The Children and Armed Conflict( CAAC) Agenda in a nutshell and why it is important for the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) and mine action

Children learn about the dangers of cluster munitions and landmines © Sean Sutton/CMC/MAG

Hugues Laurenge, UNICEF Child Protection Specialist developing and leading the work of the office on mine action and explosive weapons, including explosive ordnance risk education (EORE)

Since 1999 Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) has been one of the key thematic agendas of the United Nations (UN) Security Council (SC) reinforced by 13 SC Resolutions. In 2005, the UNSC adopted Resolution 1612 mandating the UN to establish a monitoring and reporting mechanism (MRM) to collect timely, objective, accurate and reliable information on six grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict – killing and maiming of children; recruitment or use of children in armed forces and armed groups; attacks on schools or hospitals; rape or other grave sexual violence; abduction of children; and denial of humanitarian access for children – included in the Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict.

Through the documentation of the grave violations of “killing and maiming children” and “attacks on schools and hospitals”, the UN monitoring and reporting mechanism provides robust evidence to advocate on the adoption of measures promoting the Convention on Cluster Munitions and against the use of cluster munitions. The UN is currently monitoring grave violations against children in 26 situations of conflict.

The Security Council Working Group on CAAC, established pursuant to SC Resolution 1612, receives quarterly updates on children and armed conflict as well as Secretary-General country-specific reports which are prepared by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on CAAC. These reports are prepared to inform action to end and prevent grave violations against children, including by engaging with parties to conflict, to inform the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and to inform national, regional and global advocacy on protecting children in situations of armed conflict.

For example, in 2022-2023 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Lebanon, the United Nations verified respectively 52 and 10 child casualties from cluster munitions. These casualties accounted for 1.8% of the global total number of child casualties due to explosive ordnance during these two years. A data point that needs to be balanced with the fact that a large proportion of “killing and maiming children” due to explosive ordnance was categorized as “unspecified” (41.9% for 2022-2023-UNICEF data). The Country Task Forces on Monitoring and Reporting are required to monitor and report on grave violations against children and to attribute the violation to a party to conflict. As they are not required to investigate incidents they are not always able to establish the type of explosive weapons that result in the killing and maiming of children.

Why do cluster munitions pose such a serious threat for children specifically?

Cluster munitions pose a dual threat to children, as weapons actively used by parties to conflict and subsequently, as explosive remnants of war. The use of these deadly and indiscriminate devices and threat they pose to children clearly violates the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in addition to other well-known IHL conventions (e.g. the CCM and the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons – CCW). The CRC obligates State parties to ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child, and to protect children in situations of armed conflict.

In particular, cluster munition remnants (CMR) have a disproportionate impact on children. They are legally and technically speaking not booby traps but for children and their caregivers they often act in similar ways: they may not look like weapons, they can have attractive shapes, be colourful, fit in a pocket or appear with irresistible accessories (e.g. a parachute or colourful ribbon…). Children are thus globally the first victims of CMR.  

What Mine Action sector research says about the impact of cluster munitions on children

In 2022, “the proportion of child casualties from CMR continued to rise, accounting for 71% (66% in 2021)” according to the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor. However, this 2022 data point must be taken with caution as the actual ratio of child casualties is not known, it could be lower (less likely) or higher (more likely), given that in 45% of the total number of reported CMR casualties (84 out of 184) the age was unknown.

Given the unfortunate and significant data gaps outlined above, coupled with the ongoing and growing casualty rates from the weapon, we might ask what can be done to strengthen data gathering on the impact of cluster munitions on children from an ‘epidemiological’ point of view?

Based on these data points and observations drawn from the MRM and the Monitor and based on current practices observed in the field, here are three concrete recommendations that could help strengthen the evidence base on the use of cluster munitions and their impact on children in terms of morbidity and mortality.

Recommendation 1

State (and non-State) Parties impacted by explosive weapons, and humanitarian actors including the mine action sector, involved in collecting data on the use of these weapons and their remnants should invest in stronger injury surveillance systems able to disaggregate casualty data by sex, age, disability and type of weapon, to support the case for child protection.

Recommendation 2

Asf ar as possible, MRM teams should document and report disaggregated data on the type of weapons involved in aerial operations and artillery/shelling and on explosive ordnance.

Recommendation 3

In countries where a Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) is established, the humanitarian sector including mine action stakeholders and CTFMR teams should develop new synergies including data sharing protocols, to strengthen the evidence base on the actual impact of explosive weapons – including cluster munition remnants and attacks – on children.

The protection and promotion of the rights of children, including through the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions on Children and Armed Conflict is central to UNICEF. To better protect children, their families, and communities from cluster munitions it is also crucial to advocate for the signature and effective implementation of the CRC and its Optional Protocol on the Children in Armed Conflict, the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Political Declaration on the use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA).