The statement reads as follows:

JOINT NGO STATEMENT ON CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT

Mr. Chairperson,
We would like to ask this Council to strengthen measures to ensure comprehensive protection of rights of the girl child in armed conflict.

Today, in every continent, wherever there is conflict, children are disproportionately affected: killed, maimed, recruited as soldiers, orphaned, displaced, injured, exposed to physical and mental illness. The girl child is especially vulnerable to sexual violence.

In situations of armed conflict, the girl child is targeted for rape, abduction into sexual slavery and prostitution. In many cases, girls face forced pregnancy, forced sterilization and murder as a consequence.

Sexual violence during armed conflict also accelerates the spread of HIV and AIDS. According to UNAIDS, the rate of HIV infections among combatants is three to five times higher than those among local populations. Where rape is used as a weapon of war, the girl child is at a high risk of being infected with HIV.

The end of an armed conflict does not make the situation of the girl child less vulnerable. Inadequate health services, education and legal support do not ensure their physical and psychological healing. Furthermore, the social stigma attached to victims of rape and sexual violence often makes them reluctant to seek treatment and support.

Therefore, we call upon this Council to take comprehensive and long-term action to ensure the rights, protection and well being of the girl child before, during and post armed conflicts.

We urge Governments and the Human Rights Council:

• To integrate human rights standards articulated in conventions and protocols into national legal frameworks so as to put an end to impunity for war crimes against the girl child and bring those responsible to justice.
• To allocate resources, including financial resources, for post-conflict reconstruction to ensure the adequate provision of social services, including health and medical services, counselling education and legal support, to the girl child who has suffered sexual violence.
• To integrate HIV prevention, care and treatment into conflict prevention programmes and support the girl child who has contracted HIV as a result of sexual assault in armed conflict situations.

Thank you, Mr, Chairperson

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World YWCA, World Alliance of YMCAs, UN Watch, International Inner Wheel, Federation of American Women's Club's Overseas, Inc. (FAWCO), World Organisation Against Torture, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Women’s International Zionist Organisation (WIZO) International Council of Nurses (ICN)
Topic : Children in Armed Conflict
Delivered by Yuriko Fukushima, the World YWCA, 29 September 2006
2nd session of the 1st Human Rights Council, 18 September – 6 October 2006

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