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Mr. President, The last year has seen a number of important developments with regard to the protection of children affected by conflict, both encouraging and challenging. Some important successes were achieved. During the course of 2010, for example, the United Nations supported the reintegration of over 11,000 children associated with armed forces and armed groups. Commitments made by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines have been translated into concrete actions by these parties. Efforts on the ground also ensured the release of children in the Sudan, South Sudan, DRC, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. New Action Plans to cease the recruitment of children as well as to secure their release were signed by the United Nations with the Government of Afghanistan on 30 January 2011; and the Chadian Security Forces on 16 June 2011. I personally witnessed these agreements and am pleased to report that progress is being made in their implementation, under the leadership of the Governments concerned. Progress has also been made in the campaign to achieve universal ratification of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. Through the coordinated efforts of my Office, with that of the Special Representative on Violence Against Children, UNICEF and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 15 additional member states have signed, ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol since the beginning of our joint campaign. This brings the total to 143 ratifications. Also worthy of note is the passing of Security Council resolution 1998 in July 2011, which makes attacks on schools and hospitals a trigger for listing of parties in the annexes of the Secretary-General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict. By calling on the Secretary-General to name parties that attack schools and hospitals and put children at risk, the Council recognized the importance of these institutions, essential for children, and the need to make them areas of safety during armed conflict. Schools in particular must be zones of peace, where children receive protection and are allowed to continue with their education regardless of a conflict. Child protection partners around the world have insisted that the right to education be an important part of emergency response and that schooling must continue even in emergency situations. I stand by that call and urge General Assembly members to redouble efforts to ensure the right to education for all. Despite these advances, the past year has also witnessed some developments of concern. I have been particularly alarmed by the apparent trend of children being used as instruments of violence, including as unwitting child suicide bombers. Of equal concern has been the death or injury of children through aerial bombardment and the use of new technologies of war. As is reflected in my report, I urge member states to put in place protective measures to address these developments and to ensure zero child casualties in the conduct of warfare. Mr. President, Many member states interacting with my Office have pointed out that an understanding of the root causes for violations against children must guide efforts to protect children affected by conflict. I support this assessment. Efforts to end violations and abuses against children during conflict must stem from a thorough understanding of the circumstances that give rise to them, as well as the structural causes of conflict. Poverty, discrimination, environmental degradation, social and economic marginalisation and inequity are some of the factors that create conditions for children to be associated to armed forces and groups. Research and analysis into root causes for violations against children have pointed to the strong correlation between poverty, poor human development indicators and the kind of violent conflict that results in terrible abuses against children. Millennium Development Goals indicators reveal that countries in situations of armed conflict account for one third of those living in extreme poverty, half of the children with no access to primary education and half of the children who die before their fifth birthday. Often with the encouragement of parents and the incitement of armed actors, children become combatants in the hope that they will be well fed, housed and protected. In order to prevent recruitment, we must therefore address issues of poverty through targeted development programmes, the provision of education and youth employment schemes, and livelihood training- all this while holding commanders who commit these crimes accountable for their actions. Other factors which create an environment that is conducive to children being violated are discrimination or perceptions of discrimination, social injustice, political exclusion or economic disparity. Ethnic, religious or tribal loyalties also propel this sense of grievance and loyalty to the group. Leaders of the group often entice children to join these movements with a romantic sense of their destiny. This is particularly compounded if the children or their family have suffered personal injustice. In these conflict areas state structures are often weak and because of the conflict, community institutions may have also broken down. As a result children are vulnerable to abuse and are not protected by traditional or modern structures of protection. Normative standards, cultural values are often in abeyance and social cohesion is all but destroyed. To deal with this context, child protection partners have attempted to create new forms that would serve to protect children in endangered communities through child protection networks. Such programmes and plans assist communities in better protecting children in communities and in alerting national security forces or peacekeepers of potential dangers. We must also not forget that in conflict areas, the conflict becomes an end in itself, with a political economy that is driven by the needs of the conflict and a general militarisation of society. Children begin to accept war as the norm and their heroes become military commanders with the military ethos firing up their imagination. Joining an armed group may also make children socially mobile and may be a way of ensuring safety and food. The armed group and its leaders become role models for children who have no other experience. These are also factors that have to be taken to account when we try and understand the violations that children faced during situations of armed conflict. Mr. President Every year our office focuses on a specific theme associated with children and armed conflict to highlight important concerns that do not always receive the attention of the international community. This year we have sought to highlight the issue of children and justice in armed conflict and post conflict situations, particularly when children are not treated as victims but as perpetrators. States are increasingly arresting and detaining children associated with armed groups, be it because they are a threat to national security or because they have participated in hostilities. Children who are captured and placed in detention are sometimes kept in conditions which do not meet the minimum standards set out in various international legal instruments, and risk exposure to ill-treatment and acts tantamount to torture. In some situations, States place children in administrative detention, rather than charging them with a criminal offence and bringing them before a Court. These children are often detained for long periods of time without being granted access to a lawyer or other legal safeguards. Evidence abounds that, when deprived of their liberty, children are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses. In other situations, States prosecute children for acts committed while associated with an armed group. National courts and military tribunals, however, do not generally apply juvenile standards. As a result, these children are frequently tried without legal representation or assistance, are not accompanied by their parents and often do not possess a clear understanding of the charges brought against them. Given the forced nature of their association with armed groups, and considering their age, children should be treated primarily as victims, not as perpetrators. Emphasis should be placed on prosecuting adult recruiters and commanders based on the concept of command responsibility. The need for some form of accountability is acknowledged, children must be made to face the consequences of their actions and victims of their violence must feel that justice has been done. Nevertheless diversion away from the judicial system is more suitable for children and the society as a whole. Alternatives that take the best interest of the child into consideration and promote the reintegration of the child into his or her community include non-judicial mechanisms, such as restorative justice measures, truth-telling, traditional healing ceremonies and reintegration programmes. These alternatives will give children, who through no fault of their own had to become combatants, a new chance for a better life. Finally, Mr President, during a recent trip to Chad I visited a reintegration centre jointly run by UNICEF and CARE. I met Idris there. He was a young man who had been with the Chadian opposition rebel groups, seen conflict since the age of 13 and now with the peace process had been released to the UN. He had a natural talent for tailoring and after initial training with the assistance of CARE and UNICEF, he had set up a tailoring shop which was thriving, having as its customers the wives of important ministers and N’djemena’s leading socialites. He was all smiles and full of enthusiasm when we met him.            Idris is a UN success story but we would be less than honest if we were not to admit than many other children do fall between the cracks. Many run away, become re-recruited or join street children occasionally engaging in criminal acts. For our grand plan to end impunity for crimes against war time children to succeed we must have successful reintegration programmes. For this, UNICEF and our child protection partners need resources and support from the international community. We realise that during times of economic hardship this is a serious concern. Nevertheless, we urge you to make the forgotten children of war one of your urgent priorities. Thank you Mr. President.