The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict have just published a new paper:
"Violations Against Children in Armed Conflicts: An Action Plan for Monitoring,
Reporting and Response (M, R & R)".

In April 2004, the UN Security Council requested that the Secretary-General urgently
devise an action plan for a systematic and comprehensive monitoring and reporting
mechanism on children and armed conflict (UN Security Council Resolution 1539).
Recognising the importance of this request, Watchlist prepared this paper which
presents a practical and detailed Action Plan for a system that would enable the
Security Council, the Secretary-General and all others obligated to protect children
in armed conflicts to monitor, document and respond to violations.

This paper draws on a variety of Watchlist's activities, including our own work
doing monitoring, reporting and follow-up on violations against children in armed
conflicts over the past three years, an informal survey among the Watchlist network
and detailed discussions among our Steering Committee. Overall, the paper emphasises
the need to include response to violations as part of the monitoring and reporting
system, to secure an integral and substantive role for civil society, to ensure
appropriate resource allocation and to include feedback and accountability to
affected populations.

The Watchlist hopes that this paper will generate serious dialogue among key
decision-makers working to develop an effective and comprehensive system, and looks
forward to any feedback or suggestions. [Source: CRIN]

For more information, contact:

Julia Freedson, Co-ordinator
Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children
122 East 42nd Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10168, US
Tel: + 1 212 551 2743; Fax: + 1 212 551 3180
Email: juliaf@womenscommission.org
Website: www.watchlist.org