Child soldiers are being released in Sudan, while the situation remains pressing in Syria. Both positive and negative news were being brought up at the Security Council meeting on children and armed conflict on Wednesday – which was followed by the launch of a new smart-phone application, providing users with the most current information on global child protection issues.

During the meeting Leila Zerrougi, who was appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict in July, made one of her first public appearances since she took over the new post. She expressed deep concerns about the deteriorating situation in Syria.

“The situation for children in Syria is dire,” Zerrougi said, alluding to recent attacks on schools and the use of children as human shields in Syria.

Mali, a country destabilised by a military coup earlier this year, was mentioned as another problem zone, along with Libya, Afghanistan, Chad, Somalia, and parts of central Africa plagued by the rebel group Lord’s Resistance Army.

But Zerrougi also mentioned hope – hope in the form of two recent trials against men infamous for recruiting child soldiers. “The Lubanga and the Taylor convictions has been a watershed,” Zerrougi said.

In May, the Special Court for Sierra Leone sentenced Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, to 50 years of imprisonment for his role in the atrocities committed in Sierra Leone during the 1990s. And in July Thomas Lubanga, a warlord from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was convicted to prison for 14 years by the International Criminal Court in Hague.

“This shows that there is accountability,” said Anthony Lake, Executive Director of the United Nation Children’s Fund, speaking of the trials.

Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, also mentioned a positive example from Sudan, concerning the rebel group Justice and Equality Movement. “The JEM issued last week a commanding order that prohibits the use of child soldiers,” Ladsous said.

“But more needs to be done to achieve impunity for these crimes,” David Tolbert, President of the International Center for Transitional Justice, pointed out.

“The Lubanga case was never intended to address all perpetrators,” Tolbert continued. “The ICTJ’s work has shown that in isolation, prosecution is not enough.”
Tolbert called for a comprehensive approach to justice for former child soldiers, including truth seeking commissions, reparations for victims, and reform of national legal systems in conflict-ridden states.

Following the Security Council meeting, a smart-phone application on children and armed conflict was also launched.

“With this application we aim to provide policy-makers and those seeking to influence them with readily available key documents and appropriate language on child protection issues,” Leila Zerrougi said in a press release.