HPT_Reading 7.1: Protecting Children In Situations Of Armed Conflict: Issues Calling For Action

Protecting children in situations of armed conflict: issues calling for action

A. Implementing International Standards

"International human rights and humanitarian standards relating to children in situations of armed conflict must be widely disseminated and vigorously enforced. Broad awareness of the rights of the child must be promoted and education and training activities developed." (Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, A Ten Point Call for Urgent Action)

Dissemination of and training in human rights and humanitarian law, in particular as they relate to women and children, must be at the core of any activities seeking to strengthen the overall protection environment in the situation where you are working. It would be important in this context to highlight the importance of strengthening the capacity of local structures, local NGOs, local religious groups, etc., so that they may also become involved in these issues. These groups may have access to information and to the people on the ground, and they also have an understanding of the culture from the grass roots level. Their assistance may become valuable in training activities, planning, monitoring and delivering assistance. If you have identified strategic allies, i.e. persons and/or groups with similar interests, at all levels and in all possible institutions, these may be able to help you with analyzing how the traditional and religious values in your situation can support your actions for protection and care.

However, it is also important to train those who exercise power over the civilian population, including the military, peacekeeping forces, and law enforcement officials.

As an organization, your position will be much stronger, if you have been able to do the following:

1. Make sure to define a clear humanitarian mandate, including how the protection of civilians can be guaranteed, and what the obligations are of other parties involved. The preceding chapters have assisted you in identifying what the basis for humanitarian action are and what legal instruments exist to back up your position. Make sure you are always aware of what human rights and humanitarian law instruments have been ratified in the country in which you are working.

2. Engage government and non-state entities in human rights and humanitarian principles through advocacy and negotiation. Be persistent in always maintaining links with both government and non-state entities. It is important also to have a certain balance between dealing with the government authorities on the one hand and the non-state entities on the other. For example, should you be dealing with the government only and some territory is taken over by non-state entities to which you need to gain access for humanitarian purposes, it could be useful to have a good relationship with both sides from the very start.

Where possible, the humanitarian community should coordinate its efforts and adopt a clear and common position and strategy. There should be a clear division of labour to maximize output and avoid overlap (including in the area of dissemination and training).

B. Monitoring and Reporting Violations of Child Rights

"Children in armed conflict must be treated as a distinct and priority concern in all human rights, humanitarian and development activities. Effective mechanisms for monitoring and reporting of children’s rights must be established." (Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, A Ten Point Call for Urgent Action)

In a discussion on monitoring and reporting violations of child rights, it is important to remember the following:

Monitoring

1. The way you monitor depends on what you expect from the outcome. It is important to consider what organization is appropriate for monitoring: NGOs (local or international) or IGOs (human rights or humanitarian). Consider what is the purpose of the monitoring: to measure immediate impact, for long-term solutions, for international campaigns, for prosecution, or to improve arguments for a certain cause.

2. Consider the impact you may have on the ground: be assured that your confidentiality is maintained, or even that measures are in place for witness protection. The circumstances of the interview and as a result the credibility of the interview may be at stake here.

3. Good monitoring must be:

based on international standards, such as the provisions of the CRC
accurate and systematic
impartial
confidential and secure
cooperative and coordinated
timely

4. Indicate in your reporting, directly or indirectly, whether you are talking about: single incidents and/or trends, who are the perpetrators (who is responsible: individual or government?), how you have avoided politically-biased information sources, what type of secondary sources you have made use of. Be clear on what the objective of the monitoring mechanism is and what you can achieve by carrying it out. Some of the aims of the monitoring could be:

to punish the individuals who are involved
to report back to local authorities
to report to donors on violations
to start an international campaign, etc.

Reporting

There are a number of possibilities for action with the information you have collected in your monitoring. In whatever action you are considering, be firm in making use of enforcement mechanisms that are available to humanitarian actors (for example, local mechanisms to solve dispute, etc.). If you have said you will use such mechanisms if a certain type of violations take place, using them will show that you are principled in your approach. Remember that a human rights focus can have an impact even on rebels. Linking human rights violations with aid also for non-state entities will make them realize the direct consequences of not living up to the standards. Enforcement action may include:

negotiation
advocacy
mobilization of shame (using rights terminology to point out bad practices, normally over a longer period of time with increased pressure)
withdrawal of assistance (moral implications)
reporting to the media
making use of political UN bodies

C. Promoting Physical and Psychological Recovery and Social Reintegration

"To ensure respect for children’s fundamental rights, measures to promote their health, nutrition, psychosocial well-being and education must be the pillars of all humanitarian assistance policy and programs." (Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, A Ten Point Call for Urgent Action)

The idea that there is a legal obligation to grant special protection to the child victim of armed conflict was for the first time put forward in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. International humanitarian law had, indeed, provided protection for civilians, including children, but its language was not as explicit as that of the CRC. The CRC states regarding the child’s right to recovery and reintegration in Article 39 that:

"States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of: any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts. Such recovery and reintegration shall take place in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child."

Providing for the survival of the child is based on Article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ensuring the survival of the child must coincide with developing strategies that have long-term goals. Article 6, which is one of the four fundamental principles of the Convention, provides that:

"1. States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life. 2. States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child."

The words "social reintegration" of Article 39 may include both food and medical assistance, subjects that are normally referred to as social rights. Psychological may include recovery from the experience and learning to live with it. There are a number of trauma causing scenarios: recovery from experiencing death, combat, life in a refugee camp, witnessing violence or being a victim of violence. The aim of social reintegration cannot be achieved unless action for recovery is taken at the same time. In other words, you cannot have one without the other.

The child needs to find a safe environment and physical safety to be able to recover psychologically, in the family, or if there is no family, through an alternative arrangement where it can feel safe. The child also needs to have a way of life which provides it with routine in order to feel safe.

For humanitarian organizations to help states in their efforts to implement Article 39 it is necessary to use aid to increase access and humanitarian space to at risk persons. If states are denying humanitarian agencies access to children who are victims of armed conflicts, then effectively they are violating the provisions in Article 39. (On humanitarian access, see Session 6.)

Being present in a certain situation may mean that the civilian population is not targeted in the same way. Coordination of humanitarian efforts is also extremely important in order to maximize the impact that aid agencies can have. Keeping track of what is happening on the ground shows that there is an interest in the issues on the international level.

D. Displaced children, tracing and birth registration

"The care and protection of refugee and internally displaced children requires increased international commitment and cooperation, particularly in relation to family reunification, the equitable delivery of humanitarian assistance and children’s right to education. In each conflict situation, UNICEF is urged to provide leadership to ensure assistance and protection of internally displaced children." (Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, A Ten Point Call for Urgent Action)

1. Refugee children

Children make up half of the total population of displaced persons. Although the Committee on the Rights of the Child has continuously stressed the fact that all rights of the Convention are rights of all children, the fact remains that among the larger group of displaced children, refugee children are accorded greater protection than those internally displaced. Not only is there the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, but Article 22 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is focused on refugees, and it is clear from the express language of this Article that it was not meant to cover internally displaced children.

The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees defines a refugee as a person who:

"[...] owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country."

But in Africa and in South America the definition would extend to those fleeing internal disturbances. The definition of the term "refugee" as found in Article 1(2) of the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refuge Problems in Africa of 10 September 1969, applies to

"every person who, owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order in either part of the whole of his country of origin or nationality, is compelled to leave his place of habitual residence..."

The main difference from the definition of an internally displaced person, although there are also a number of other differences in the way the person is being persecuted to be recognized as a displaced person, is the need to be outside the country of nationality. Article 22 of the Convention provides for special protection for children who fit the above definition of a refugee by stating:

"1. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure that a child who is seeking refugee status or who is considered a refugee in accordance with applicable international or domestic law and procedures shall, whether unaccompanied or accompanied by his or her parents or by any other person, receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance in the enjoyment of applicable rights set forth in the present Convention and in other international human rights or humanitarian instruments to which the said States are Parties.

2. For this purpose, States Parties shall provide, as they consider appropriate, co-operation in any efforts by the United Nations and other competent intergovernmental organizations or non-governmental organizations co-operating with the United Nations to protect and assist such a child and to trace the parents or other members of the family of any refugee child in order to obtain information necessary for reunification with his or her family. In cases where no parents or other members of the family can be found, the child shall be accorded the same protection as any other child permanently or temporarily deprived of his or her family environment for any reason, as set forth in the present Convention."

Article 22 of the CRC is an innovative Article, because:

5. it explicitly provides for a right to humanitarian assistance. No other human rights instrument explicitly mentions the right to humanitarian assistance, but humanitarian law, as you will remember from the chapter on international humanitarian law, talks of humanitarian assistance as being subject to the consent of the state concerned.

6. states must cooperate in tracing efforts carried out on behalf of refugee children. Although there is a right to family reunification more generally covered by international humanitarian law and Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, there has been no express legal provision on the tracing in connection to internally displaced children.

7. in ensuring appropriate "protection and humanitarian assistance" read in conjunction with other Articles of the Convention, it provides for a framework in dealing with child asylum seekers and according to them certain minimum standards of treatment.

When it comes to working with refugee children together with UNHCR it will be useful to study the Memorandum of Understanding between UNICEF and UNHCR, and to have the UNHCR publication "Refugee Children: Guidelines on Protection and Care" at hand.

2. Internally displaced children

Although it is clear that no single framework exists for internally displaced children, there is no real need for further codification of international law, but provisions for protection and assistance can be found in international humanitarian law and human rights law, particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

It is well recognized that the magnitude of problems that internally displaced pose to the humanitarian community calls for coordination and cooperation among all actors. Within the UN system, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is the focal point for internally displaced persons issues.

Important steps to identify, reaffirm and consolidate specific rights for the protection of internally displaced persons have been taken by the Representative of the Secretary-General, Francis Deng. The Representative is a thematic charter-based mechanism established by the Commission on Human Rights. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement presented to the 54th Session of the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2 of 11 February 1998) can become an important tool in the implementation of programmes for internally displaced children. The Guiding Principles also define internally displaced persons as

"[...] persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border."

As mentioned above, internally displaced children are provided for in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights instruments, as well as international humanitarian law. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, although focusing primarily on commenting on the situation of refugee children, has called on states to improve their measures of protection and promotion of the rights of internally displaced children.

When it comes to returning displaced children to their country of origin or their habitual place of residence, action has to be guided by considerations as to whether return means ensuring continued care and well-being of the child, whether it will be in the best interest of the child (Article 3 of the Convention), and whether there are other possible alternatives that would be more appropriate for the child.

3. Birth Registration

Birth registration is important for all children. With this registration certain legal qualities are obtained which may otherwise not be fulfilled. For a displaced or refugee child it is even more important to be registered, and, if necessary, acquire a nationality. Article 7(1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides that

"[t]he child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents."

This provision is important, because later in life documentation may be necessary for various purposes, including for purposes of preventing abductions, trafficking and forcible recruitment. It is also an important preventive measure in that children who run the risk of becoming displaced later may have a problem with nationality due to the lack of records. In conjunction with the recognition of a child’s right to register, this provision provides for a right to acquire a nationality. Only the host state is in a position to register a child, and although children who are nationals of a particular state may not be registered either, that cannot be an excuse for not registering refugees. This right was first mentioned in Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is doubtful whether the right to nationality per se has gained international recognition, but there appears to be an obligation on states not to deprive individuals of nationality, and not to cause an increase in stateless people. Since in conflict situations there is a predominance of female-headed households, attention should be given to women claiming nationality in their own right and their ability to pass their nationality to their children.

Although relatively few states have adhered to the relevant instruments on statelessness, read in conjunction with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the right to acquiring a nationality for children has substantive support. States must be aware of their displaced population and allow for them to be registered accordingly.

4. Tracing and family reunification

According to Article 22 (2) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, governments have an obligation to "protect and assist" a child refugee, "and to trace the parents or other members of the family of any refugee child in order to obtain information necessary for reunification with his or her family". It is clear that the drafters of the Convention were not ready to extend the protection available in Article 22 to internally displaced children, nor were they interested in widening the scope of the definition of a refugee, even for children.

However, Article 22 should be read in connection with other relevant provisions of the Convention, such as Articles 9 and 10. According to the Committee on the Rights of the Child all substantive provisions of the Convention apply to all children. In other words, other articles would not be limited to recognized refugees, but to all children.

Article 9 provides for states to "ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents", with certain limitations that are not necessary to consider here because effectively they deal with separations that are necessary for the best interest of the child. Article 10 puts a positive obligation on States Parties to deal "in a positive, humane and expeditious manner" with the applications filed by a child or his or her parents "to enter or leave a State Party for the purpose of family reunification." But the provision on a positive obligation to co-operate in tracing efforts cannot be found in any other provisions in the Convention. One should also remember in this connection that the Convention on the Rights of the Child does not provide for derogations in public emergencies. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, adopted in 1990 (but not yet in force), has a similar provision to that found in Article 22 of the CRC which applies mutatis mutandis (without change) to internally displaced children.

The obligation to facilitate family reunification is also emphasized in humanitarian law, however, only in the context of international armed conflicts. According to Article 74 of Protocol I "[s]tates must facilitate in every possible way the reunification of families separated as a result of armed conflict and must provide support for humanitarian organizations engaged in this task." Article 26 of the IV Geneva Convention has a similar provision according to which

"[e]ach Party to the conflict shall facilitate enquiries made by members of families dispersed owing to the war, with the object of renewing contact with one another and of meeting, if possible. It shall encourage, in particular, the work of organizations engaged on this task provided they are acceptable to it and conform to its security regulations."

The right to family life has also been affirmed by several human rights instruments, starting with Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, then codified in Articles 17 and 23 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The nature of the right to family life is that it provides freedom from interference in establishing a family and in the exercise of family life, but it also includes the family’s unity or family reunification. The Human Rights Committee in its General Comment 16 of 1988, specified the scope of unlawful interference as guaranteed in Article 17 of the Covenant, saying that such protection is not only from the state, but that the state is also responsible to protect the family against interference by private entities. With regard to Article 23 the Committee stated in its Comment 19 of 1990 that

"the possibility to live together implies the adoption of appropriate measures, both at the internal level and, as the case may be, in cooperation with other states, to ensure the unity or reunification of families, particularly when their members are separated for political, economic or similar reasons."

E. Child Soldiers and Demobilization of Child Soldiers

"Governments and all armed groups should prevent the recruitment of children under the age of 18, immediately demobilize all children in armed forces, and incorporate their needs into peacekeeping, peace agreements and demobilization programmes." (Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children)

Children participate in armed conflicts and that fact has to be recognized in adopting policies on the prevention of recruitment and demobilization of soldiers. Article 38(3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child reads as follows:

"States Parties shall refrain from recruiting any person who has not attained the age of fifteen years into their armed forces. In recruiting among those persons who have attained the age of fifteen years but who have not attained the age of eighteen years, States Parties shall endeavour to give priority to those who are oldest."

This provision was the most controversial of all Articles in the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Today it is the focus of renewed debate, as governments are considering adopting an Optional Protocol to the Convention and thereby raising the age of recruitment to eighteen years. Basically, an Optional Protocol is a separate treaty which must be signed and ratified by states in order to make it legally binding upon them.

There are a number of programming possibilities when looking at prevention of recruitment and to provide a safer environment for children who are threatened with recruitment: working against the glorification of war, supporting the family and providing family reunification for unaccompanied children, the relocation of camps (both for internally displaced and refugees), increasing staff to focus on the risk, providing security measures in the camp, being aware of the protection issues for girls who risk abduction as sex slaves, working with the host government, and publicly condemning the acts of the recruiters. It is important to provide alternative activities for children at risk of being recruited as well as children who are being demobilized, for example by providing education.

When it comes to demobilization of children it is important to recognize what has drawn the children towards becoming soldiers or girls providing sexual and other services for the military. In other words: were they forced, was it necessary because of the living conditions, was it approved/encouraged by the community, was it necessary for the child’s safety, and so on? Another thing that must be taken into account, is that these children have lost access to social and cultural values at a time when such values were extremely important to their development. It is then possible to consider the means of demobilizing children in a manner by which they can be re-socialized and integrated back into the society from which they were isolated during the conflict.

Other factors to be considered depend on the situation and the local conditions. Most importantly, the demobilized children must feel that they have gone through a process and that they have been accepted by the community as a result of that process, without which effective social reintegration is not possible. It may be an ongoing process of supporting the family, the community, and/or the education system, or it may be a one-time happening in form of a religious exercise. On the political level, it is important to include demobilization of children in peace agreements. It should be clear that this has never happened but that it is still an aim to work towards. Otherwise the concerns and rights of both boys and girls will not be part of the considerations in the political decision-making process.

F. Preventing Gender-based Violence and Sexual Exploitation

"Violations of the rights of girls and women in armed conflicts, including murder, rape, sexual exploitation and forced pregnancy, must be prosecuted, and appropriate legal and rehabilitative remedies made available." (Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children)

As the Machel study showed, sexual exploitation and gender-based violence have become part of the reality of today’s conflicts. Gender-based violence as a weapon of war with the girl child as the main victim is occurring in particular during ethnic conflicts and genocide. But children, both boys and girls, are also increasingly becoming the victims of prostitution and sexual exploitation in the context of internal conflicts.

Part of the strategies to address this type of problems must be criminalizing these acts, both in national and international law. Rape and other forms of sexual violence have now been recognized as war crimes under the Rome Statute on an International Criminal Court, but advocacy still needs to a priority so as to ensure that these acts are also criminalized at the national level. But raising awareness and training military and law enforcement personnel can also improve the situation, including integrating women’s and girl’s rights into humanitarian and development relief system wide. Providing for the physical protection of internally displaced children can also improve the situation or serve as a preventive measure for at-risk groups.

The particular concerns of the girl child also have to be taken into consideration when laying out plans for demobilization programs for children. Some studies have shown that girl soldiers have had particularly horrifying experiences of sexual exploitation during the conflict. You should be aware that sexual violence has occurred against males also. You must be sensitive to the culture in addressing any of these issues and develop special programmes to address their reintegration into societies that are very likely to reject them.

G. Action to remove the threat of landmines

"States are urged to support a comprehensive international treaty to ban on the use, production, trade and stockpiling of anti-personnel mines. An integrated programme of humanitarian mine clearance, gender and age appropriate mine awareness and child centered rehabilitation should be accelerated." (Study on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children)

Today, children in some 68 countries live with more than 110 million landmines -- these weapons have indiscriminate effects, and cause children untold suffering all over the world. Landmines cause some 800 deaths a month, and thousands of people are maimed for life. Not only are these weapons indiscriminate, but they tend to victimize the poorest sectors of society: people who cultivate their fields, look for firewood, or herd their animals. The effects of landmines continue long after the war is over. In her report on children in armed conflicts Graça Machel demands change and progress in four major areas: a ban on landmines, mine clearance, mine awareness, and rehabilitation programs to help children recover.

A review process was taking place from 1994 to 1996 of Protocol II to the 1980 United Nations Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, the amendments to which have not yet come into force. Although the amendments provide for some improvement on the legal level, they do not provide for a total ban of anti-personnel landmines. In October 1996, 50 states met in Ottawa and pledged to work together for a total ban on anti-personnel mines. In December 1996, 155 countries supported a call for a new treaty completely outlawing these weapons. In Ottawa in 1997 a treaty was finally adopted for the banning of land-mines, although not yet in force, this instrument is a great step forward. Forty ratifications are required before the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction can enter into force.

For humanitarian organizations it is important to work towards universal ratification of these instruments. Advocacy on the field level is important in this regard. Carrying out training in mine-awareness is one way to mitigate the impact of landmines on children, both before, during and after armed conflicts. Designing rehabilitation programmes for children who have become victims of exploded ordinances is another way to protect and promote children’s rights.

H. Juvenile justice

During states of emergencies and armed conflicts, law enforcement and judicial authorities may not be working up to human rights minimum standards. Issues relating to juvenile justice can be a range of things, this area covers children who find themselves in conflict with the law, for example children in detention or children charged with a crime. There are two areas that deserve special focus, namely the relevance of effective implementation of existing standards, and the need for international cooperation and technical assistance.

For UNICEF it can become important to get involved with children in conflict with the law. For example, it may be a question of giving advice on what type of legal system should be in place for children, or special procedures for children who have been accused of having taken part in atrocities, for example. The guiding principle when it comes to punishing child criminals is that the punishment must be part of the child’s best interest, in other words punishment should be rehabilitative.

One of the basic lines in the existing standards, is to separate adults from children while in detention, unless, in the words of Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, "it is considered in the child’s best interest not to do so". While the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights treaties provide basic guidelines on standards for fair trials, with regard to the treatment of children, particularly useful soft law instruments are the following:

8. United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (1990)

9. United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile delinquency 1990 (Riyadh Guidelines)

United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules)

The principles set forth in these rules and guidelines aim not only to promote juvenile welfare and social rehabilitation of juvenile offenders, but also to prevent juvenile delinquency. They require legislation and procedures to promote and protect the rights and well being of all young persons. A child in conflict with the law has the right to treatment which promotes the child’s sense of dignity and worth, takes the child’s age into account and aims at his or her reintegration into society. The child is entitled to basic guarantees as well as legal or other assistance for his or her defence. The placement of a juvenile in an institution should be avoided wherever possible and detention should be a measure of last resort and limited to exceptional cases.

According to the rules and guidelines, law enforcement officials must be trained to deal with juveniles. Appropriate United Nations bodies, institutes and agencies should pursue close collaboration and co-ordination on various questions related to children juvenile justice and the prevention of delinquency. Every juvenile of compulsory school age has the right to education suited to his needs and designated to prepare him or her for return to society. Capital punishment and life imprisonment shall not be imposed for any crimes caused by juveniles.

For humanitarian organizations it is important to advocate adoption of national legislation to ensure implementation of the relevant Articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In order to do this you need to have reliable information through monitoring and assessing the impact of the particular situation on children. A lot can be done through carrying out training with military and law enforcement officials.

I. Education in emergencies

Education is not only important as a right per se, but as a means of both psychological recovery and social reintegration. Children are empowered through education. The right to education has many facets:

The right to education means that education must be available, generally speaking. Children must have access to education, even in the remotest of places.

The right to education means that education must be available to all without discrimination, i.e. not only must it be available, but it must also be accessible.

The right to education means that the education must be of a certain quality, and that the quality must be progressively improved, and considered in accordance with the principle of the best interest of the child.

Incorporating well-planned and coordinated educational programmes into emergency relief efforts will stabilize the long-term benefits for societies in crisis. The first emergency response, placing emphasis on the non-formal approaches, should be considered as a process that does not exclusively build on the technology of formal schooling. In later stages, a more formalized pattern of curricula will be expected to develop as part of reconstructing a schooling system. Through inter-agency cooperation, several emergency response teaching kits, containing materials and methodology of teaching basic literacy and numeracy in the mother language of the children, have been developed.

Article 13 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides a right to education. Primary education is to be compulsory, available, and free to all. The nature of such a right is progressive; that is, it is to be arrived at over time. Under Article 2 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, states commit themselves to the progressive achievement of rights set forth in the Covenant. The Convention on the Rights of the Child in Article 28 also states that there is a right of the child to education: with a view to achieving this right progressively, states are to make primary education compulsory and available free to all. All rights in the Convention on the Rights of the Child apply to all children within the jurisdiction of the State Party. The Committee on the Rights of the Child in commenting on the reports of State Parties, has emphasized severally the importance of the right to primary education.

The Commission on Human Rights in 1998 established the position of a Special Rapporteur on the right to education. This Special Rapporteur has an important role to play in connection to the status of the right to education at a global level, promoting urgent plans of action in progressively implementing the right to education at the national level, and taking into account gender considerations, in particular the situation and needs of the girl child, and to promote the elimination of all forms of discrimination in education. The Special Rapporteur is an important partner in bringing issues before the authorities and for advocating at the international level.

J. Focus on HIV/AIDS in emergencies

Studies have shown that HIV/AIDS spreads fastest in conditions of poverty, powerlessness and social instability – conditions that are often at their most extreme during emergencies. Until recently, HIV/AIDS prevention has not been seen as a priority in emergencies, especially in the early acute phases, because at that point in time it is not an immediate threat to life. However, recent experiences show us that HIV/AIDS prevention and protection cannot wait until the later stages of the crisis and particular attention must be given to adolescent girls who constitute a high risk group.

The pandemic of HIV/AIDS is increasingly recognized as having major humanitarian implications. HIV/AIDS adds to the levels of morbidity and mortality in conflicts, in part because the movements of population associated with war lead to increased risk of transmission, particularly when populations are concentrated in refugee and IDP camps. Moreover, when the rates of infection of HIV/AIDS reach the levels currently being recorded, there is a strong argument for treating the problem as a humanitarian crisis in its own right, given the devastating loss of life and deterioration of social infrastructure.

The following scenarios pose particular threats:

In emergencies, blood transfusions are more frequent and the transfusion of infected blood is a highly efficient means of transmitting the virus.

Family and social ties tend to break down, with a loosening of traditional values; changes that usually affect sexual behavior.

Women and girls especially, but also boys and men, are at increased risk of violence, including rape.

The need for food is often huge in emergency situations and prostitution to get food is not uncommon.

Children with little to occupy themselves, often start to experiment with sex earlier than other children, and often rural populations have little or no information on HIV/AIDS or on how to protect themselves from it.

In emergency action, the following four measures may significantly prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS: Ensuring a safe blood supply; provision of supplies for "universal medical precautions"; provision of condoms; and provision of basic HIV/AIDS information and lifeskills (in particular to adolescents).

There is no mentioning of HIV/AIDS in the CRC, but article 24 of the CRC provides not only for a right to the highest attainable standard of health care, but also for a right to "preventive health care, guidance for parents and family planning education and services". Article 17 provides for the right to information aimed at the promotion of the mental and physical health of the child. These two articles can be used to advocate for action to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS as outlined above.

It should be noted that no action to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS can be successful without a holistic approach to the human rights situation on the ground. Women and children must be protected from violence and abuse, health facilities must be adequate to ensure safety with respect to HIV/AIDS, and a dialogue must be initiated with the government to approach the issue of HIV/AIDS in a holistic manner.