such humanitarian ceasefires as an important element in long-term peace-building. My delegation shared the Secretary-General's dismay, however, when the campaign was interrupted and valuable supplies wasted in several parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo a few days later. As a result, many children could not be vaccinated. The situation of the Congolese children speaks to the problem we debate today: children did not cause the conflict in the Congo, yet they are so deeply, so dramatically and so desperately affected by such struggles in the most basic of ways.

In many war-torn societies, landmines constitute one of the most significant threats to children. It is estimated that approximately 25 per cent of the world's landmine victims are children who come into direct contact with mines as they play, go to school, tend livestock or gather food and water. Moreover, given their relative size, child victims of landmines are more likely to suffer more seriously, or to die, as a result of their injuries. In addition, children are particularly vulnerable to the threat of landmines as a result of their natural curiosity about strange objects as well as their relative inability to recognize and respect warning signs of mined areas. While it is difficult to fathom, some militaries have deliberately targeted children with landmines by developing brightly coloured mines that look like toys.

In her study on the impact of armed conflict on children, Graça Machel called on the international community to denounce this attack on children for what it is: intolerable and unacceptable, as children have no part in warfare. In the Security Council, we should accelerate our efforts to address the problems of war-affected children and, more generally, to promote the protection of all civilians. Other forums -- the General Assembly, regional organizations and other key meetings such as the 27th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent -- will also play vitally important roles.

My delegation looks forward to the Secretary-General's forthcoming report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict and to discussing the concrete recommendations contained therein. We also look forward to participating in the preparation of the report on children and armed conflict envisaged in the draft resolution before the Council today.

The President

I thank the representative of Canada for the kind words he addressed to my country and to me personally.

I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Namibia.

On the eve of the new millennium, we can look back on this century, which witnessed two world wars, the invention and use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and a record number of atrocities, especially the killing of civilians in armed hostilities. The most recent means of warfare has been the heinous targeting of civilians, particularly women and children. And even more atrocious is the ever more prevalent practice of including children in regional conflicts not as mere victims but as perpetrators.

We celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the relevant Geneva Conventions on 12 August 1999. But, obviously, it was not a joyous occasion -- the world has witnessed just too much suffering. The important thing, however, is that this situation cannot be ignored any longer.

The Geneva Conventions embody the norms and standards set forth for all warfare, starting first of all with legal protection for prisoners of war, as set out in 1929 and then again in 1977. Thus, the international community, having learned the lessons of inter-State, colonial and civil wars, elaborated and signed the two Additional Protocols to the Conventions, which are applicable to those conflicts and provide greater protection for civilians during hostilities.

Sadly, the numerous conflicts that have been waged around the world in the 1990s have been marked by perpetual violations of human rights and international humanitarian law rather than by their observance. New ways have to be found and efforts have to be intensified to keep the worst horrors at bay and to ensure that victims of such conflicts can preserve their dignity and enjoy protection. There is also a need for internationally accepted norms and standards concerning the human rights instruments that should be complied with by everyone involved in today's conflicts.

One such effort is today's meeting of the Security Council devoted to children and armed conflict. Namibia felt compelled to have this debate under its presidency this month as a demonstration of my country's commitment to helping address this serious situation. Personally, it also provides a fitting prelude to my assumption of the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session, during which I trust that this matter and others relating to children will receive the prominence they deserve. I have made a personal pledge that I will endeavour to ensure that this is the case.

Our continent, Africa, has been ravaged by armed conflicts and many millions of children are affected and dying as a result. We therefore felt duty-bound yet again to call the attention of the Security Council and the international community at large to this critical situation. The Security Council has a very important role to play in this respect, as it is mandated by the Charter to maintain international peace and security.

I expect that an appropriate resolution will be adopted, building on last year's presidential statement aimed at strengthening the protection of children. I would like to thank all the members of the Council for their cooperation and valuable contributions and support in this endeavour.

My appreciation is also extended to my brother and dear friend, Ambassador Olara Otunnu, for having accepted our invitation to address the Council on this issue and for his most outstanding and informative contribution. Yes, we remember Mrs. Graça Machel for her remarkable dedication and pioneering work on behalf of the world's children. Mr. Otunnu can count on the continued support of Namibia to carry out his very important responsibility to keep high on the international peace agenda the rights, protection and welfare of children affected by armed conflicts.

Much of what has been said here today by many speakers Namibia agrees with fully, so I will not belabour these points. However, there is added value to highlighting a few salient points.

Namibia, having itself experienced a long and bitter struggle for liberation, holds peace as being vital and sacrosanct. We maintain that children have no role as perpetrators in armed conflicts at any time. Therefore, Namibia subscribes to the call that children be treated as zones of peace. They are our future and we need to ensure that they develop their fullest potential. It is therefore our collective obligation to unreservedly condemn the use of child soldiers and all other atrocities perpetrated against children by adults in war zones.

To this end, the international community must take effective measures to turn the situation around by putting an end to armed conflicts and their root causes, thereby eliminating the suffering of children, including their suffering as sexual slaves. Chief among these causes are the unacceptable levels of poverty, hunger and socio-economic backwardness in developing countries. In addition to these development woes, we now have ethnic and religious wars, as well as organized crime, with most devastating consequences. The international community as a whole, Governments, industry, civil society and the United Nations, in particular the Security Council, have a moral obligation urgently and resolutely to seek effective ways of removing these causes of armed conflict.

The impact of armed conflicts on children is exacerbated by international arms dealers who fuel internecine conflicts through the flow of arms and other military hardware, especially small arms, which are light enough for children to handle in theatres of armed conflict. We must take concerted action to identify the sources of small arms and light weapons, on the side both of producers and users, and to stop their illicit production and trafficking, as well as their availability to children.

Cooperation between the United Nations and Member States, through regional mechanisms in conflict prevention, management and resolution, as well as during the post-conflict peacebuilding and reconstruction phase, must be enhanced, encouraged and fully supported.

Earlier commitments made by Member States to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other international agencies dealing with children affected by war, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are of particular importance in terms of the mobilization of resources to implement the existing programmes.

The Security Council must take appropriate action within its scope of responsibility to reinforce all efforts aimed at getting the warring parties to observe the accepted rules concerning the protection of children in situations of armed conflict. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as well as the recent International Labour Organization Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour have given us additional ammunition to wage this struggle.

As members of the international community, we must continue to insist on a measure of rationality and equity in our response to victims of armed conflicts, in particular children. We, as one human family, are demeaned and diminished when the response to the humanitarian needs of victims does not measure up to the gravity of the situation as regards the plight of children.

In Africa, the impact of armed conflict on children has been particularly harmful, unceasing and widespread. No region of the continent has been spared the scourge of armed conflict. I wish to appeal to States Members of the United Nations to provide adequate humanitarian assistance to the lead agencies to facilitate the demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers into society.

The Namibian delegation has consistently supported the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict since its establishment by the General Assembly in 1996. We commend the Special Representative not only for the ground-breaking work he has done so far but also for the resolute manner in which he is executing his mandate. I would like to commend the Secretary-General for giving him the support and encouragement he needs.

We believe that the protection of children affected by armed conflict requires coordination among all the relevant agencies of the United Nations and its allied collaborators, and we call upon all the principal actors on behalf of children to continue to see this as a joint endeavour.

Namibia agrees as well that it is necessary for the international community to increase the minimum age for recruitment and participation in armed conflicts to 18 years. Namibia adheres to the minimum age of 18 years for recruitment into the military. In this regard, it is our hope that the current deadlock of the Working Group on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child will be resolved in accordance with our common commitment made in 1990 -- the "first call for children".

The Organization of African Unity (OAU) Heads of State or Government, at their last summit of this millennium, held in Algiers, reaffirmed their determination to "work relentlessly towards the promotion of the rights and welfare of the child" and their "commitment to combat all forms of child exploitation, and in particular put an end to the phenomenon of child soldiers". Namibia is committed to this undertaking. In Africa this year we had two very important meetings, both held in Maputo, Mozambique, on the issue of children and armed conflict and anti-personnel landmines.

We call upon all United Nations agencies and others, particularly the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), to increase their ongoing efforts to provide all necessary assistance in this regard. UNICEF, as the principal agency mandated with the protection of children, should be provided with additional resources if it is to give full attention to the protection of children everywhere. Strong and persistent effort by all principal actors is required if we are to achieve a world where children will be allowed to be children only. The challenges we are faced with are enormous and require each and everyone to work in a holistic, collaborative and dedicated manner to ensure that the standards which we have accepted are fully enjoyed by their ultimate beneficiaries, the children, who are the leaders of tomorrow.

I now resume my functions as President of the Security Council.

The next speaker inscribed on my list is the representative of Algeria. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Baali (Algeria)

There is very good reason why questions that are of great concern to Africa in recent weeks have been the subject of such careful -- and, we hope, fruitful -- consideration by the Council.

The emphasis placed today by the Security Council on the tragic situation of children in armed conflict stems not only from the Council's long-standing interest in this question but also from your personal commitment, Mr. President, to just causes in general and to African causes in particular. It stems also from the fact that, out of solidarity with all those who are suffering, your country -- our sister country, Namibia -- has always sought to espouse those causes, as the day-to-day work done by Ambassador Martin Andjaba in the United Nations has made abundantly clear.

On behalf of the current Chairman of the Organization of African Unity, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, whom I represent here, and on behalf of the Group of African States -- which I have the honour of chairing during this month of August -- I wish to convey to you, Sir, my heartfelt congratulations on your assumption of the presidency of the Council and to express our confidence in you and in your wise and successful conduct of the work of the Council.

I should like also to take this opportunity to pay sincere tribute to Ambassador Hasmy of Malaysia for his presidency of the Council, which he assumed with discretion and skill.

In one of the United Nations Children's Fund's publicity campaigns, a child, asked what he wants to be when he grows up, answers, "I want to be alive". That answer sums up in a nutshell the magnitude of the tragedy suffered by the tens of millions of children affected in some way by natural or man-made disasters.

I am certain that all present today recall the terrifying figures quoted a year ago in this Chamber by Mr. Olara Otunnu, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, who today has returned to express his horror at the continuing tragedy of children in Africa and elsewhere and to remind us of our obligations and our past commitments.

More than 2 million children have been killed, millions of others wounded or maimed for life, 10 million seriously traumatized and 12 million abandoned to their fate and left homeless -- all of this in the past decade alone. The nightmare goes on, because conflicts have in recent years increased in number and in intensity, continuing to cut short the lives of thousands of children, primarily among those 300,000 who serve as child soldiers in several areas of conflict; also among civilian populations, which today are being particularly targeted and where women and children are the primary victims of violence; and finally in situations where anti-personnel and other types of landmines killing and maim, year in and year out, more than 800 children.

It is true that war is not a recent phenomenon. It is as old as the human race. It has accompanied its evolution throughout the ages and served its interests. Women and children have always suffered from the savagery of men, have been used as war booty and have supplied the slave markets. But never have children been so targeted, massacred, abused, raped, mutilated and robbed of their innocence and childhood dreams as they are at the dawn of the third millennium.

These children -- victims of war, physically and mentally disabled, orphans raised in street violence and in poverty -- what kind of future can they dream of, if they can dream at all? Tens of thousands of them remember only atrocities and battle from their childhood, whether as actors or as victims. They are caught in a spiral of violence and despair whose causes they do not know and whose consequences they cannot control.

How have we arrived at this senseless dehumanization, at this wanton desecration of life, these outrages committed against our children? Explanations abound, and they indicate to us the path to follow and the solutions to be implemented to put an end once and for all to the unbearable pictures that television networks, as if to make us feel guilty, show us in all their stark brutality and inhumanity.

First, many of the conflicts in the world are clearly internal in nature with strong ethnic or religious overtones. It is not regular armies that are waging war; those armies are supposed to enforce respect for the limits by which the law of war and international humanitarian law have tried to manage the conduct of war, trying to humanize somehow the deadly madness of mankind.

In fact, we are talking here about armed groups that increasingly conscript adolescents forcibly into their ranks and that indulge today in violence that is particularly unrestrained because they are not bound by any code of honour. This violence is directed not against military targets, but against defenceless civilians, whom they terrorize in order to subjugate and use them or whom they exterminate because of the evil represented by their ethnic or religious identity.

It is hardly surprising, therefore, that 90 per cent of the victims of conflicts going on in the world are civilians, a large proportion of which are women and children. The reason for this is that these conflicts are often fuelled, supplied and perpetuated -- and they can go on for decades -- by illicit small arms trafficking, which, despite all the declarations, appeals and warnings, continues to prosper, placing in the hands of children the tools of their own destruction, thus undoing all of our efforts to curb conflicts.

Similarly, and despite the adoption almost three years ago of a Convention that was described as a historic turning point in our struggle to ban anti-personnel landmines, the use of these arms has hardly diminished. Even if it had, we would hardly have noticed it, so numerous are the mines that were planted in the past, including during the colonial period and up to the Second World War. Every day, in Angola, Rwanda, Cambodia and elsewhere, they kill and maim.

Last year, as Mr. Otunnu said in his first statement to the Council, the fate of children is tied to a genuine crisis of values at the international and the local level. At the international level, instruments establishing the limits of war are often violated. Recent and not so recent events offer many examples of the bombing of civilian targets, even civilian populations, which have been presented as a necessity or at best as a regrettable mistake. The life of the individual has lost the sacred quality it is supposed to have; now everything is permitted. This abandonment of civilized norms is also clear in certain occupied territories where the occupying Power disregards the provisions of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, by subjecting civilians to the worst excesses without batting an eyelash.

At the local level, underdevelopment and poverty, the prevalence of political interests and tactics and, finally, the infiltration of alien ways of thinking and patterns of behaviour have often led to the undermining of a society, breaking the subtle balance that held it together and toppling the system of references and the scale of values on which it was built.

But it is in particular the globalization and the growing ordinariness of violence, disseminated by the media, and sometimes practised or encouraged by States, and also the failure of the culture of solidarity, the extreme poverty rampant in the countries of the South, the extreme selfishness of the well-off minority, the lack of prospects for the great majority, human distress and despair; all these things are behind this crisis of values, which is first and foremost a crisis of confidence in man's humanity, of humanity towards itself.

Given this serious degradation of universal values and the tragedy that is the daily lot of tens of millions of children, and not just because of war, the United Nations has responsibilities to shoulder and a role to play. Of course, the international community has not been inactive in recent years, even if its efforts have scarcely been marked by the staunchness or resolve that the gravity of the situation would require.

The holding of this debate demonstrates that a real awareness is developing, an awareness that was activated near the beginning of the decade with the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and continued with the ongoing drafting of the optional protocol, the appointment of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the adoption by the Security Council last year of a statement condemning abuses against children, calling upon States to comply with the norms of international law and outlining a number of steps and actions to save children from the violence of which they are victims.

Similarly, by introducing provisions relating to children in paragraph 16 of the resolution adopted last week on Sierra Leone, the Security Council took an innovative step that we hope will be taken regularly.

Africa has supported this movement and has sometimes taken the initiative, as when it adopted the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which will enter into force as soon as 15 States ratify it. We hope this will occur in the near future.

In fact, in 1979 the member States of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) adopted in Monrovia the declaration on the rights and well-being of children, followed 10 years later by the African Charter, which bans the recruitment of children under 18 years of age as soldiers and which says in its preamble that children, given their specific needs for their physical and mental development, require special attention for their health and their physical, mental, moral and social development, and require legal protection in conditions of freedom, dignity and security.

Furthermore, the OAU, at the Yaoundé summit in 1996, adopted a resolution stating that the use of children in armed conflicts was a violation of their rights and should be considered a war crime.

Finally, the thirty-fifth Assembly of Heads of State and Government, which met in Algiers from 12 to 14 July, adopted three very important resolutions dealing with this most sensitive issue, which was the subject of special attention by all member States.

In the first decision, on the ratification of the African Charter on the Rights and Well-being of Children, the OAU makes an urgent appeal to States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify that Charter, and it calls upon member States to work together with the United Nations Children's Fund and the OAU Secretariat, within the framework of a protocol of agreement, to speed up effective implementation of the Convention.

The second decision deals with the African Conference on the Use of Child Soldiers which was held in Maputo from 19 to 22 April this year, the outcome of which was the adoption of a declaration condemning the recruitment of children as soldiers, calling for raising the recruitment age -- even for voluntary recruits -- to 18 and advocating the physical and psycho-social rehabilitation of demobilized children and their reintegration into society, as well as the indictment of those who use children as soldiers.

In the Algiers decision, which refers to this conference, the summit welcomed the positive results of the Maputo meeting. It recommended the establishment of a special committee on the situation of children in armed conflict; urged States to adopt and promote norms banning the recruitment and use of child soldiers under the age of 18; and called upon the Secretary-General of the OAU to set up appropriate mechanisms to activate the process of combating this phenomenon with a view to drafting an international convention on the subject.

In the last decision, which deals with proliferation and the illicit circulation of and trafficking in small arms, the Algiers Assembly welcomed initiatives taken by member States and regional organizations concerning the question of small arms, in particular the moratorium of the Economic Community of West African States on small arms, the destruction of surpluses of small arms and obsolete weapons in South Africa and the destruction of illicit weapons in Mozambique. The Assembly launched an appeal to the international community to give affected African countries every necessary assistance in order to enable them to implement programmes to resolve problems relating to the proliferation of small arms, and it urged the Secretary-General once again to solicit the views of member States on the proliferation and illicit circulation of and trafficking in small arms, in particular with regard to actions to be undertaken.

In that decision the summit stressed the impact of the proliferation and illicit circulation of and trafficking in small arms on the recruitment of an increased number of child soldiers and the psychological trauma resulting from this, and the need to comply with provisions of the African Charter on the Rights and Well-being of Children. It also appealed to all member States of the international community to lend assistance in the psycho-social rehabilitation of children affected by the proliferation and illicit circulation of and trafficking in small arms.

In a word, by calling for compliance with relevant international and regional instruments, by taking necessary practical steps to prohibit the recruitment as soldiers of children under the age of 18 and by adopting measures against the proliferation of and the illicit trafficking in small arms, the Algiers summit has indeed proved the seriousness with which Africa intends to tackle this problem and, in so doing, indicates to the rest of the international community the path to be followed.

However, Africa cannot alone resolve the problem of children affected by conflicts. Doubtless it has today shown the political will. It has decided to declare the coming year a year of peace and stability in the continent, and for some months it has with courage and determination committed itself to resolving conflicts that ravage the continent and use up its energies and resources. But clearly it does not have the resources and it cannot do this alone -- that is, without the effective mobilization of the international community and without strong support for its efforts to resolve conflicts, to consolidate peace and stability throughout the continent and to rebuild the economies that have been ravaged by wars. It cannot do this as long as the lucrative arms trafficking continues, as long as the plunder of the continent's resources goes on, as long as the sanctions imposed by the Security Council or by the OAU are circumvented and as long as, in the name of some justification or consideration, the independence and sovereignty of African States is violated.

The appointment of Mr. Olara Otunnu -- who succeeded Mrs. Graça Machel, a great lady from our continent whose gentle persistence has lifted the dark veil of indifference hanging over the cruel fate of children -- has galvanized us all, States, intergovernmental institutions and non-governmental organizations which refuse to accept the ugly treatment meted out to children.

At the first debate the Council held on this serious question, Mr. Otunnu opened up a number of directions for possible collective action. He also urged -- and he did so again today -- the international community, and in particular the Security Council, which has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, to attack the causes of the tragedies suffered by children, that is to say, to work to prevent conflicts.

The point today is not to try to redress, to lessen or to mitigate the effects of conflicts on children. Humanitarian assistance, however necessary and welcome it may be, does indeed have its limits, and it can be misused. There is also the risk of it being used for political or media purposes -- which has already happened -- of it becoming a substitute for prevention and settlement of conflicts -- which has already happened -- and even of its being used as an alternative to development assistance, as is often the case.

In fact, the only real solution is to extirpate the roots of conflicts by, as a matter of priority in Africa, attacking the primary causes of wars -- that is, the poverty, destitution and human distress which often are the breeding ground for intolerance, hatred and violence, and by working to educate children to promote a culture of peace as well as dialogue and understanding among people.

From that standpoint, it is our wish that the solemn appeal on 12 August by the United Nations Secretary-General to donor countries to provide emergency assistance in the order of $500 million for the victims of conflicts and natural disasters in Africa be promptly and totally heeded. Indeed, to repeat the language used by the Secretary-General in an interview he gave last Thursday to a European newspaper:

"Never has Africa more needed political and financial assistance. But also, never has it been in a better position to take advantage of it."

We hope that the international community will shoulder its responsibilities to Africa, which is on the road to recovery and which intends to take its rightful place in the new world order which is being established. We hope that African children like other children in the world can once again start to dream of the day when they can be teachers, doctors or farmers -- in a word, where they can become ordinary citizens of the world.

The President

I thank the representative of Algeria for the kind words he addressed to my country and to me.

The next speaker is the representative of Norway. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Hønningstad (Norway)

My delegation would like to congratulate the presidency and the Council on adopting resolution 1260 (1999) last Friday. This is proof of Namibia's wise guidance of the Council and the ability of the Council to respond to a conflict of grave consequences -- not only for a member country, Sierra Leone, but for the thousands of innocents caught in the conflict, particularly children. We consider the resolution, in particular paragraphs 6 and 16, an important example of how the rights of children in armed conflict, their protection and rehabilitation, can be addressed in dealing with specific conflicts. This manifestation of the Council's will and ability to take the interests and rights of children explicitly into account in a peace settlement process bodes well for our future endeavours in this field.

I would also like to thank the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Mr. Olara Otunnu, for his informative briefing. His description of the current situation is the best example of the need for increased awareness and urgent action to alleviate the unacceptable situation in which a large number of children are forced to live. We therefore welcome the Security Council's again putting this important issue on its agenda. We take this as an indication that the protection and welfare of children affected by conflict is becoming a continuing concern of the Council. We also hope that the Council's deliberations can lead to agreement on concrete recommendations to improve the current situation.

Let me briefly outline some of the elements my Government believes are of key importance in this regard.

States have the primary responsibility to protect the rights and well-being of children. In those cases where the national legal framework and measures are inadequate, States have the responsibility to ensure that these inadequacies are addressed, and that the protection and welfare of children are given priority in economic and social policies.

International law has been developed, and if it is adhered to it can go a long way towards protecting the basic rights of children in armed conflict. This includes the human rights instruments, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. It is also important that the Statute establishing the International Criminal Court leaves no doubt that those who conscript or enlist children under the age of 15 into national armed forces or have them participate actively in hostilities may be punished as war criminals. Norway supported the 1998 adoption of that important new legal instrument. An important first step in alleviating the plight of children in armed conflict is for all States to comply with and respect the obligations entered into under these instruments.

The practice of hiring children as soldiers -- with its related killing and maiming, sexual abuse and abductions of children, not to mention the secondary effects for the victims -- is an indefensible activity which must be stopped. All parties to conflicts must also respect international humanitarian law, allowing unrestricted access for humanitarian personnel to affected populations. They must refrain from deliberately targeting civilians as part of their strategies and observe internationally accepted norms and standards. Special measures should be taken to protect the girl child from sexual and other abuse and gender-based violence.

While civilians -- children being the most vulnerable among them -- are increasingly victims of armed conflicts, peace negotiations and settlements often do not specifically address the situation of children. Treating the needs of children affected by armed conflicts as an afterthought may not only constitute a breach of their rights, but may also contribute to prolonging the difficult return to a normal post-conflict situation. The needs of children should therefore be explicitly and adequately addressed in peace negotiations and treaties.

The rights and needs of children should also be squarely addressed in the mandates and activities of peacekeeping operations led by the United Nations.

Anti-personnel mines and small arms constitute major difficulties in transitional post-conflict situations, contributing to destabilization and further suffering for civilians -- children not least among them. The anti-personnel landmine treaty constitutes a milestone in combating the use and stockpiling of such mines, and is a key basis for further action regarding mines. States should be encouraged to ratify the treaty and adhere to its provisions. There are also a number of international and regional efforts under way to address the problems of small arms. Norway takes an active part in these efforts. We welcome the declaration of the Foreign Ministers of the Economic Community of West African States, made at their meeting in March, in Bamako, on child soldiers, as well as the plan of action for the West African moratorium on small arms. We believe these and other initiatives and measures will lead to concrete results to curb the excessive accumulation of these weapons.

Norway strongly supports the role of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict as advocate for the rights of children affected by armed conflict. We welcome the elaboration of programmes of action for the Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Colombia and Burundi that build on the commitments from the parties elicited by the Special Representative. The success of these and other programmes will to a large extent, however, depend upon support from and close collaboration among United Nations organizations, Governments and non-governmental organizations. In particular, it bears stressing that the various relevant United Nations institutions -- the Special Representative, the United Nations Children's Fund, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Development Programme, to name a few -- need to cooperate and coordinate in carrying out their respective roles and activities in order to be as effective in responding to the needs of children as the situation requires.

We welcome the initiative to discuss the situation of children in armed conflict in the Council. The protection and welfare of children affected by conflict deserves to be a permanent item on the Council's agenda. We hope that further developments with regard to effective measures to address the current situation, including those highlighted in this statement, can be reviewed by the Council at an appropriate future meeting.

The President

I thank the representative of Norway for the kind words he addressed to me.

The next speaker is the representative of Finland. I invite her to take a seat at the Council table and to make her statement.

Ms. Rasi (Finland)

It is a great pleasure for me to see you, Sir, presiding over the Security Council today when the Council is debating this very important issue. I was very encouraged when you said that you would continue to work for the world's children during your forthcoming presidency of the General Assembly. You have our full support in this.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union -- Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia -- and the associated countries Cyprus and Malta, as well as the European Free Trade Association countries members of the European Economic Area, Iceland and Liechtenstein, align themselves with this statement.

In our days, the victims of armed conflicts are overwhelmingly civilians rather than soldiers. Civilian populations are increasingly used as battle-tools, shields and targets. Among civilians, children are particularly vulnerable. It is unacceptable that children should be among the principal victims of violent conflict and should furthermore be directly exploited to serve the interests of warring parties.

Recent studies, including that of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), have shown that the use of child soldiers is increasing. Several hundred thousand have participated as combatants in recent armed conflicts. Child soldiers suffer disproportionately because of their young age. Others have fallen victim to disease, deprivation, abduction, sexual abuse and gender-based violence connected with armed conflicts. Anti-personnel landmines and small arms have a particularly devastating effect on children. We must put an end to the terrible suffering of children as the weakest group in armed conflicts. Therefore we believe that concerted political and diplomatic pressure must be exerted on, and legal action taken against, those who in situations of armed conflict violate the rights of children. Further attention has to be given to the situation of girl children in armed conflicts, and especially to protecting them against rape and other forms of sexual abuse and gender-based violence.

We must ensure that adequate resources are devoted to the demobilization of child soldiers and to child rehabilitation programmes as an integral part of planning for post-conflict situations. Equally, we recognize the importance of action to promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of child victims of conflict. The European Union's policies already address the plight of children in armed conflicts; in some specific situations we are focusing our efforts on the demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers.

Any meaningful effort to improve the plight of children affected by armed conflict requires high-level governmental and international attention. It requires the mobilization of public opinion, it requires practical action on the ground by Governments and armed opposition groups, and it requires that Governments support the activities of various organizations. The European Union underlines the need for a close partnership among the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, the United Nations Children's Fund and other relevant actors such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Representative of the Secretary-General for Internally Displaced Persons, the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization.

The European Union warmly welcomes the attention given by the Security Council to the situation of children affected by armed conflict through its formal debate on 29 June 1998 and through the adoption of a presidential statement on children and armed conflict. We look forward to the adoption of a Council resolution on this subject after this debate. We also hope that the Council will persist in its vigilance and will continue to keep this issue and other issues of human rights in specific conflict and post-conflict situations at the forefront of its agenda. In the view of the European Union, it is important that the situation of children in armed conflict should also be a part of the Secretary-General's reports to the Council on individual countries. Also, in preparing thematic reports to the Council on subjects relevant to children in armed conflict he should consult with UNICEF and other concerned actors of the United Nations system.

The primary responsibility for protecting the rights of the child under all circumstances rests with States. We urge States to provide the necessary legal framework and administrative measures to protect children's rights, and furthermore to commit available human and financial resources to the realization of their rights. However, this is not enough. We must also reinvigorate international efforts to protect children. The European Union supports the work that is in progress to strengthen international human rights standards and mechanisms for enforcing international law in respect of children in situations of armed conflict. We consider the classification of the use of child soldiers as a war crime in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to be a very important step for the improvement of the protection of children. It underlines the importance of the implementation and enforcement of existing minimum age standards for the recruitment and deployment of children in armed conflict, as set by international law.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child must be extended to provide adequate protection to all children. Especially in view of the tenth anniversary of the Convention, the European Union remains fully committed to the aim of concluding successfully the negotiations on the draft optional protocol relating to the involvement of children in armed conflict. We wish to express our full support to the chairperson of the working group in her informal consultations to that end.

As a step towards improving the protection of children, we welcome the adoption by the General Conference of the International Labour Organization of the Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour. These forms of labour include forced or compulsory recruitment for use in armed conflict.

The European Union stresses the particular importance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been almost universally ratified, and of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. Unfortunately, not all States have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child yet.

It is the responsibility of the international community to monitor and to seek guarantees that all sides involved in conflict -- governmental and non-governmental -- should abide by the relevant provisions of international law in their treatment of children. The European Union gives its full support to the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and to its mandate to monitor, with the support of UNICEF, the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in all States parties, including those affected by armed conflict. Human rights cannot be promoted in isolation. Also, the Security Council should address the rights of the child -- for example when the Council is mandating a peacekeeping mission with tasks to disarm, demobilize and reintegrate combatants. We also recommend that whenever sanctions are adopted in the handling of crises, their impact on children be assessed and monitored, and that humanitarian exceptions be child-focused.

The European Union would like to express strong support for the role of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Mr. Olara Otunnu, as advocate for the protection of children affected by armed conflict. The European Union also gives particular recognition to the long-standing work of UNICEF for children in situations of armed conflict. UNICEF has an extensive and permanent field presence and a comprehensive mandate that allows it to be present and operational before, during and after armed conflicts. The European Union calls on all concerned to continue to develop a concerted approach and to increase cooperation.

We fully support the efforts of the Special Representative to raise awareness and mobilize official and public opinion for action. We especially welcome his field visits to various countries in conflict and post-conflict situations. These have highlighted the plight of children in conflict situations. We commend the Special Representative's efforts to seek concrete commitments from all parties to conflicts to stop recruiting child soldiers, to demobilize and rehabilitate ex-child soldiers and to ensure children's access to humanitarian aid. We call upon States concerned and other parties to ensure follow-up to the recommendations resulting from the field visits of the Special Representative and to heed the commitments they have undertaken. It is vital that the implementation of these commitments be monitored.

The European Union also welcomes efforts in situations of peacemaking and peace-building being made to integrate a child perspective in post-conflict policies. The "peace and security agenda for children", presented at an earlier occasion to the Security Council by the Executive Director of UNICEF in her statement, contains a comprehensive set of measures on which the Council may wish to be updated at an appropriate time.

Most landmine victims are civilians. Many are children. The European Union is fully committed to the total elimination of anti-personnel landmines. We welcome the entry into force of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. The European Union continues to contribute significantly to mine-action programmes in many countries. Of particular importance is the extension of mine-awareness training to all children in mine-affected areas.

Among the factors which lead to a steady increase in the use of children as soldiers, we particularly wish to underline the excessive and uncontrolled accumulation and spread of small arms and light weapons. Semi-automatic rifles are light enough to be carried by children even below the age of 10. In this manner, children become perpetrators as well as victims of violence. We welcome international, regional, national and subregional efforts to curb the excessive and destabilizing accumulation of small arms and light weapons. The European Union has already adopted a Joint Action on small arms and the Code of conduct on arms exports. We welcome the recommendations of the Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms to develop guidelines for disarming combatants with respect to small arms, light weapons and ammunition.

To conclude, let me reiterate our full commitment to working together in all bodies of the United Nations to urgently meet the needs of all the child victims of armed conflicts so as to pave the way for rehabilitation, reconstruction and development. The European Union would like the United Nations system to place the issue of the rights, protection and well-being of children affected by armed conflicts within the mainstream of United Nations policy-making and programme activities. The European Union continues to devote considerable effort to addressing the needs of child victims in all parts of the world, both in terms of resourcing for and to promote a durable solution to the crises. However, the humanitarian efforts must be accompanied by broader political efforts aimed at addressing every step and aspect of the conflict. Therefore, a political solution to these crises should be rigorously pursued so as to prevent further suffering and destruction.

The President

I thank the representative of Finland for her kind words addressed to me.

The next speaker is the representative of Bangladesh. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Chowdhury (Bangladesh)

Bangladesh commends the initiative of the Security Council for convening this meeting. We thank Namibia in particular for its leadership in this regard. It is a special pleasure for me to see you, Sir, presiding over our meeting this afternoon. We are immensely honoured that this important meeting is being chaired by a person of your wisdom and eminence.

Today's meeting gives the Security Council an opportunity to follow up on the open debate we had last year on the same issue and to come up with ideas on how best the rights of children in conflict situations can be protected and also how best this issue can be brought to high-level governmental and international attention. Our deliberations today will, hopefully, help identify key action areas in a meaningful way.

Last month, the Council deliberated on the maintenance of peace and security and post-conflict peace-building. Many of us highlighted the problems of children in armed conflict in that meeting. My delegation continues to believe that no other issue has the same urgency and longer-term impact on problems relating to international peace, security and development as has that of children in conflict. Through its presidential statement of last year, the Security Council expressed its intention to pay serious attention to the situation of children affected by armed conflict. Bangladesh strongly believes that, given the seriousness and crucial importance of this issue, the time has come for the Council to adopt an appropriately articulated resolution on children and armed conflict, thereby giving real meaning to its resolve to address the issue.

This morning we heard a stimulating statement by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. The plight of children in conflict situations, as he presented it, shocked and outraged us. Of course, the United Nations has come a long way since the Graça Machel report was presented in 1996 and is now actively engaged in mitigating the suffering of children in armed conflict with its programmes and activities. We specially thank Ambassador Olara Otunnu for his action advocacy as well as for his leadership role in this area and encourage him to continue. His office needs to be strengthened to be effective and produce results. We also encourage better coordination between different parts of the United Nations at the headquarters and field levels engaged in child-related activities. My delegation, among others, was looking forward to hearing from other key players of the United Nations. We are particularly disappointed to see that the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has chosen to be absent from the debate in the Council today.

In today's wars and conflicts, the parties involved quite often have recourse to actions which constitute flagrant violations of human rights and international law, particularly humanitarian law, and the weaker and vulnerable groups of society, which include children, become the easy and innocent victims of conflicts. Abuses of the rights of children are very common in present-day wars and armed conflicts. This has been rightly termed the modern-day version of "child sacrifice". It not only robs children of their childhood but destroys productive human potential for generations.

My delegation supports the Special Representative's call for specific actions to prevent the suffering of children in conflict situations and to make a tangible difference in their lives. We believe that the international community has the ability to work together to heal the scars inflicted on children by war. The mobilization of a coordinated response to post-conflict situations is absolutely essential. The healing and rehabilitation of children should constitute a central element and not an afterthought of post-conflict peace-building programmes. Humanitarian standards and commitments must be translated into action that concretely helps endangered children. Governments should incorporate forceful child-protection elements in their domestic and foreign policies. My delegation feels that in armed conflicts, facilities meant for children, like schools, should be considered free zones. The concept of children as zones of peace needs to be realized through concrete action at all levels.

Bangladesh agrees with the Special Representative's focus on priority areas of action relating to the participation of children in armed conflict, sexual abuse and gender-based violence, mine awareness and rehabilitation of child victims, integrating standards into United Nations operations, and the impact of sanctions on children. It is important to incorporate the need for schooling and other activities to give structure to children's lives -- to protect boys from being drawn into fighting and girls from being exposed to sexual exploitation.

The supply and availability of small arms has assumed a disastrous dimension for the well-being of children. We are particularly pleased that child-protection issues have been incorporated in the Statute of the International Criminal Court and that crimes of war now include recruiting children below the minimum legal age of 15 and targeting buildings and sites primarily used by children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child has the potential of addressing all of these areas in the best interests of children.

My delegation believes that the cause of children can best be served not by the actions of States alone but by all women and men through the fostering of a culture of peace and non-violence in every human being and in every sphere of activity. The elements of a culture of peace draw from age-old principles and values which are respected and held in high esteem by all peoples and societies. The Special Representative made a reference to this in his statement this morning. The objective of a culture of peace is the empowerment of people. It celebrates diversity and advances understanding and tolerance. It works against poverty and inequality and promotes development. We also believe that the international community must make greater political efforts to settle conflicts by addressing the underlying political issues. An effective humanitarian response is crucial, but it cannot substitute political will for the settlement of conflicts.

The President

I thank the representative of Bangladesh for the kind words he addressed to me.

The next speaker inscribed on my list is the representative of Japan. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Satoh (Japan)

First of all, I would like to commend you, Mr. President, for your strong leadership and thoughtful guidance in convening this meeting. This meeting, stimulated by the strong appeal made this morning by Mr. Otunnu and featuring the participation of many non-members of the Security Council, will no doubt help demonstrate that the international community is strongly committed to making headway in resolving what is plainly a serious problem: the victimization and abuse of children in armed conflicts.

Given the continuing tragedy of children victimized or abused in armed conflicts, it is evident that concerted international efforts to protect children from the damaging impact of armed conflicts are more pressing than ever. In this context, the Government of Japan welcomes the humanitarian missions and advocacy vigorously and effectively carried out to date by Mr. Olara Otunnu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. Most importantly, his missions have gained specific commitments to protect children from conflicting parties in the Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda and Colombia. This is a highly commendable and reassuring achievement, although the obtained commitments must be put into action by all the parties concerned.

It must also be noted that Mr. Otunnu's activities have shed light not only on the plight of children, but also on the brutality of armed conflicts themselves. This lends the cause of conflict prevention yet another forcefully persuasive voice.

With all of this in mind, we, the Government of Japan, will continue to support the work of the Special Representative as he tackles the most humanitarian yet most daunting task of protecting children from the savagery of armed conflicts.

Mr. Otunnu rightly suggests in his report that

"the most important and pressing challenge today is how to translate existing standards and commitments into action that can make a tangible difference to the fate of children exposed to danger on the ground." (A/53/482, para. 140)

In order to meet this challenge, we still need a great deal of advocacy and robust efforts to make the Governments and peoples concerned, let alone the conflicting parties involved, recognize the utmost importance of protecting children from the danger of armed conflicts, and, in the final analysis, the importance of preventing the occurrence and recurrence of armed conflicts.

We therefore welcome this opportunity. I believe that the Security Council's focus on this issue will help greatly to enhance the level of concern of the international community about this most taxing problem of today's world.

For its part, Japan hosted a symposium last November entitled "Children and Armed Conflict", with the cooperation of the office of the Special Representative, the United Nations University and the Japan Committee for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Senior officials from Governments, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations, and leaders of civil society from the Asia-Pacific and other regions, gathered in Tokyo for that symposium, called for urgent, concerted action to protect children from being victimized in conflicts.

Landmines and small arms are two issues which we regard it imperative to tackle from the viewpoint of protecting children from the impact of armed conflicts. Japan advocates the "Zero Victims" programme with respect to the question of land mines, and for this purpose has pledged financial support of approximately 10 billion yen for mine clearance and victim assistance for the five-year period starting last year. With regard to the question of small arms, we are encouraged by the recent submission to the Secretary-General of the report of the Group of Governmental Experts on Small Arms.

Obviously, the most effective way of protecting children from conflicts is to prevent the occurrence and recurrence of conflicts. While conflict prevention is one of the most pressing and difficult issues in many parts of the world, a better understanding of the plight of children who are victimized or abused during the course of conflicts would hopefully work to make all concerned more seriously committed to the cause of conflict prevention, as well as to the efforts to eliminate the dangers of landmines and small arms. This makes the issue we address today doubly important.

The Japanese Government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, considers it important to cope with the issues the world faces today and in the future with a primary focus on human security: the protection of the dignity, basic rights and well-being of human beings. The protection of children from all kinds of danger and maltreatment is at the heart of human security considerations.

I therefore want to emphasize again the Japanese Government's commitment to the cause of protecting children from conflicts.

The President

I thank the representative of Japan for his kind words addressed to me.

In accordance with the decision taken earlier in the meeting, I invite the Permanent Observer of Switzerland to the United Nations to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Maurer (Switzerland)

Mr. President, first I should like to congratulate you and your country for having taken the initiative to conduct this important debate and to thank you for allowing Switzerland to address the Security Council.

As the depositary State of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, Switzerland attaches great importance to compliance with the legal norms applicable in armed conflict. Switzerland would like to recall that the Conventions are universally applicable and that it highlights the responsibility of States, in accordance with common article 1, to respect and ensure respect for the Geneva Conventions. Failure to respect provisions protecting vulnerable groups frequently involves all the parties to the conflict, State and non-State parties alike. The responsibility of States, however, is of primary importance, and the Security Council must take this into account and act accordingly.

Children are doubly vulnerable in conflict situations. They can be victims of conflicts that affect them physically and mentally while they are still developing physically and mentally. Children continue to be recruited and utilized in armed conflicts by Governments or armed opposition groups before reaching 18 years of age. As combatants, these children become legitimate targets under international law. Moreover, because of their age, they are particularly susceptible to indoctrination or drugs, thereby often becoming tools of grave violations of international law. The plight of girls and boys who are forced into prostitution, sexually abused, humiliated, brutalized and frequently kidnapped or subjected to forced displacement is also particularly alarming.

My country would like to emphasize in this regard the importance of the initiatives undertaken by the United Nations Children's Fund as well as by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Mr. Olara Otunnu, and calls upon parties to conflict to comply with the recommendations made. Switzerland has supported and will continue to support in the future the work of the Special Representative, as well as the work of the relevant agencies.

The increase in extreme and cynical forms of violence, as well as the rapid breakdown of fundamental values and the legal framework, must spur us to develop a more sophisticated strategy of protection. What could be some of the elements of such a strategy?

First, we must reinforce the legal framework as well as the implementation mechanisms. Switzerland is convinced that in order to ensure better protection it is particularly important to raise the minimum age for recruitment, whether voluntary or mandatory, to 18 years of age for regular armed forces or armed opposition groups, for direct or indirect participation in armed conflict. This objective could be achieved through the negotiations under way in the Working Group entrusted with the preparation of an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. My country has supported raising the minimum age at previous meetings of that Working Group and will continue to support it in the January 2000 session in the hope that such a legal instrument will be adopted.

Switzerland has also supported the activities undertaken by the coalition to put an end to the utilization of child soldiers since its establishment in Geneva in June 1998. My country is pleased that the efforts undertaken by this group of non-governmental organizations has made it increasingly possible to mobilize the international community. Switzerland is gratified that the declarations adopted at the Maputo and Montevideo conferences support raising the recruitment age and the age of participation in armed conflict to 18 years of age.

Secondly, growing attention on the part of the international community is now focused on the social reintegration of combatants who were recruited and utilized under 18 years of age. Efforts must continue in that direction. Switzerland is convinced that better coordination efforts in this connection are also necessary. We think it is particularly important that actors from the political, humanitarian and development domains prepare joint strategies in order to avoid overlapping and to create new structures.

Thirdly, the Security Council, because of its particular competence, could more explicitly support law and fundamental values. Whenever it addresses parties to a conflict, it could recall the applicability of international humanitarian law, as well as humanitarian standards and human rights. This is particularly important with regard to access for humanitarian personnel. The Council could also encourage the dissemination of the provisions of international humanitarian law.

The Council could call upon the parties to refrain from recruiting, in peacetime or wartime, children under the age of 18 and, if necessary, to demobilize and reintegrate into society this category of combatants. It could ensure that its peacekeeping operations benefit from the knowledge of experts on the rights of the child, and that dimension could be fully incorporated into peacekeeping operations. The Council could regularly request the Secretary-General to provide information, analyses and proposals for action to support children. It could encourage United Nations agencies and States to initiate strategies, projects and programmes specifically focused on the needs of children.

It could systematically draw the attention of parties negotiating a peace accord to the importance of taking the plight of children into account. More generally, it could encourage States to prepare their armed forces to meet the specific needs of particularly vulnerable groups, such as children. Finally, the Council itself could conclude without delay efforts already undertaken regarding targeted sanctions in order to ensure that there are humanitarian exceptions for vulnerable groups, children being particularly affected by such sanctions.

Switzerland hopes that during this year of the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, on the eve of the Twenty-seventh International Conference of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, 10 years after the adoption of the international Convention on the Rights of the Child, 2 years after the adoption of the Ottawa Convention, 1 year after the adoption in Rome of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, that a new stage in the protection of victims of armed conflict can be entered. This should be done through the determined will of the international community to speedily reach an agreement on how best to protect children in armed conflicts.

The President

I thank the representative of Switzerland for the kind words he addressed to me.

The next speaker inscribed on my list is the representative of Costa Rica. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Niehaus (Costa Rica)

May I first of all, Mr. Minister, congratulate you most sincerely and wish you success in your work as President of the Security Council and as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Namibia. For the United Nations and for the international community in general it is a cause for particular satisfaction to see you in such a lofty and important position.

A year ago, Ms. Graça Machel, then the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to study the impact of armed conflict on children, reported to us that recently more than a quarter million children had participated as combatants in approximately 30 armed conflicts. More than 2 million children died in those wars, more than 4 million were handicapped, more than 1 million were orphaned and approximately 12 million lost their homes.

While these figures are alarming, there can be no doubt that in the past year they have only increased. But the figures still hide the reality. It is impossible to express the profound fear of the children who flee the flames and the bombs. It is impossible to describe the terror of children when they see their parents murdered. Is it possible to imagine the pain of 4 million handicapped children? Is it possible to grasp the dreams, hopes and promise of 2 million murdered children? Is it possible to measure so much sadness and so much happiness lost? Children are the first victims of wars and the most defenceless.

The time for action has come. First of all, we must at all costs avoid the participation of minors in armed conflicts. For this purpose, it must be universally declared that the participation of those under 18 years of age in armed conflict as combatants or as support staff for the armed forces is unacceptable.

All States must commit themselves to refraining from recruiting minors. In this connection, appropriate and effective procedures must be adopted to check the age of recruits and support staff. Governments must demobilize the minors that are already in their armed forces or their support staff and must give them psychological and social assistance so as to enable them to be fully and completely rehabilitated and reincorporated into society. Government authorities must impose penal sanctions on those who use, recruit or promote the participation of minors in armed conflict and must guarantee that minors in military schools will not be considered or used as part of their armed forces.

With regard to internal armed conflicts, it is indispensable for the international community to declare unacceptable the use of minors in armed forces opposing the Government. All States and groups with influence on such forces must pressure them so that they will refrain from recruiting minors and will demobilize the minors who already participate in their armed forces or support staff. Governments must promote the social reintegration of minors demobilized from the armed forces and provide them the necessary social and psychological assistance. All parties to a conflict must provide captured minors the best possible conditions with a view to ensuring their speedy rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

Internationally, we must urgently adopt the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, as is currently being discussed in the Working Group of the Commission on Human Rights, which would declare 18 years as the minimum age for recruitment into armed forces. Members of the Security Council who here in New York lament the effects of armed conflicts on minors bear a particular responsibility in this connection and must show leadership and commitment by supporting this proposal in Geneva.

It is also necessary to adopt additional measures to prevent children from becoming victims of armed conflicts. We must ensure that indiscriminate methods or practices of warfare must be prohibited. Any attack targeting the civilian population is unjustified, immoral and clearly prohibited by international humanitarian law. Similarly, the use of weapons with indiscriminate or long-lasting effects must be eliminated. We are particularly pleased to note the rapid entry into force of the Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel landmines, which have killed so many people in Central America. However, further efforts must be urgently made to deactivate the anti-personnel mines still on the ground.

In the context of the work of the Security Council, studies must be conducted on possible impacts on the vulnerable population, especially on children, before any sanctions regime is adopted. We must ensure that those regimes include measures that will minimize their harmful effects on minors. Any peacekeeping operation must also have a humanitarian component that is specially trained to deal with the problems of minors. Moreover, intensive efforts are necessary to provide humanitarian assistance to minors during armed conflicts, as this is a particularly vulnerable sector of the population.

To sum up, in order to ensure minimal conditions for minors in situations of armed conflict, it is necessary to ensure full compliance with the provisions of international humanitarian law and human rights. This, however, is merely the first step.

We must acknowledge that as long as war exists, it will be impossible to free minors from its harmful consequences. As long as armed conflict exists, there will be orphans, as well as displaced, maimed and murdered children. As long as there are wars, schools, hospitals, roads and families will be destroyed. As long as there is armed conflict, it will be impossible to ensure the full development of minors into worthy, productive and creative persons; it will be impossible to ensure minimal conditions for the development of the human being.

The real way of solving the problem of the adverse effect of armed conflict on minors is by eliminating such conflicts. The international community must create a real culture of peace in which political, economic and social differences are resolved by peaceful and democratic means. We must build a society where dialogue prevails over weapons, a society in which families take precedence over military barricades, a society in which armies are superfluous and in which State investment is devoted to education, health and culture.

Today we need coordinated action by the international community to adopt effective measures to resolve the situation of children in armed conflict. In this context, we attach particular importance to the work carried out by the Secretary-General and especially by his Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Mr. Olara Otunnu.

Costa Rica trusts that the necessary will to achieve this end will continue to be expressed through action taken both by the Security Council and by the rest of the international community.

The President

I thank the representative of Costa Rica for the kind words he addressed to me.

The next speaker is the representative of the Republic of Korea. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Lee (Republic of Korea)

At the outset, I would like to offer my delegation's deep appreciation to you, Sir, and Ambassador Andjaba for taking the initiative of organizing this open debate on the important issue of children and armed conflict. I am particularly honoured to participate in this debate under the presidency of Your Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Namibia.

My delegation welcomes today's meeting as a timely effort to build on the previous Council debate, of June last year, on the same subject. I also note that this meeting is yet another step forward towards promoting transparency in the work of the Council. I am particularly grateful to my dear friend, Ambassador Olara Otunnu, for his informative and inspiring statement.

Almost a decade after the end of the cold war, the rampaging ethnic conflicts within national boundaries still persist, inflicting a heavy toll, particularly on children, the most vulnerable component of our societies. Given the appalling statistics presented by Mr. Otunnu time and again, children remain exposed to unspeakable suffering and mistreatment in situations of armed conflict. These harsh realities, unfortunately, overshadow the significance of celebrating the anniversaries of the entry into force of the important international instruments for the protection of children in armed conflict: the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989. As we celebrate these instruments, we have to use this unique opportunity to rekindle our commitment to the protection and welfare of children in conflict situations. In this connection, we welcome last year's adoption of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, which provides for jurisdiction over several child-specific crimes.

Ambassador Otunnu, as always, today before the Council made another thoughtful, thought-provoking statement that covered wide-ranging issues of importance. As the New York Times reported on 8 August, there is growing recognition of Ambassador Otunnu's activities by the international community. My delegation takes this opportunity to pay high tribute to Ambassador Otunnu and his office for their tireless efforts to advance the cause of the protection of children in armed conflict, and for what they have achieved so far. We also commend the work done by the United Nations Children's Fund, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other agencies in this field.

We strongly urge the Security Council to continue to expand its involvement in this issue. My delegation will therefore welcome the adoption by the Council today of a draft resolution that endorses a number of recommendations contained in Mr. Otunnu's reports and his statement. We hope that this draft resolution will serve as a firm basis for further Council actions in the months to come.

Having said that, allow me to make a few points that in our view warrant the urgent attention and action of the international community. First of all, my delegation believes that the issue of child soldiers constitutes the most challenging part of today's subject and should be addressed immediately. From the lessons learned during recent conflicts, it has become clear that the problem of child soldiers requires a comprehensive approach ranging from peacekeeping to post-conflict peace-building activities.

It is indeed a daunting task to disarm child soldiers and to keep them from rearming. My delegation is of the view that the Security Council should take a more proactive role in ensuring that the long-term rehabilitation of child soldiers is dealt with from the early planning stages of peacekeeping operations.

Secondly, my delegation believes that it is important to widen and strengthen the institutional safety net to prevent the practice of recruiting child soldiers, as the recruitment of child soldiers increases their chances of falling victim to armed conflicts. In this regard, my delegation welcomes the prevailing recognition by the international community of the need to raise the existing legal standards. We note that the United Nations has taken the lead by announcing its unilateral decision last year not to recruit peacekeepers below the age of 18 from Member States.

In particular, the Working Group on the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been considering raising the minimum age for recruiting soldiers. We hope that, sooner rather than later, the Working Group will put forward practical recommendations acceptable to the majority of United Nations Members.

Thirdly, we believe that in order to prevent the use of child soldiers, the Security Council should be vigilant against the supply of small arms and light weapons in actual and potential conflict areas. Small arms are considered physically best matched to child soldiers, who can only carry light weapons. In this regard, we welcome the ongoing efforts of the Council to enhance the effective implementation of the arms embargoes already imposed. The need for appropriate monitoring and strict enforcement of arms embargoes cannot be overstated.

Finally, I would like to welcome the recent Secretary-General's bulletin regarding the observance by United Nations forces of international humanitarian law, which was issued and became effective on the recent occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. This bulletin, setting out fundamental principles and rules of international humanitarian law applicable to forces under United Nations command and control, stipulates special respect and protection for children by United Nations forces in operations. We hope that this bulletin will also serve as an example for all parties in conflict situations to follow.

Since children are our hope for the future, all of us have a special obligation to support and protect them from the evil of conflict. More often than not, children do not understand why they have to be involved in conflicts and suffer from them. Given how much they trust and rely on adults as their protectors, we adults must not betray their trust, but provide them with an environment suitable for their safety and welfare. My delegation wishes to reaffirm the strong commitment of the Republic of Korea to continue to contribute to the international community's efforts to create a safer and better environment for children in conflict situations.

The President

I thank the representative of the Republic of Korea for the kind words he addressed to me.

The next speaker is the representative of India. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Sharma (India)

Let me thank the delegation of Namibia for providing an opportunity to all Member States to share their views on this important issue through an open debate. We are honoured, Mr. Minister, that you are chairing this meeting.

The activism of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, together with Ms. Graça Machel's landmark study, has raised awareness of the extent and nature of the grave problem of children in armed conflict and deserves our appreciation. We support the Special Representative's humanitarian diplomacy.

Innocents have been massacred in the past to prove a tyrannical point or in the flush of victory, at the sack of a city or fort. However, as Ms. Machel noted, in most tribal warfare, fought between adults in accordance with strict codes, the killing of children was taboo. Those taboos have been eroded in the course of this century, which has pretensions to enlightenment, by the concept of total war, in which no distinction is made between civilians and soldiers or between adults and children, and by the cynical exploitation and creation of conflict situations by elements free of conscience. Children and women died in concentration camps in Europe and outside Europe, and they were the ones who were killed in the largest numbers in indiscriminate air raids in the Second World War. The unprotected are of course the most vulnerable. The abiding image which a generation retains of the mindless sweep of war is of a little girl running in terror, set on fire by napalm. Those that wield the most power should be most aware that the systems of war that have been practised this century, and the means developed to fight such wars, have made it inevitable that in conflicts everywhere traditional restraints would be weakened or abandoned, and the impact on children of armed conflicts would increase.

Our discussion takes place near the twenty-fifth anniversary of the General Assembly Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict, and as we are moving towards the end-of-decade review of the goals of the World Summit for Children. At least in the impact of armed conflict on children, these goals have not been met. The statistics are numbing: over 2 million killed; over a million orphaned; more than 6 million seriously injured or permanently disabled; 12 million made homeless; and 10 million left with serious psychological trauma. Add to these the number of young girls subjected to the horror and pain of sexual violence. All this has been in the past decade alone. And sadly, the tragedy continues. There is a special tragic poignancy in the inability not only to give protection to children, who personify innocence, trust and our hope for the future, but in the merciless betrayal and exploitation of that innocence.

Faced with this, there are a few points of action on which we must agree, and try to implement. First, children must not be recruited for warfare; democratic Governments do not recruit them. In some States, voluntary enlistment is permitted below the age of 18, but not deployment; and the recruits are trained to serve their country according to the laws of war while in service, and thereafter voluntarily to make the transition to civilian life. This is not the case with the real culprits, the non-State actors -- armed rebels, insurgent outfits and terrorist organizations -- which recruit children, often forcibly, because they are malleable and strangers to danger, and are therefore convenient instruments for mindless violence. What must be addressed is the recruitment and use of children by terrorists and insurgents.

This is indeed the crux of the problem. Terrorists and others of that ilk have no interest in humanitarian law, or in international standards and local norms of behaviour. The Council is apparently as impotent as any other body when it comes to holding these malign forces accountable. Regrettably, international cooperation on the global menace of terrorism either does not exist or is inadequate. The Council has certainly not addressed this problem, though it is perhaps the most insidious and serious threat to the security of all States, particularly open democracies. Nevertheless, while the global problem awaits the urgent attention it needs, the Council must consider ways to stop terrorists and warlords from using children in armed conflict. Frequently these groups have State sponsors, without whose support they would not be able to survive. Suitable Council action against this phenomenon would be appropriate.

Let me say that, while in principle we support the humanitarian diplomacy of the Special Representative aimed at the better protection of children in armed conflict, great care must be taken to ensure that nothing in this work inadvertently lends legitimacy to terrorists, criminals and others who use violence to destabilize or challenge democratically elected Governments. While it may be necessary for him to intercede with them, this should not confer upon them the status or respectability of a negotiating partner, particularly as they seek to undermine Governments through force.

A further point that should be borne in mind relates to the problem of access to populations in distress. It has been recommended from time to time, including by the Special Representative, that the international community needs to insist on this access. We understand the reasons given for this demand. However, this is a complex problem, to which there are no simple answers. The Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights adopted, late last week, a resolution expressing its firmest conviction that the so-called duty and right to carry out "humanitarian intervention", in particular by means of the threat or use of force, is juridically totally unfounded under current general international law and consequently cannot be considered a justification for violations of the principles of jus cogens enshrined in Article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations. This is a particularly important point, and one that we need to bear in mind.

Secondly, children must not be indoctrinated or trained to fight. To our regret, we see around us, including in our region, some schools and seminaries being misused to instil in young and impressionable minds negative passions of hatred and intolerance. These youngsters are then sent to Afghanistan and elsewhere as cannon-fodder. Those who survive have skills for nothing else. Stopping educational institutions from being misused would be a check on the recruitment of children -- whose lives are blighted or extinguished before they can flower -- as mercenaries.

Thirdly, trafficking in small arms and light weapons, which often provokes and always sustains conflicts, must be brought under control. In her study, Ms. Machel noted that because modern small arms are indeed small and light, they are easily handled by children. The overwhelming majority of the 300,000 children under 16 who are combatants in armed conflict fight with weapons smuggled in to their controllers. The General Assembly has considered for a number of years how to tackle this fundamental problem; it needs to urgently consider how to stop the flow of illegal arms.

The vast numbers of children affected and traumatized by armed conflict cast a long shadow over future generations. But, more quietly, though inexorably, the economic and social marginalization of the poorest nations is driving hundreds of millions more into the kind of childhood that could well make them part of tomorrow's problems rather than of tomorrow's solutions. Four years ago, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)'s The State of the World's Children report put it very well:

"For many millions of families in the poorest villages and urban slums of the developing world, the daily consequences of these economic forces, over which they have no control, is that they are unable to put enough food on the table, unable to maintain a home fit to live in, unable to dress and present themselves decently, unable to protect health and strength, unable to keep their children in school. Through such processes, millions have become destitute and desperate."

We need to address this broader picture, the destitution and desperation that claim even more lives than armed conflict and that often pave the way for a fresh cycle of violence. This, unfortunately, does not attract the attention of the international media, nor can it be an issue on the mandate of the Security Council, but in our discussions here we need to make sure that our focus is not distorted and that we do not lose sight of the larger emergency which faces us and which constitutes a global challenge.

We are happy that UNICEF has always promoted these broad concerns. Within that framework, it has undertaken an intensive follow-up to Graça Machel's study. Its work in ending the use of child soldiers, limiting the impact of sanctions on children and providing better protection and security for children and women in conflict situations deserves our recognition. We specially commend its leadership in bringing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, an effort to which India has contributed. As Ms. Machel noted, very little has been reported about the conflicts in Afghanistan and Angola. We also recognize the outstanding work carried out by the World Food Programme (WFP), in difficult circumstances and often at great risk to its staff.

The recommendations that Executive Director Carol Bellamy made to the Security Council on 12 February this year merit urgent consideration. We believe that the Council should concentrate on those items which are both "doable" and within its mandate, focusing on those of its actions which, in a conflict or after it, could affect the interests of children. The most important of these, of course, are sanctions, which, as the Executive Director of UNICEF urged, should not be imposed without obligatory, immediate and enforceable humanitarian exemptions. UNICEF's report on the situation of children in Iraq, where the gains made over several years have been undone under a Security Council sanctions regime, is a case in point. The extreme impact on child malnutrition and on child and maternal mortality and illiteracy in countries subjected to comprehensive sanctions must be addressed. This is something within the competence of the Security Council and would go a long way towards alleviating the suffering of children, many of whom have spent their entire childhood in situations of conflict.

The Council should also ensure that the peacekeeping operations it mandates promote the welfare of children. We are pleased that the Special Representative is coordinating his work with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. We also note that the Secretary-General has recently issued a bulletin on the observance of international humanitarian law by United Nations peacekeepers. This is a welcome development, since there have been recent incidents in which some contingents have been accused of ill-treating children in the host populations where they were deployed as peacekeeping forces.

We also agree that the needs of children should be at the centre of post-conflict peace-building. We recognize the need for special efforts to undo the damage to the psyche of children who have participated in or are victims of armed conflict. Even during a conflict, such actions as "days of tranquillity" to provide for the immunization of children may bring some relief. Action by the international community on these points would be led by the United Nations funds and programmes, the United Nations agencies or by the Bretton Woods institutions, as mandated by their respective governing bodies.

While the Security Council can play an important role in protecting the interests of children in the decisions it takes on peacekeeping operations, situations of armed conflict and the sanctions that it imposes, the problem has far wider ramifications and thus goes beyond the Council's mandate. It is the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council which are the right forums for a comprehensive examination of this global problem and we trust that they will continue to address the many issues involved.

The President

The next speaker is the representative of Portugal. I invite him to take a seat at the Council table and to make his statement.

Mr. Monteiro (Portugal)

It is good to see you back at work, Sir, in this Organization that you know so well. The Security Council can profit today from your exceptional expertise, as much, I am sure, as the General Assembly will benefit in the months to come from your leadership. Let me also congratulate you for the exceptional manner in which Ambassador Andjaba and the delegation of your country have conducted the work of the Council this month and, in particular, for the organization of this open debate.

For my delegation, it is indeed an honour to be here today at a meeting presided over by Namibia on a subject to which my delegation is particularly attached. As you might recall, it was under the presidency of Portugal, in June last year, that a debate of the Council open to all Members of the United Nations first took place on this very important topic. It is therefore a particular pleasure for me to be able to participate at this meeting. Let me stress, too, that Portugal fully subscribes to the statement made earlier by the Presidency of the European Union.

Graça Machel, in her report on the impact of armed conflicts on children, submitted to the General Assembly in 1996, revealed to the international community the extent of suffering by child victims of armed conflicts throughout the world. The painful awareness of this scourge led the Members of the United Nations to request the Secretary-General to name a Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict -- Ambassador Olara Otunnu -- whose role must be praised and whose presence here today I would like to welcome. I commend him for the active way he is carrying out his mandate. His efforts to raise worldwide awareness and to mobilize official and public opinion for the protection of children affected by armed conflict are bearing visible results. His recent visits to Africa -- Sudan, Burundi and Rwanda -- and to Colombia, as well as his special agenda for action for the children of Kosovo have shown in a very concrete way how to place the protection and welfare of children on the peace agenda.

I welcome his intention to undertake a mission to Sierra Leone later this month, and I hope that a coordinated and concerted response to the dramatic situation of children in that country can be achieved as soon as possible. As a member of the Group of Friends of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, I would like to reaffirm the support of Portugal for the work of Olara Otunnu and his team. Let me also voice my delegation's strong support for the important set of proposals announced today by Ambassador Otunnu, which will pave the way for the full concretization of the concept of children as a zone of peace.

Since last year's presidential statement, the Security Council has shown an increasing awareness of the impact of armed conflict on children. At t