UN / CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT

A number of UN Member States add their names to the ‘Paris Commitments' to protect children from recruitment and use by armed forces or armed groups. Eighty-four States have endorsed the commitments now including Albania, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Guinea, Jamaica, Liechtenstein, Panama and Senegal. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:26
• Production Date: 30 September 2009
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY; DISARMAMENT
• MAMS Id: U090930d

Description

STORY: UN / CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT
TRT: 2:26
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 29 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY

Shotlist

FILE - NOVEMBER 2005, RUTSHURU, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

1. Med shot, soldier walking with gun

FILE – DATE UNKNOWN, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

2. Close up, boy with injured face

FILE - NOVEMBER 2005, RUTSHURU, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

3. Wide shot, soldiers marching

FILE – DATE UNKNOWN, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

4. Tilt down, child without hand

29 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY

5. SOUNDBITE, (English) Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative to the Secretary General on Children in Armed Conflict, United Nations:
"2009 has been a terrible year for children. All around the globe children continue to suffer from grave violations committed in the context of armed conflicts."

FILE - FEBRUARY 2007, PARIS, FRANCE

6. Wide shot, conference
7. Wide shot, audience
8. Med shot, Ann M. Veneman at podium

29 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY

9. Wide shot, podium at the Ministerial Meeting
10. Med shot, audience
11. Close up, audience

FILE – DATE UNKNOWN, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

12. Med shot, child with head wrapped
13. Close up, pan down, child without hand trying to braid doll’s hair

29 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY

14. SOUNDBITE, (English) Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director, UNICEF:
"When children are removed from, or leave, such violent and difficult environments, they are deeply affected by what they have seen, by what they have done and by what they have survived. The effect of having witnessed or experienced violence, killings rapes and abuse are compounded over time. When these children flee or are released they are often suffering."

15. SOUNDBITE, (English) Walter A. Fulleman:
"Children who join voluntarily often do so because it is the best available option for them. It can be a way to escape inequalities, to be able to eat, or to earn money, to support their families, to fight for a cause or to be part of a group, to be with peers.”

FILE - MARCH 2007, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

16. Wide shot, children playing at UNICEF transit camp
17. Med shot, boy soldering
18. Med shot, boy putting on welding mask

29 SEPTEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY

19. SOUNDBITE, (English) Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director, UNICEF:
"The individual child cannot be treated in isolation of the family and of the community if he or she is to be successfully reintegrated."

FILE - NOVEMBER 2005, RUTSHURU, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

20. Wide shot, reintegration ceremony of child soldiers being demobilized from militia groups

FILE - MARCH 2007, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

21. Wide shot, UNICEF jeep
22. Med shot, rack focus, child behind wire fence

Storyline

Children who are victims of armed conflict aren't just the ones carrying guns. It's every child that has been drawn into conflict, every child that has been used by armed forces; abused, abducted or abandoned.

SOUNDBITE, (English) Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative to the Secretary General on Children in Armed Conflict, United Nations:
"2009 has been a terrible year for children. All around the globe children continue to suffer from grave violations committed in the context of armed conflicts."

In 2007, the Paris Commitments were adopted to show strengthened international resolve to prevent the recruitment of children.

At a Ministerial Meeting on Tuesday at UN Headquarters, more states added their names to the Commitments, increasing the number of endorsements to 84. However, more resources must be dedicated to long-term reintegration programmes, as conveners made clear.

The consequences for children involved in armed conflict are severe, and leave critical challenges to their rehabilitation and reintegration.

SOUNDBITE, (English) Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director, UNICEF:
"When children are removed from, or leave, such violent and difficult environments, they are deeply affected by what they have seen, by what they have done and by what they have survived. The effect of having witnessed or experienced violence, killings rapes and abuse are compounded over time. When these children flee or are released they are often suffering."

SOUNDBITE, (English) Walter A. Fulleman:
"Children who join voluntarily often do so because it is the best available option for them. It can be a way to escape inequalities, to be able to eat, or to earn money, to support their families, to fight for a cause or to be part of a group, to be with peers.”

Returning a child to his or her former life is complex... and more complex still is returning a child to a life that is a better alternative to being recruited into armed forces.

SOUNDBITE, (English) Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director, UNICEF:
"The individual child cannot be treated in isolation of the family and of the community if he or she is to be successfully reintegrated."

With thousands of children yet to be released and thousands of others in need of support, it is clear that international actors must work with urgency and commitment to ensure a better life for these children.