I. Introduction
The present report, which covers the period from January to December 2012, is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2068 (2012), by which the Council requested me to continue to submit annual reports on the implementation of its resolutions and presidential statements on children and armed conflict.
The preparation of the report involved broad consultations within the United Nations, in particular with the Task Force on Children and Armed Conflict, the country task forces on monitoring and reporting, peacekeeping and special political missions, United Nations country teams and non-governmental organizations. It also involved extensive consultations with relevant Member States and regional organizations.
In September 2012, Leila Zerrougui took office as my Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. Building on the work of her predecessors, she will focus on furthering the implementation of the international legal framework and mechanisms in place for the protection of children affected by armed conflict, in particular by strengthening monitoring and reporting on all grave violations against children, increasing support for the implementation of action plans, enhancing cooperation with Member States and regional organizations to strengthen ownership of the agenda, ensuring rapid response in emerging situations to halt and prevent violations against children and developing strategies to put increased pressure on persistent perpetrators.
The present report begins by describing a number of emerging challenges regarding the impact of the evolving nature of armed conflict. It also explores some additional tools to enforce compliance by armed forces and armed groups with child rights obligations and provides an update on cooperation with regional organizations. The report then continues by providing information on grave violations committed against children and progress made by parties on dialogue, action plans and other measures to halt and prevent such grave violations. Mali is a new situation covered in this reporting period, while Nepal and Sri Lanka are no longer included following the delisting of all parties within their territories in 2012. The report concludes with a series of recommendations to the Security Council.
In line with the resolutions of the Security Council on children and armed conflict, the present report includes in its annexes those parties that engage in the recruitment and use of children, sexual violence against children, the killing and maiming of children in contravention of international law, recurrent attacks on schools and/or hospitals or recurrent attacks or threats of attack against protected personnel.
Pursuant to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005), in identifying situations that fall within the scope of her mandate, my Special Representative is guided by the criteria for determining the existence of an armed conflict found in international humanitarian law and international jurisprudence. In the performance of her mandate, my Special Representative has adopted a pragmatic and cooperative approach to this issue, with a humanitarian emphasis, aimed at ensuring broad and effective protection for children affected by conflict in situations of concern. Reference to a situation is not a legal determination, and reference to a non-State party does not affect its legal status.
References to cases and incidents in the present report refer to information that is gathered, vetted and verified for accuracy. In situations where the ability to obtain or independently verify information is hampered by factors such as insecurity or access restrictions, it is qualified as such.