India reiterates support to UN’s efforts for protecting children in armed conflicts

New York , Jul 10 :
Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations (UN) Tanmaya Lal has reiterated India’s strong support for the United Nations’ endeavours towards protecting children in situations of armed conflict.
Addressing at a UN Security Council meeting on “Protecting Children Today Prevents Conflict Tomorrow”, Ambassador Lal said, “Despite persistent efforts spanning over the last two decades, the rights of millions of children continue to be violated in situations of armed conflict in different parts of the world.”He further said, “Some progress has been made in the implementation of the provisions of the UNSC resolutions on children and armed conflict through greater engagement between the UN agencies and the governments concerned as well as through the integration of children rights issues in the mediation processes. However, a lot more remains to be done especially in keeping with the changing nature of armed conflicts that involves a range of non-state actors.”Ambassador Lal underlined that terrorist entities, including those designated by the UN, continue to exploit children as part of their terror activities with impunity.”Despite considerable international efforts, children are increasingly victimized both as targets as well as perpetrators of violence. Killing, maiming, abductions as well as rape and other forms of sexual violence against children and attacks on schools and hospitals continue to be used as a tactic of terror, making resolution of conflicts more challenging,”he noted.Ambassador Lal said that the reintegration of children into the society, after their release from armed groups following mediation processes, remained an area that needed more focus.Throwing light on strengthening India’s commitment to socio-economic reintegration of children, he added, “We need to strengthen our commitment to socio-economic reintegration of children who have been released from armed groups, greater integration of child protection provisions in peace processes as well as greater accountability for all violations against children by state and non-state actors. We believe that constructive engagement with the national government concerned, implementation of action plans are essential and integral to durable peace and security.”