Coalition Against the Use of Child Soldiers Report - July 2007James Etchells Last week I caught up with Clarissa Lopez from the Coalition to get a bit of feedback for the newsletter. She was in the midst of frantic work to organise US visas etc, for her colleagues to visit the UN Security Council conference on child soldier issues in the DRC. Clarissa provided the following details of the event: The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, along with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) National Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, will present to the UN Security Council on child soldier issues in the DRC. The event will take place on 17 July at an Arria Formula meeting for all security council members sponsored by the French Permanent Mission to the UN. It is an unprecedented event for NGOs working with and for children on the ground to present their perspectives and recommendations for action by the international community. The timing is significant as the Security Council Working Group on children and armed conflict will meet on 19 July to consider the UN report on the situation of children in the DRC and recommendations for further actions. Of particular interest to One Percent Scheme members may be the participation of a representative from Congolese NGO partner SOFAD, Ms. Katana Bukuru who will speak about the specific needs of girls.
As Clarissa points out, the presentation about the needs of girls is relevant for OPS members because our donations provide supplies for reintegration centres that support girls impacted by conflict in the DRC.
For the next newsletter I expect to have some more specific details about the OPS donations. At the moment the Great Lakes Program Manager (Héloïse Ruaudel) is in New York at the UN, however, when she returns she will be able to supply us with more information. In the meantime, thanks to Clarissa for providing the feedback (she correctly anticipated the hopeless mess I would have made out of it with all this political mumbo-jumbo!) and let’s hope that they have a successful time at the UN. | |
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In addition, the Child Soldiers Coalition is meeting with UN agencies, NGOs and others in New York to garner support for further actions by the international community to address the plight of child soldiers in the region.