RE-MEMBER Rehabilitation , Reintegration and Reconciliation of War-Affected Children

La guerra es tan antigua como la humanidad misma y siempre ha causado desestabilización, pérdidas y privaciones. Sin embargo, se ha constatado mundialmente que durante las últimas décadas la naturaleza y las tácticas de guerras han cambiado drásticamente. Consiguientemente la población civil se vio más involucrada en la reproducción de violencia – pensemos en los terroristas o los niños soldados – tanto como en sus consecuencias, causando más víctimas entre niños y mujeres que nunca antes.


Radhika Coomaraswamy
Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Children and Armed Confl ict I am pleased to write this preface on the occasion of the publication of the proceedings coming out of the international conference on 'Rehabilitation and Reintegration of War-Aff ected Children', held in Brussels, Belgium, in October 2009.

CHILD SOLDIERS
One important category of children in armed confl ict are the many thousands of child soldiers who are recruited and trained to play an important role in the violence.In relation to this category of children, it is worthwhile to draw attention to two major aspects, i.e. the reintegration of these children and the accountability of those who recruit them.
Th e reintegration of child soldiers has been a complex issue which has tested even the best programmes on the ground.Th e Paris Principles of 2007 give us the best guidance, as they contain key insights that need implementation and relate to social and economic rights of children, as well as their rehabilitation and reintegration.Th ree overarching guidelines confi gure the entire reintegration eff ort.Firstly, children must be heard and be enabled to participate in all decisions aff ecting them, so as to ensure that these decisions are taken in their best interest.Some children for example may think that they are wasting their time at school while they want to learn practical skills.Secondly, nondiscrimination is an absolute must in any reintegration programme.It is important that former child soldiers do not receive a preferential treatment over those who have not been associated with armed groups.Also, particular attention should be given to girls, so as to ensure that they are involved in the reintegration eff ort and to see to it that their specifi c needs are being met.Th irdly, the capacity of reintegration programmes and the actors involved should be strengthened in order to ensure their self-sustainability.Th is is particularly important when it comes to schools and hospitals.
vi Intersentia Apart from these overarching guidelines, the same Paris Principles also contain four operational principles that must be implemented to strengthen the eff ectiveness of the programmes geared at reintegrating child soldiers into society.First of all, the programmes must not be implemented in a generalistic and abstract manner but in a context-specifi c way that allows the particular circumstances of the children to be taken into account.Furthermore, programmes should not be individualistic only but also be family-focused since strengthening family ties reduces the risk of re-recruitment of children and is benefi cial to their development in general.However, programmes aimed at the family require longer term support, and local ownership of the programmes.
Th is brings us to the third operational principle, being the engagement of the local community.Th is does not only reinforce the sustainability of the programmes, but also allows other children in the community to benefi t from any reintegration programme.Finally, the training for livelihood and skills should take an important place in any reintegration and rehabilitation programme.In this respect, it is important to further build upon the skills that the children have already acquired.
However, it is crystal clear that tackling the issue of child recruitment can not only be done by focusing on the victim.Th e other side, namely the accountability for those who recruit children must be paid attention to.In this respect, the eff orts made by the International Criminal Court in recent years to bring to trial child recruiters already make a diff erence on the ground.Moreover, prosecutions at the national level should also constitute an integral part of strengthening the accountability of war criminals.
A more diffi cult issue is whether children who have perpetrated crimes should be prosecuted for their actions.Here, the Paris Principles are quite clear, stating that these children should not be prosecuted or punished but their crimes should be addressed through programmes of alternative justice, restorative justice, or truth and reconciliation processes which at the same time guarantee their legal protection as minors.

CHILDREN AND AR MED CONFLICT IN GENER AL
Since assuming the function of Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Confl ict in April 2006, my offi ce has sought to develop a strong partnership with the academic community with the broad objective of facilitating research to fi ll the critical gaps in knowledge that hamper advocacy and programmatic responses for children that are relevant to the needs of child protection practitioners on the ground; I therefore welcome the remarks of all vii the academics in this volume along with their activist partners who have done excellent and groundbreaking research on the important topic of the reintegration of children associated with armed groups.Drawing from extensive fi eld experience and the work of activists and UN colleagues, the research gives us the state of the art knowledge in this fi eld.
It will be equally important that the results of this conference be widely disseminated to all stakeholders involved, not the least to the children aff ected by armed confl ict themselves. ix

Former chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child
Th is book is a most welcome contribution to the growing body of multidisciplinary scholarship on children's rights.By focusing on recovery, reconciliation and reintegration, it expands the scope of much of the literature on children in armed confl ict from the recruitment and participation of child soldiers to the broader questions of rebuilding societies and healing and reintegrating children who have been aff ected by armed confl ict.
I will use the opportunity given to me to write a foreword to set an agenda for action at the international level that may facilitate reconciliation, recovery and reintegration.I will insist in particular on the need for prevention; universal ratifi cation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Confl ict (OPAC); the adoption of the Paris Principles and Guidelines by the UN General Assembly; and the establishment of a fund for the recovery and reintegration of children aff ected by armed confl ict (CAACs).But fi rst, by way of preliminary question, I will examine whether the recovery and reintegration of CAACs is a matter of human rights or international humanitarian law.Before I present my agenda for action, I will introduce a children's rights approach, in which I will try to identify the specifi c rights of war-aff ected children and the related obligations of states and others.requires that children shall be provided with the care and aid they need and in particular shall receive education, while steps shall be taken to facilitate reunifi cation with their families.It furthermore allows for the removal of children, with consent of their parents or other responsible persons, to safer areas. 3 international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Protocols I and II of 1977, is relevant, although the provisions focus more on protection as such than on recovery and reintegration.Th is should be understood in light of the fact that these instruments focus on the protection of

THE PARIS COMMITMENTS AND PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES
Two of the leading documents on the recovery and reintegration of children aff ected by armed confl ict are the Paris Commitments to protect children from unlawful recruitment or use by armed forces or armed groups and the Principles and Guidelines on children associated with armed forces or armed groups, adopted in February 2007 by a group of states at a conference in Paris.A discussion of these important documents, currently endorsed by 100 states, goes beyond the scope of a foreword (see Nylund's chapter), but I was and still am surprised that the time and energy invested was not used (perhaps with some extra eff ort) to have the Principles and Guidelines adopted by the UN General Assembly.UN Guidelines have a higher status and are morally stronger than a document adopted at a conference and endorsed by less than half of the UN member states. 4emarkably, the Paris Commitments make only a very limited reference to the CRC, except for a call to ratify the CRC and OPAC as a matter of priority. 5In §17 for instance, the endorsing states commit themselves to ensuring that any programmes or actions to prevent the recruitment and use of children and to support unlawfully recruited or used children are based on humanitarian law.In §19 on funding child protection, no reference is made to the CRC either.
Th e Paris Principles and Guidelines do recognize as overarching principles among others the four principles of the CRC: non-discrimination (Art.2), the best interests of the child as a primary consideration (Art.As mentioned in the preamble.It is only in the paragraphs on child perpetrators of (serious) war crimes that treatment is required in line with the CRC ( §12).
xii Intersentia views and participation (Art.12).Th e chapter on release and integration does not, however, make specifi c reference to the rights of the child as enshrined in the CRC.It leaves us with the question whether the recovery and reintegration of war-aff ected children must be considered as a matter of humanitarian law or as a matter of human rights.

R EHABILITATION AND R EINTEGR ATION: A HUMAN RIGHTS IMPER ATIVE
Th e question whether human rights law is relevant to rehabilitation and reintegration is inter alia triggered by the fact that Article 38, §4 CRC refers to an obligation under international humanitarian law and by the discussion of the status of the OPAC, Article 6 of which deals among others with measures to be taken to provide children recruited for or used in hostilities with all appropriate assistance for full recovery and social reintegration.Th ere are three possible categorisations of the OPAC: as a human rights instrument, as part of international humanitarian law, or as a hybrid instrument straddling the divide between human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL).
Bennoune has compiled and analysed the arguments and consequences of each of the three options. 6With reference to the draft ing history and the text of the OPAC, the jurisprudence of the CRC Committee and the views of NGOs and experts, she came to the conclusion that the OPAC is a human rights instrument.
To consider OPAC as an IHL instrument would limit its application to situations of armed confl ict and undermine the protection of children and their human rights, or at least some of them, which call for the protection of the individual at all times, in war and peace alike.Th e option to treat the OPAC as a hybrid instrument could allow for innovative human rights interpretations while still recognizing the important connections to and bases in IHL.But the downside is that doing so muddles the waters and thereby possibly gives rise to a lot of confusion.Augmenting Bennoune's well-founded conclusion, I'd like to add the following specifi cally in relation to the matter of rehabilitation and reintegration: even if one limits the scope of the OPAC to situations of armed confl ict, we should emphasise that the protection provided under the CRC applies to all children at all times, in war and peace alike.Th us, and regardless of one's opinion on the status of the OPAC, the rehabilitation and reintegration of war-aff ected children is a human rights imperative.

THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FR AMEWORK: GENER AL OBSERVATIONS
Th e major international human rights instruments that provide the legal framework for the rehabilitation and reintegration of war-aff ected children are the CRC and its OPAC, and for African countries additionally the ACRWC. 7iscussion of the legal framework requires a kind of defi nition of rehabilitation and reintegration.To avoid the battle with words which usually accompanies eff orts to defi ne a concept, let me just make some 'defi ning' remarks: a. the CRC Committee does not like the word 'rehabilitation' because of its possible connotation with disabilities.Th erefore -and in line with the text of Article 6 OPAC and the CRC 8 -I will use the term 'recovery' instead of 'rehabilitation'; b. recovery measures focus on repairing as good as possible the physical and psychological trauma that the child has suff ered from participating in armed confl ict or as a witness of the eff ects of hostilities; c. measures of social reintegration include eff orts to reunite the child with her/ his family and community of origin as much as possible, and to support the child in developing her/his personality and talents to their fullest potential, notably through education/vocational training and in fi nding healthy and secure employment or work.In short: all eff orts to support the child in her/ his full and harmonious development while assuming a constructive role in society; d. for children recruited or used in armed confl icts, the recovery and integration process starts with demobilisation or other forms of release from the armed forces/groups concerned (including disarmament, where applicable).I will not deal with these measures and only note that Article 6 OPAC requires States Parties to take all feasible measures to ensure that children within their jurisdiction who have been recruited and used in hostilities are demobilised or otherwise released from service.Th e CRC and the ACRWC do not contain specifi c provisions in that regard.
In what follows, I will make some general observations on the rights-based approach, followed by a discussion of some specifi c problems: the criminal responsibility of children, children with disabilities, and displacement.Th e attention given in this Protocol to recovery and reintegration is very limited.Article 6, §3 OPAC contains the following provision: States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons within its jurisdiction recruited or used in hostilities contrary to the present Protocol are demobilized or otherwise released from service.States Parties shall, when necessary, accord such persons all appropriate assistance for their physical and psychological recovery and their social reintegration.
Th is provision limits the obligation of the state to the provision of assistance for the recovery and social reintegration of children recruited or used in hostilities.It does not cover all other children who are victims of war.Th is is certainly disappointing, but can simply be explained by the fact that the focus of this Optional Protocol is on the recruitment and involvement of children in armed confl ict.Furthermore, Article 6 OPAC does not specify the nature, the timing, the duration or the setting of this assistance.Th is is therefore a missed opportunity to provide for specifi c principles and rules for the recovery and social reintegration of all war-aff ected children, including the role of parents and the community.Th e OPAC (Art.6) does not make a specifi c reference to international humanitarian law when requiring States Parties to xv provide assistance for the recovery and social reintegration of war-aff ected children.
Important is Article 7 OPAC, requiring States Parties to cooperate in the implementation of the OPAC, with special attention to preventing the violation of the OPAC's rules and to recovery and social reintegration, which are again limited to the category of children mentioned above. 9Article 6, §2 OPAC contains a provision that is oft en overlooked: rich States Parties shall provide (technical and/or fi nancial) assistance via multilateral, bilateral or other programmes or 'inter alia through a voluntary fund (…)'.
Th e Optional Protocol is an annex to the CRC, and has to be interpreted in connection with and/or in the context of the CRC.Th is approach is confi rmed in the preamble to the OPAC, stating inter alia that the States Parties are to bear in mind 'that… observance of applicable human rights instruments [is] indispensable for the full protection of children, in particular during armed confl icts and foreign occupation'.States also reaffi rm 'that the rights of children require special protection' and call for 'continuous improvement of the situation of children without distinction, as well as for their development and education in conditions of peace and security'.
From these statements it is clear that the protection of war-aff ected children should not only be based on provisions in the OPAC, but should be governed by all the rights enshrined in the CRC and when applicable (also) those in the ACRWC, e.g.all States Parties to the CRC that have also ratifi ed the OPAC are bound by the obligation to implement that Convention fully.In other words: the CRC is the legal framework for the recovery and social reintegration of all waraff ected children and requires a comprehensive and holistic child rights-based approach.Th is is (at least implicitly) confi rmed by the reporting rule that, aft er a separate initial report on the implementation of this Protocol, any further information shall be included in the regular reports on the implementation of the CRC as a whole (Art.8, §2 OPAC).Reporting under the OPAC thus becomes an integral part of the overall process of implementing the CRC.Th e provisions of the OPAC are meant to amend, strengthen or specify provisions in the CRC.programmes) are entitled to the maximum enjoyment of their rights under the CRC.Article 3 ACRWC contains a similar provision stating that every child shall be entitled to the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized and guaranteed in the Charter.

THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
Th ese provisions are not only a solid legal foundation for recovery and integration programmes as an obligation of the State, but also are binding guidance for the content and the implementation of these programmes.Th is is particularly important given the fact that the OPAC limits the obligations of States Parties to the provision of 'all appropriate assistance' (see Art. 6, §3 OPAC and earlier remarks in this regard).It means inter alia that recovery and reintegration programmes for all war-aff ected children, both in their development and implementation, should respect and implement all the rights of the child enshrined in the CRC.For practical reasons I will limit myself to highlighting the importance of some of these rights.
First and given the CRC Committee's emphasis on the obligation to take general measures of implementation (see General Comment No. 5), programmes for the recovery and social reintegration of children aff ected by armed confl ict should as much as possible be an integral part of a comprehensive, well coordinated and adequately resourced national policy for the implementation of children's rights.Th is will avoid these programmes becoming narrowly focused on immediate, short-term responses to the trauma children have suff ered as a result of their experiences during armed confl ict and also promote benefi ts for the children from, for example, long-term health, education and social policies.Th ey have, like all other children in the country, the right to the highest attainable standard of health and this requires access to all available health care services (Art.24 CRC).Th ey must be provided with free and compulsory primary education and secondary education and vocational training, either for free or with fi nancial assistance in case of need (Art.28 CRC).Furthermore, they have the right to a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development (Art.27 CRC).Th ese and other rights in the CRC, such as the right to protection from all forms of violence and exploitation (Arts.19, 32-36 CRC), but also the right to rest, leisure and to engage in play, recreational and cultural activities, apply to all children, including children aff ected by armed confl ict.It is important to underscore this in order to ensure that these children are not provided only with short-term support for their recovery and reintegration.Th is recovery requires full and ongoing respect for and implementation of their rights.
xvii I would like to emphasise the following: -All children aff ected by armed confl ict should be provided with meaningful opportunities to express their views and to participate actively in the preparation and implementation of the programmes, while ensuring that their views are given due weight (Art.12); 10 -Th e primary responsibility of parents for the upbringing of their children, including the responsibility to secure the conditions of living necessary for the child's development (Arts.18 and 27 CRC), implies that they should be actively involved as much as possible in the recovery and reintegration of their children.In this regard, it is important to note that States Parties must respect the rights of parents and, where applicable, of members of the extended family and the community, to provide the child, in accordance with her or his evolving capacities, appropriate direction and guidance in the exercise by the child of the rights recognized in the CRC (Art.5).Th is obligation indicates that not only the parents but also the extended family and the community should play a role in the recovery and reintegration process.-States Parties have the obligation to provide parents with support and assistance in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities, inter alia by establishing institutions, facilities and services for the care of children (Art.18) and by providing, in case of need, material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing (Art.27).
Th ese provisions of the CRC indicate clearly that recovery and reintegration programmes require the involvement not only of the children themselves but also of their parents, extended family and community, and of the government to undertake measures to the maximum extent of its available resources (Art.4).
Th is means that the state must provide as much human and fi nancial resource as possible for the implementation of the programmes and should seek international support and cooperation.As the CRC Committee stated in General Comment no.5: 'Whatever their economic circumstances, States are required to undertake all possible measures towards the realization of the rights of the child, paying special attention to the most disadvantaged groups.'Th e ACRWC contains similar provisions in Article 14 (on health care), Article 11 (on education), Article 20 (on assuring an adequate standard of living) and Articles 15, 27-29 (on exploitation).Finally, in the provisions specifi c to armed confl ict, both the CRC and the ACRWC (Art.38 and Art.require States Parties to take all feasible measures in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection and care of children who are aff ected by armed confl ict. 11t me summarise my general observations.Th e CRC is the best international legal framework for the recovery and social reintegration of all war-aff ected children, because it is applicable to all children in a war-aff ected country without discrimination of any kind.It will therefore contribute to an all-inclusive policy of care and protection covering all children and tailored to their specifi c needs.Th e CRC also provides the specifi c rights to, for example, health care, education, adequate living conditions that are critical elements of an eff ective long-term process of recovery and social reintegration.Th e ACRWC confi rms this approach with some important additions (e.g. on the elimination of harmful traditional practices).
Th e assistance to recovery and social reintegration that States Parties to OPAC must provide is limited to children recruited or used in armed confl ict.Th is is disappointing, but can simply be explained by the fact that the OPAC's focus is on the recruitment and involvement of children in armed confl ict, and more specifi cally on setting specifi c age limits in that regard.Unfortunately, this focus has resulted in a missed opportunity to provide for much more specifi c principles/rules for various aspects of transitional justice and in particular for the recovery and social reintegration of all war-eff ected children (including the role and responsibilities of parents and communities).Th e one specifi c opportunity provided by the OPAC, i.e. an international voluntary fund, has been neglected.
Finally, an important complement to the CRC as the international legal framework is international humanitarian law.IHL contains various provisions with a focus on the protection and care of children during 'offi cially' declared wars or other armed confl ict.However, IHL does not defi ne a child as a person under 18, but limits it specifi c attention for children to those under the age of fi ft een.

SOME SPECIAL PROBLEMS
Th e eff orts to assist war-aff ected children with their full recovery and social reintegration face many problems and challenges.While this is not the place to discuss these problems and challenges in detail, from a rights perspective there is reason to draw attention to some of these problems.

11
It should be noted that Art.22 ACRWC contains also the very general clause that States Parties shall undertake to respect and ensure respect for rules of international humanitarian law applicable in armed confl icts which aff ect the child.xix

CRIMINAL R ESPONSIBILITY OF CAACs
One of the problems with the recovery and social reintegration of war-aff ected children is the fact that some of them have committed very serious crimes which can qualify as crimes against humanity and/or war crimes.Th e Rome Statute clearly states that the International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction regarding such crimes if committed by a person below the age of 18.So it is left to the national authorities to decide how to treat children who allegedly committed very serious (war) crimes.Th ese may be dealt with through a Truth and Reconciliation Commission or under the rules of the criminal code.
It is in my opinion not a contribution to full recovery and social reintegration just to ignore the (suspected) commission of crimes or, even worse, to treat it as a taboo issue (don't ask, don't tell).It is in line with respect for the child as a rights-holder also to hold him/her responsible for the serious violations of the rights of others he/she may have committed.Th e full implementation of rules for juvenile justice in the CRC (Arts.37 and 40) and the related international standards (Beijing and Havana Rules) provides for such accountability with the clearly stated commitment to treat the child in a manner consistent with the promotion of the child's sense of dignity and worth and with the aim of promoting the child's reintegration and the child's assuming a constructive role in society.
In line with Article 40, §3, b CRC, measures should be taken to deal with children accused of having infringed the penal law without resorting to judicial proceedings.In other words, when appropriate not penal sanctions but alternative measures should be applied.First and foremost, juvenile justice for these children should be restorative justice that reconciles the child with her/his family and community with a view to her/his social reintegration.Th e CRC Committee is of the opinion that alternative measures such as restorative justice should not be limited to minor off ences. 12As was stated in the Lima Declaration (2009) on Restorative Juvenile Justice: Experience shows that restorative juvenile justice can also play an important role in addressing serious crimes.For example, in many armed confl icts children are used as child soldiers and forced to commit unspeakable crimes targeting especially their own family members, their neighbours and their community.Restorative justice is very oft en the only way of bringing reconciliation to victims and off enders alike in a war-torn society where victims of off ences suff er as do child off enders, having been forced to commit off ences.Without such reconciliation the reintegration of child xx Intersentia soldiers in their communities is not possible, much to the detriment of the then ostracised child as well as the community bereft of workforce and under threat of criminal behaviour of the excluded child. 13

CHILDR EN WITH DISABILITIES
Amongst the very visible eff ects of war are the children with disabilities resulting from intentional amputations or explosions of landmines and other devices/ weapons.Unfortunately, the end of war does not put an end to the risk of children being disabled by landmine explosions.Many international eff orts have been and are being undertaken to prevent and address the problems of Anti-Personnel Landmines (e.g. the Ottawa Convention 1997 and the Guidelines for Landmine and Unexploded Ordnance Awareness Education).
Special attention should also be given to the rights of children with disabilities in the context of recovery and reintegration programmes.Awareness raising and education on the dangers of landmines and other unexploded devices are important, but strong, systematic and ongoing eff orts have to be made to ensure that children with disabilities enjoy a full and decent life in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child's active participation in the community (Art.23 CRC and Art.7 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities -CRPD, 2006).It requires not only well-trained people to treat the disabilities, but also ongoing support for the families of these children (e.g. the growing bodies and bones of these children will require on average a new prosthesis every six months).Prevention of discrimination and access to regular, or if necessary special, education are other issues that require special attention.Th ese and other measures which have to be taken by the State as much as possible with the involvement of the children themselves and with the support of NGOs and other sections of civil society are elaborated in the CRC Committee's General Comment no. 9 on the rights of children with disabilities.It is clear from Article 23 and other provisions in the CRC and from the CRPD that the protection and realisation of the rights of children with disabilities must be an integral part of the legal framework for recovery and social reintegration programmes.

DISPLACED CHILDR EN
Many millions of children are displaced (internally or across borders) by armed confl ict and are the most frequent victims of violence, disease, malnutrition and death.Th ey oft en become separated from their parents and families and are thereby exposed to far greater danger and exploitation.For instance, adolescents are especially vulnerable to forced recruitment, abduction, traffi cking and sexual exploitation.Th ese children have the right to receive special protection and humanitarian assistance in the enjoyment of their rights under the CRC.Eff orts have to be made to trace the parents or other family members in order to obtain information necessary for the child's reunifi cation with her or his family.If parents or family cannot be found, the child must be provided the same protection as any other child permanently or temporarily deprived of her or his family environment for any reason (Arts.22 and 20 CRC).
Displaced children have the same rights as other children to food, health care and education, as well as the right to preserve their identity and cultural, linguistic and inheritance rights.It should be noted that governments are responsible for the welfare of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), including children.Unfortunately, governments are oft en unable or unwilling to provide these children with the assistance and protection they are entitled to.Many IDP children live in refugee camps.Although intended as temporary refuge, they oft en become shelters where entire generations of children grow up.Ongoing eff orts are needed for their safe return to their families and communities, but at the same time measures have to be taken to improve living conditions in the camps.

PR EVENTION
It may be considered too idealistic or even naïve, but we should continue to undertake eff orts, and strengthen them where possible, to prevent children from becoming war-aff ected and therefore in need of rehabilitation and reintegration.We may never succeed in having a war-free world, but we must try to establish an eff ective worldwide prohibition on the recruitment of children and on their active involvement in armed confl ict, and undertake all other available measures to prevent children from becoming victims of armed confl ict.It goes well beyond the scope of this foreword to discuss in detail the many political, social, economic and other measures necessary to prevent armed confl ict.I will limit myself to some observations on the measures that can and must be taken to stop the recruitment or enlistment of children in armed forces or groups and/or their active participation to hostilities.xxii Intersentia To prevent children from becoming victims of armed confl ict as a result of their recruitment and/or direct participation in armed forces or groups, the following actions should be taken: -Maximum eff orts to achieve the universal ratifi cation of the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Confl ict in order to establish a global and legally binding commitment to stopping the recruitment of children and/or their active involvement in armed confl icts, not only as combatants but in any other role.-Within the framework of the implementation of the OPAC, all states should establish a minimum age of 18 for both compulsory recruitment and voluntary enlistment in armed forces and for their involvement in armed confl ict.Th ese standards should also be applicable to armed groups -this is in fact already the case. 15It should be noted that almost all African states that have ratifi ed the OPAC have the minimum age for voluntary recruitment set at 18 years. 16All States Parties to the OPAC should explicitly criminalise the violation of these standards and establish extra-territorial, preferably universal jurisdiction.In its Concluding Observations on the initial reports of States Parties, the CRC Committee systematically makes recommendations to that eff ect.Th e International Criminal Court only deals with the crimes of recruiting and using children below the age of 15 years in armed confl ict.But if all States party to the OPAC take the measures suggested and eff ectively implement them, it will result in clear global standards with the message that no one who violates them will escape justice. 17Th is would make a crucial Art.6 OPAC requires States Parties to take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to ensure eff ective implementation and enforcement of the provisions of OPAC in their jurisdiction.But it does not specify the nature of these measures and is in that regard much weaker than the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child Foreword Intersentia xxiii contribution -in addition to other measures -to a reduction in the number of children who are seriously aff ected by armed confl ict.

ESTABLISHMENT OF A VOLUNTARY FUND
Th e establishment of an international voluntary fund has so far been neglected.Its feasibility should be actively explored in order to provide children, their parents and communities with the extra support they may need and with compensation for the violations of their rights.
I am not aware of any of the main players in this fi eld (Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Children and Armed Confl ict, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, UNICEF etc.) taking concerted or targeted actions to establish such a fund.Th is is most regrettable because such a voluntary fund could be used for: -community support with a view to creating the necessary conditions for recovery and social reintegration of all war-aff ected children, e.g. by improving health care and education; -individual support for war-aff ected children, in particular children mentally and/or physically disabled as a result of armed confl ict.Th is support should provide for ongoing assistance and guidance for children with disabilities and could, where appropriate, provide fi nancial compensation for the harm done to a child, a family or a community.
I would like to refer to the marginal impact of repeated expressions of concern about the impunity of the people responsible for the very serious crimes committed during armed confl ict.Given this reality and in light of the right of everyone to an eff ective remedy for acts violating her or his fundamental rights (Art.8 UDHR; Art. 2 ICCPR), would it not be a simple matter of justice to have an international fund that can provide at least some remedies?pornography.Th is OP contains provisions on the criminality of specifi ed acts (Art.3), on the establishment of extraterritorial jurisdiction (Art.4) and on extradition (Art.5).

FOREWORD
3), the right to life, survival and development (Art.6) and the right of the child to respect for her/his 4 It is even more puzzling that they are not UN guidelines given the very clear and consistent commitment of the Security Council to preventing and reducing the recruitment and involvement of children in armed confl icts; see Resolutions 1261 (1999), 1314 (2000), 1379 (2001), 1460 (2003), 1539 (2004) and 1612 (2005).

6 K
. Bennoune, Memorandum on Th e Nature and Sphere of Application of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Confl ict prepared for the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (May 2009, on fi le with the author). xiii 22 respectively) 10 With regard to the interpretation and implementation of Art. 12 CRC, see General Comment No. 12 of the CRC Committee: Th e Right of the Child to be Heard, UN Doc.CRC/C/GC/12 of 1 July 2009.

14 13
Th e Lima Declaration (2009) on Restorative Juvenile Justice was adopted at the First International Conference on Restorative Juvenile Justice, held in Lima (Peru) on 2-7 November 2009.See also ECOSOC Resolution 2002/12 Basic Principles on the use of restorative justice programmes in criminal matters.14 See also Th e Paris Principles and Guidelines on children associated with armed forces or armed groups, § §7.50 -7.53 (Paris, February 2007).Foreword Intersentia xxi Introduction Children Aff ected by Armed Confl ict at the Intersection of Th ree Fields of Study Cindy Mels, Ilse Derluyn, Stephan Parmentier and Wouter Vandenhole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Intersentiaof Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949).1They contain various provisions for the protection of children under the age of 15, i.e. parties to a confl ict have to take measures necessary to ensure that children under fi ft een who are orphaned or are separated from their families as a result of the war are not left to their own resources and that their maintenance and education are facilitated in all circumstances.Furthermore, parties to the confl ict must endeavour to arrange 1.1.INTER NATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAWInternational instruments of humanitarian law are important for the protection of children aff ected by war, notably the Geneva Convention relative to Protection x Given its specifi c nature, we will fi rst look at the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Confl ict for provisions on the recovery and reintegration of child victims of war.Adopted by the UN General Assembly in Resolution A/RES/54/263 of 25 May 2000, this Protocol requires States parties to take all feasible measures to ensure that children (persons under the age of 18) do not take a direct part in hostilities (Art.1).Furthermore, the OPAC prohibits the compulsory recruitment of children into armed forces (Art.2) and armed groups (Art.4).It also requires States parties to the OPAC to set a minimum age at least at 16 for voluntary recruitment, while ensuring that this recruitment is genuinely voluntary and with the informed consent of the child and her/his parents or legal guardians.Th is Optional Protocol is an amendment to Article 38 CRC, which sets the minimum age for recruitment and direct participation in hostilities at the age of fi ft een.In this regard it should be noted that the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) has set the age at 18, requiring States Parties to this Charter to ensure that no child shall take a direct part in hostilities and to refrain in particular from recruiting any child (art.22 ACRWC).Th is standard is also known as the 'straight 18 standard'.
7 Th e SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia(Kathmandu, 2002)does not contain specifi c provisions relating to children aff ected by war.8 Th e term 'rehabilitation' only appears in Art.23 (on children with disabilities) and Art.24 CRC (rehabilitation).Art.39 uses the terms 'recovery' and 'social reintegration' in relation to child victims of, inter alia, abuse, exploitation, cruel or inhuman treatment and armed confl ict.
It means that all children aff ected by armed confl ict, and not only those who are/have been recruited or used in hostilities (via Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) Th e key building bloc of the legal framework is Article 2 CRC: States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights enshrined in the CRC to each child within their 9 For unknown reasons, Art.7 OPAC uses the term 'rehabilitation' whereas Art.6 talks about 'recovery'.xvi Intersentia jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind.
Th e OPAC entered in to force on 12 February 2002 and so far it has been ratifi ed by 143 states, including the US, which has not yet ratifi ed the CRC.More than 50 percent of the African states (32 out of 53) have ratifi ed or acceded to the OPAC.In addition, so far 45 African states have ratifi ed the ACRWC.If the remaining eight States ratify this Charter, all African states will be bound by the 'straight 18 standard'.I am pleased to see that upon my suggestion, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on children and armed confl ict now conducts a global campaign ('Zero under Eighteen') for the universal ratifi cation of the OPAC by 12 February 2012.