Recommendation adopted by the Committee of the Rights of the Child on children in Armed Conflict (1998)

Committee on the Rights of the Child Recommendation adopted by the Committee on children in Armed Conflict 21 September-9 October 1998 The Committee on the Rights of the Child, Recalling that at its second session in 1992 the Committee devoted one day to a general discussion on the topic "Children in armed conflict" at which the relevance and adequacy of existing standards were discussed, Noting the similarity of the conclusions on the negative effects of armed conflicts on children reached by the expert of the Secretary-General in her 1996 study entitled "The impact of armed conflict on children" (A/51/306 and Add.1) and by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the impact of armed conflict on children, Recalling that at its third session it prepared a preliminary draft optional protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the Child (E/CN.4/1994/91, annex) that it submitted to the Commission on Human Rights at its fiftieth session, Having welcomed the subsequent decision of the Commission on Human Rights, as contained in its resolution 1994/91, to establish an open-ended inter-sessional working group to elaborate, as a matter of priority, a draft optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, Noting that the working group has met yearly since 1995 and that it was unable, at its fourth session held in February 1998, to reach agreement on a draft text which could be adopted by consensus, Welcoming Commission resolution 1998/76 and the request to the Secretary-General to invite the Committee, inter alia, to submit comments and suggestions on the report of the working group, Reiterating its growing alarm, upon its examination of a large number of reports of States parties on their implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, at the deeply tragic consequences of the involvement of children in armed conflict, 1. Expresses its concern at the delays experienced in the process of drafting and adopting the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict; 2. Recalls that the function of optional protocols is to promote the progressive development of international law by enabling those States that are willing to adopt more demanding standards to do so; 3. Reaffirms its belief that this new legal instrument is urgently needed in order to strengthen the levels of protection ensured by the Convention; 4. Stresses the special responsibility of States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the search for the most protective solutions, guided by the best interests of the child; 5. Recalls its major recommendation on the fundamental importance of raising the age of all forms of recruitment of children into the armed forces to eighteen years and the prohibition of their involvement in hostilities; 6. Also recalls that adoption of the optional protocol will provide an opportunity for States parties that are in a position to do so, and them alone, to accept its provisions by ratification or adherence; 7. Expresses the hope that States that are not yet in a position to accept the eighteen-year age limit will not prevent the adoption of the optional protocol by other Governments; 8. Invites States parties to make every effort to facilitate the adoption of the optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict before the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.