Committee: UNICEF

Topic: Use of Children in Armed Conflicts

Delegates: Nathaniel and Nikolas
Country: Canada
Hundreds of thousands of children are used as soldiers in armed conflicts around the world.
Many children are taken and beaten into submission, others join military groups to escape
poverty, defend their communities, out of a feeling of revenge or for other reasons. Most kids
fight or play a support role in a battle, carrying ammo, guns, etc. This can affect their mental and
physical health as theyre witness to violence, death, and sexual violence and they can also be
harmed or killed. This is the boys side of the story, as girls are mostly used as sex slaves. More
than 300,000 children currently are being deployed into situations of armed conflict, 6 million
have been severely injured or permanently disabled, and an estimated 20 million of those
children are living as refugees.
The United Nations have teamed up with several parties and groups, such as Yemeni
government forces, to develop action plans that grave violations against children. Each action
plan is designed to address a specific partys situation, and outlines concrete, time-bound steps
that lead to compliance and international law, as well as a more protected future for the children.
The country of Canada has long been recognized as a leading advocate on children and
armed conflict. In 2006 Canada has establish and still continues to chair The Group of Friends
on Children and Armed Conflict, an informal New York based network of over 38 members. This
group discusses the issues and events of children in armed conflict and to find solution to help
those children. Canada has also endorsed the February 2007 Paris Principles which provides
guidelines for all people who are working in the field to prevent the recruitment and use of
children in conflict and to reintegrate children affected by war.
Canada has contributed over $1.3 million since 2006 to policy development projects related
to children and armed conflict through Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canadas Glyn
Berry Program. Through the Glyn Berry Program and Canadas role as Chair of the Group of
Friends of Children and Armed Conflict, Canada will continue to support initiatives and
advocate the international community to advance the protection of children affected by
armed conflict. The focus for Canadas programming and advocacy efforts are:
Strengthening Monitoring and Reporting; since its inception in 2005, Monitoring and
Reporting responsibilities have grown tremendously. Strong Monitoring and Reporting will
produce data that will bring international attention to the issue and help bring forward more
targeted measures to bring parties who commit grave violations against children in situations
of conflict to account. A more sustained follow-up by the United Nations Security Council is
after data is collected by the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism, its used in order to bring
parties who persistently commit violations to justice. Supporting efforts: To expand the
Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism to encompass all violations. Canada is committed to
ending the use of girls and boys in hostilities and to helping ensure that children affected by

armed conflict around the world are protected. In pursuit of this goal, Canada will continue to
work with other governments and with international organizations to address these issues.

Sources:
1. "Action Plans with Armed Forces and Armed Groups | United Nations Office of
the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict."
United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-general for
Children and Armed Conflict. N.P., 26 June 2011. Web. 21 Jan. 2015.
2. "Children and Armed Conflict." Government of Canada, Foreign Affairs Trade
and Development Canada, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Communications, ECommunications Communications Products and Services. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan.
2015
3.