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The Security Council reiterated today its commitment to address the widespread impact of armed conflict on children, as it held an open debate on issue. In a statement read out by Jean-Marc de La Sablière (France), its President for July, the Council also reiterated its determination to ensure respect for its resolution 1612 (2005) and all previous texts on children and armed conflict, which provided a comprehensive framework within which to address the protection of conflict-affected children. The Council underscored the importance of a sustained investment in development, especially in health, education and skills training, to secure the successful reintegration of children into their communities and prevent re-recruitment. The specific situation of girls exploited by armed forces and groups must be recognized and adequately addressed. Also by that statement, the Council welcomed the appointment of Radhika Coomaraswamy as the new Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. It also welcomed the fact that its working group on children and armed conflict had achieved commendable progress in its implementation phase, and was now discussing specific reports on parties in situations of armed conflict. The Council welcomed the ongoing implementation of the monitoring and reporting mechanism on children and armed conflict, and looked forward to receiving the forthcoming independent review of that mechanism. Acknowledging that the application of the mechanism had already produced results in the field, the Council welcomed the efforts by national governments, relevant United Nations actors and civil society partners to make it operational. Speaking in his national capacity, Mr. de La Sablière, said it was impossible not to think of the children in Lebanon, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, innocent victims in a conflict that had noting to do with them. He was also thinking beyond the Middle East, concerned for the well-being of the more than 300,000 children actually taking part in armed conflicts around the world. Nearly half the children trapped in armed conflict were girls, often single mothers, who even when conflicts ended and children were “liberated”, often lived on the margins of society. Without effective reintegration, they were potential factors in the resurgence of crises. Noting the arrest of Thomas Lubanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and his transfer to the International Criminal Court, he said that impunity was shrinking for those who perpetrated crimes against children. The Council was following the matter in detail in its working group set up under resolution 1612. At its most recent meeting, that group, headed by France, had examined in detail the situation of children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and would examine other situations and submit its assessments and recommendations to the Council, which must be ready to use the full arsenal of available measures to punish those who defied its authority by refusing to comply with relevant resolutions. The international community must work more on the link between security and development, since the absence of a future for children undermined prevention and demobilization efforts. Addressing the Council earlier, Ms. Coomaraswamy said resolution 1612 demonstrated that the Council was committed to going beyond words to specific actions in endorsing a monitoring and reporting mechanism. Through the resolution, the Council also expressed its intention to combat impunity through possible targeted measures against repeat violations of children’s rights. However, despite the groundswell of support for the resolution and the monitoring reporting exercise, and the fact that the situation of children in Sierra Leone, Burundi, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo had improved markedly, children continued to suffer. More than 250,000 of them continuing to be exploited as child soldiers by armed forces and groups around the world. Tens of thousands of girls were subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence. Abduction of children was becoming more systematic and widespread. Since 2003, more than 14 million had been forcibly displaced within and outside their home countries, and between 8,000 and 10,000 had been killed or maimed each year by landmines.