5 June 2011 - A United Nations Security Council delegation is in Kabul this week to see first hand the effect of the armed conflict on Afghan children. The visit comes one month before the Security Council will debate a new resolution condemning attacks on schools and medical facilities in the context of protection of children in armed conflict.

The Security Council delegation is scheduled to meet with top Government and UN officials, civil society members and children affected by Afghanistan's long years of conflict. Among the key UN officials will be Staffan de Mistura, Special-Representative for the Secretary-General in Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, and Peter Crowley, the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan.

The delegation – led by Ambassador Peter Wittig, Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations – will also check on the progress made since January of an Action Plan with the Government of Afghanistan on the association of children with the National Security Forces. The Action Plan is meant to help end practices such as under-age recruitment, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks against schools and hospitals, abduction and denial of humanitarian access. Read more about the Action Plan in the UNAMA archives.

The Action Plan was signed in January by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy. Her office makes recommendations to the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), headed by Ambassador Wittig and including all 15 members of the Security Council.

The Security Council rotates the presidency among its 15 members. Ambassador Wittig will hold the presidency on behalf of Germany in July.

By UNAMA Kabul