New York/Bogotá, 7 December 2022 — Encouraged by the commitment of the Colombia Government towards “Total Peace” that includes the full implementation of the 2016 peace agreement and the resumption of peace negotiations with the ELN, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for children and armed conflict, Mrs. Virginia Gamba, reminded that the protection of children and the fulfilment of their rights is at the centre of sustainable peace and development. This call comes after a two-day visit to the country, her third in her capacity as the highest UN advocate for the protection of children in armed conflict.
“We are now seeing real opportunities for children affected by conflict in Colombia, which must be seized by all parties. Although children continue to suffer from the impact of hostilities, we can learn the lessons and identify best practices from other situations to ensure that peace discussions can lead to tangible changes for children, such as a decrease in grave violations against children and the prevention of future ones,” emphasized the UN Special Representative, Virginia Gamba.
During her visit to Colombia, the Special Representative further took part in the conference “Lessons learned and opportunities for the protection of children in situations of armed conflict” in the framework of the Conclusions of the Security Council Working Group on Colombia. The conference was organized by the Government of Norway with the support of the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office and UNICEF, as co-chairs of the Country Taskforce on Monitoring and Reporting. The Country Taskforce, created pursuant to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) and following resolutions, is tasked to monitor and report on six grave violations against children, to engage with governments and parties to conflict to end and prevent violations, and represents the Special Representative in-country.
In addition, the Special Representative met with representatives of the Government, of the United Nations in the country, civil society organisations, the diplomatic community, including Canada and Sweden as the co-chairs of the Group of Friends on children and armed conflict in Colombia, as well as Norway.
The Special Representative emphasized the important steps taken by the Government of Colombia for children affected by conflict, including their recent endorsement of the Safe Schools Declaration, a significant milestone recognizing the importance of protecting education from attacks.
In all her discussions, the Special Representative highlighted the need to take stock of progress made by Colombia in addressing the needs of children impacted by armed conflict and that the United Nations remained a key partner for Colombia in accompanying it with technical assistance and support towards ending and preventing grave violations against children.
The Special Representative congratulated the Government of Colombia for its commitment to the children victims of armed conflict and stressed the importance of appropriate, holistic and sustained community reinsertion and reskilling programmes.
“We must continue to prioritize the reintegration of children affected by conflict. I call on the international community to continue to support sustainable and gender and age-specific reintegration programmes for all children affected, including for children of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities,” she added. “The United Nations stands ready to support the authorities in that sense.”
Ms. Gamba thanked the Government, the Ombudsman of Colombia, the Office of the Resident Coordinator, UNICEF, the CTFMR, the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, civil society organizations and other partners in Colombia for their committed work on child protection issues. She reiterated her full support to the peace process and encouraged all parties to continue to address the impact of conflict on children.
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For additional information, please contact:
Fabienne Vinet, Communications Officer, Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
+1-212-963-5986 (office) / +1-917-288-5791 (mobile) / vinet@un.org
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Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict in Colombia, Welcomes Sustained Efforts to Protect Children from Conflict – Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict - Children and Armed Conflict
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