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| Children and armed conflicts have victimised children and youngsters across many countries including Syria, Sudan and Yemen over past years [File Photo: WFP] |
Washington: For the first time since the Security Council held its first open
debate on children and armed conflict in 1999, the council has backed the
naming and shaming of governments and armed groups that recruit, kill, or
sexually attack children in armed conflicts.
A resolution on the issue was adopted on September,19 by United
Nations without full support from the Council.
Eleven members of the Security Council voted in favor of the
resolution, which called for continued annual reports by the UN
secretary-general identifying countries and groups that victimise youngsters.
It calls on member states to bring those responsible for such violations to
justice.
China, Russia, Pakistan, and Azerbaijan abstained from the vote, arguing the
issue was beyond the scope of Security Council's mandate.
The Secretary-General's latest report on children and armed
conflict, released in June, named 52 parties on its 'list of shame' of those
who practice the specified abuses. It included four new parties in Sudan, Yemen
and Syria.
The reports on issue said children in Pakistan were being used by armed groups
allied to Islamist extremists to carry out suicide attacks and were themselves
victims of attacks.