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	Sexual violence against children now a feature of armed conflict by Radhika Coomaraswamy Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict   Sept 2009   The widespread and systematic rape of girls in war zones is increasingly a characteristic of conflict in many parts of the world, a senior United Nations official warned today in an expansive report on children and armed conflict.   “Such violations are often perpetrated in a rule of law vacuum as a result of conflict, and there often exists a prevailing culture of impunity for such crimes,” said Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.   “Precise information, critical for combating impunity and for programmatic response, is difficult to obtain or verify,” Ms. Coomaraswamy wrote in her latest report to the General Assembly on the issue.   She said that the fear of reprisals and cultural taboos surrounding such crimes are among the obstacles to collecting information about the incidents and understanding the magnitude and scope of sexual violence against children, as well as bringing the perpetrators to justice.   Ms. Coomaraswamy spotlighted research indicating that boys are also vulnerable to sexual violence, especially during military operations in civilian areas or during military conscription or abduction into paramilitary forces, as well as in refugee and internally displaced settings, and in detention.   The Special Representative underscored the importance of protecting schools and providing education in times of emergency and conflict, noting a growing tactical trend of targeting students, teachers and educational buildings.   “In some situations, the fear of being attacked on their way to school or at school deprives girls of their basic right to learn and shape their future,” said Ms. Coomaraswamy. “In other places, schools are used as recruiting grounds and entire classes have been abducted to be used as child combatants.”   She said that under international humanitarian law, attacks on schools are regarded as grave human rights violations and going after those responsible is key to ensuring that schools remain safe havens.   “Education is also a central tool for conflict prevention and post-conflict recovery,” stressed Ms. Coomaraswamy. “Addressing education in peace agreements and in their implementation is a fundamental step towards reinforcing security, gender equality and economic development.”   July 2009   UN urges greater protection for over 1 billion children caught in conflict.   The United Nations has called for urgent action to protect more than one billion children living in areas of the world affected by armed conflict, some 300 million of whom are under the age of five.   The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict today released a ten-year study of the impact of war on children, which calls on “governments, UN agencies, and civil society to urgently step up efforts to protect all children affected by conflict.”   The report is a follow up to a 1996 study on the impact of armed conflict on children delivered to the General Assembly by the then-Secretary-General’s independent expert on the subject, Graça Machel.   “The report emphasizes that war violates children’s rights: the right to life, the right to family unity, the right to health and education, the right to protection from violence and abuse, and the right to receive humanitarian assistance,” the two UN bodies said in a news release.   The report recommends adherence to, strengthening of and monitoring existing international agreements on the protection of children, and an end to impunity for those violating them.   It also calls for commitment by all governments to access to basic services for children, including justice, as well as support for the reintegration of children separated from their families by conflict, and increased efforts to end all gender-based violence, among other recommendations.   Further, it recommends that the UN continue to include protection for children in the mandates of its peacekeeping and peacebuilding work.   “The most important challenge ahead for all actors is translating international standards into national action that can make a tangible difference in the lives of children affected by war,” the study concludes.   “Much more needs to be done to implement international standards and to ensure compliance in order to hold perpetrators accountable and to stop grave violations against children in times of war,” said Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. “Everybody has a role to play,” she added. Visit the related web page
	World is over-armed and peace is under-funded by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon United Nations Mexico   Sept 2009   Noting that global military spending is now well over $1 trillion and rising every day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today once again called for ridding the world of nuclear weapons, exhorting civil society groups in particular to continue to speak out against the scourge.   “The world is over-armed and peace is under-funded,” Mr. Ban warned in his opening remarks to the 62nd annual United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) conference with non-governmental organizations (NGOs).   Over 1,700 representatives from NGOs and experts from 70 countries are taking part in the three-day gathering in Mexico City, whose theme is “For Peace and Development: Disarm Now!”   Mr. Ban noted that more weapons continue to be produced and are flooding markets around the world. “They are destabilizing societies. They feed the flames of civil wars and terror,” he stated. “Here in Latin America, gun violence is the number one cause of civilian casualties.”   He said that while the end of the Cold War led the world to expect a massive peace dividend, there are over 20,000 nuclear weapons around the world, many of them still on hair-trigger alert, threatening the survival of humankind.   Coupled with ever-growing ballistic missile proliferation and increasing threats from terrorists, nuclear weapons constitute existential threats to humankind, he added.   The Secretary-General noted, however, that, thanks in large measure to the unrelenting advocacy of NGOs, there is a new moment of opportunity. “Disarmament is back on the global agenda.”   However, this is just the beginning, he added. “Our final destination is a world free of nuclear weapons.”   Civil society has helped teach the world a profound truth – that the mightiest force for change is the power of the people, he told the gathering. “We have a golden opportunity to achieve a world free of nuclear arms. With your voice and your strong support and participation, I know we will seize it.”   Mr. Ban also discussed how disarmament can be carried out effectively, in what he called his “plan to stop the bomb” – a five-point plan, first introduced last October, to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons based on key principles.   These principles are that disarmament must enhance security; be reliably verified; be rooted in legal obligations; be visible to the public; and must anticipate emerging dangers from other weapons.   There can be no development without peace and no peace without development, he stated. “Disarmament can provide the means for both.”   Mr. Ban also highlighted several “important milestones” coming up in the next few weeks, among them the International Day of Peace on 21 September which is dedicated to the “We Must Disarm” campaign, as well as the Security Council’s 24 September high-level summit on disarmament. Visit the related web page
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