Protecting Children in Armed Conflict: 30 Years of the CAAC Mandate – Side event 61st session of the Human Rights Council

SPEAKERs

Moderator: Mr. Alex Kamarotos, Executive Director, Defence for Children International

Opening remarks: H.E. Ms. Alejandra De Bellis Bonilla, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Uruguay to the UN, on behalf of the Group of Friends of the CAAC mandate

Panel:

• Ms. Vanessa Frazier, Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict

• Child representative(s) from conflict-affected communities

• Mr. Khaled Quzmar, General Director, DCI-Palestine

• Mr. Benoît Van Keirsbilck, member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), focal point on Children and Armed Conflict

• Ms. Mikiko Otani, President of Child Rights Connect, former Chairperson of the UNCRC

CONTEXT

Thirty years ago, the groundbreaking report The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children by Graça Machel fundamentally changed how the United Nations and its Member States respond to the protection of children affected by armed conflict. The report exposed the scale and severity of violations committed against children and called for a dedicated, system-wide response. In the same year, the General Assembly adopted resolution 51/77, establishing the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, with the aim of strengthening protection for conflict-affected children, raising awareness, promoting the collection of information on their plight, and fostering international cooperation to improve their protection.

Since then, the CAAC mandate has continued to evolve and deliver significant progress. The international community has agreed on the six grave violations against children, established the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM), and developed structured engagement with parties to conflict through action plans. These tools have contributed to the release of more than 220,000 children from armed forces and armed groups and to the signing of over 40 action plans with parties to conflict.

Yet the global landscape of conflict continues to change. Today’s wars are increasingly protracted, complex and fragmented, with devastating consequences for children. Grave violations persist at alarming levels, and humanitarian access to affected children is increasingly constrained—often denied or politicised. In 2024 alone, 41,370 verified violations were recorded, marking the highest number since the establishment of the CAAC mandate. At the same time, funding cuts, ongoing UN reform processes, including UN80, mission drawdowns, and humanitarian reset discussions risk weakening child protection capacities precisely as needs are rising and threatening the achieved progress of the past three decades.

The 30th anniversary of the Children and Armed Conflict mandate offers a critical opportunity to increase awareness of the plight of conflict-affected children and to reaffirm commitment among Member States and the wider public to uphold and strengthen the protection of children in situations of armed conflict.

Objectives

• Take stock of key achievements of the CAAC mandate over the past 30 years. 
• Discuss current and emerging challenges, including barriers to humanitarian access for children in armed conflict. 
• Reinforce political support from Member States for the CAAC mandate and its tools.   
• Centre the voices and lived experiences of children and young people affected by armed conflict.