408 Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos Núm. 2 / 2013 the Secretary General to nominate an independent expert to carry out a study examining the effects of armed conflicts on minors. Graça Machel, an educator from Mozambique and an international child-rights advocate, was chosen to lead the study. The study titled “Impact of Armed Conflict on Children”30, a landmark document, was presented to the General Assembly in 1996 and is the basis for all subsequent regulations. The Machel Study categorically and dramatically affirms that “war violates every right of a child - the right to life, the right to be with family and community, the right to health, the right to the development of the personality and the right to be nurtured and protected. Many of today’s conflicts last the length of a “childhood”, meaning that from birth to early adulthood, children will experience multiple and accu-mulative assaults. Disrupting the social networks and primary relationships that sup-port children’s physical, emotional, moral, cognitive and social development in this way, and for this duration, can have profound physical and psychological implications”31. In 2009, UNICEF32 cited more than one billion children under the age of 18 as living in places where there was an armed conflict or a post-conflict situation. Around 300 million of these were under the age of five. At least 18 million children had abandoned their homes and today are still living as refugees or are internally displaced. All of these children suffer from the direct consequences of the conflicts and the long-term effects on their development and well-being. Around two million children have died and six million have suffered serious injuries as a direct result of hostilities. There are, however, some conflicts where aggression against children takes on a particularly brutal and cruel dimension, transforming them not only into victims but also protagonists of armed conflicts. They are recruited as combatants, as child soldiers, fighting at very young ages. They also face sexual violence, including rape, which is used as another weapon of war. Following the Machel Study, the United Nations Security Council adopted the first resolution on the protection of children in situations of armed conflict – resolution 1261 (1999), of the 25 August. Subsequently, Resolutions 1314 (2000); 1379 (2001); 1460 (2003); 1539 (2004); 1612 (2005); 1882 (2009); 1998 (2011), and 2068 (2012) were adopted which, taken as a whole, have created a general framework for the protection of 7 March 1994. 30 Report to the General Assembly “Impact of Armed Conflict on Children” (A/51/306), of 26 August 1996. 31 Report to the General Assembly “Impact of Armed Conflict on Children” (A/51/306), of 26 August 1996, §30 32 UNICEF: Childhood and Conflict in a Changing World. Machel Study 10-Year Strategic Review, New York, April 2009.
REVISTA IEEE 2
To see the actual publication please follow the link above