26/1/2007
Child Soldiers:Paris International Conference

At the initiative of French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, France will host an international conference in Paris on children involved in armed forces and armed groups, “Let us Free the Children of War,” on February 5 and 6, 2007.

Co-presided by Mr. Douste-Blazy and Ann M. Veneman, executive director of UNICEF, and in the presence of Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for children in armed conflict, the conference will bring together representatives of nearly 60 countries, including many ministers, the European Union, many international organizations, including the United Nations, and representatives of civil society, in particular former child soldiers and NGO leaders active on the ground.

The number of children recruited or used by armed forces and armed groups is estimated at 250,000 in 2007.  The purpose of the conference is the adoption by the states present of a text called the Paris Commitments to stop the illegal and unacceptable use of children in armed conflict.  The conference will call for the preparation of new programs to care for, protect and reintegrate child soldiers by reaffirming the active support of states for Security Council resolutions on the issue and providing political support to disseminating the “Paris Principles,” drafted under UNICEF auspices, which update the “Cape Town Principles” (1979).  These principles define the framework for effective international on the ground in light of the experiences acquired over the past ten years.

The proceedings will be organized into three sessions dealing with the
priorities which are: the unconditional release of children involved in
armed forces and armed groups, their permanent reintegration in society
where a place has to be made for them, and lastly strategies to prevent
the recruitment or use of children by armed forces and armed groups.
During the conference the speakers will include such “major witnesses” as
Marguerite Barankitse of Burundi and Ishmael Beah, former child soldier in
Sierra Leone.

France accords great importance to the issue of child soldiers. French Foreign
Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy went to Uganda and Burundi in February 2006
in this context.  France is co-financing reintegration programs for
children soldiers in Congo Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, the Democratic Republic
of the Congo and Sierra Leone.  It has chaired the Security Council
working group on children involved in armed forces and armed groups since
it was founded in November 2005.

At the conference French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy will present
prizes to the young winners of  a drawing competition organized on the
theme of child soldiers by Le Petit Quotidien, Editions Play Bac, on
Monday, February 5 at 7 p.m. at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The
ceremony will be followed by the official presentation to the minister and
the UN secretary-general’s special representative for children in armed
conflict of the petition launched by UNICEF France to encourage the
demobilization and care of child soldiers. The petition collected 235,000
signatures.