Children Affected by Armed Conflicts

The EU accords a high priority to helping children associated with armed conflicts. The EU Guidelines on Children Affected by Armed Conflicts were adopted in 2003 and revised in 2008 . They commit the EU to address the impact of armed conflicts on children in a comprehensive manner. This is done through monitoring and reporting by its Heads of Mission, military commanders and special representatives; diplomatic initiatives; political dialogue; multilateral cooperation; and crisis management. In addition, in 2006 the EU prepared the Checklist for integrating the issue of children affected by armed conflicts into the ESDP operations, in particular its missions abroad. The Checklist was revised and updated in 2008 . The EU has been consistently supportive of the UN mechanisms in this field, in particular the UN Special Representative for Children Affected by Armed Conflicts, the Security Council’s Working Group, and the 1612 mechanism.

Implementation Strategy

In April 2006, the EU issued an extensive strategy for implementing the Guidelines , giving directions on monitoring and reporting, cooperation with the UN, effective incorporation of gender issues into all policy areas and lobbying. Having established an informal task force to follow up implementation, in June 2006 the EU issued specific guidance and instructions to its missions in the priority countries and its special representatives in conflict areas on protecting children from war. The EU focuses the implementation of the Guidelines on 19 priority counties. The list of EU priority countries is in accordance with the priority list of the UN Special Representative for Children Affected by Armed Conflicts.

In December 2010, the EU updated the EU Implementation Strategy on Children in Armed Conflicts. 

Effective and Coherent Implementation

In January 2008 the Slovenian Presidency mandated the study "Enhancing the EU Response to Children Affected by Armed Conflict, with Particular Reference to Development Policy" .  In addition, the Slovenian Presidency, in cooperation with the European Commission and the European Peace-building Liaison Office organised a seminar on “EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict and the Checklist for the Integration of the Protection of Children Affected by Armed Conflict into ESDP Operations”, which identified challenges and ways for an effective and coherent implementation of the EU Guidelines on CAAC.