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Norrköping, 2 March 2001

Ministry for Foreign Affairs

CONCLUSIONS BY THE PRESIDENCY

EU seminar on Children affected by armed conflict and forced displacement - a child rights perspective in development co-operation and migration policies – Norrköping, Sweden, 1-2 March 2001.

1. At the invitation of Sweden as the EU Presidency, representatives of EU Member States, the Commission, Canada, UN, notably the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict, UNHCR and UNICEF, as well as Save the Children Alliance, the Red Cross Movement, IOM and Norway met in Norrköping for one and a half days - 1-2 March 2001 - to review experience and best practices in advancing the effective implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The focus of the meeting was on children affected by armed conflict and forced displacement and thus covered the two inter-linked policy areas of asylum, refugee reception and migration on the one hand and development co-operation and humanitarian assistance on the other.

2. The meeting benefited from the participation of four young persons, refugees from Bosnia, who also played an important role in the preparation of the seminar and its outcome. Issues papers on respectively the right to education, the right to psychosocial rehabilitation and the right to be heard, helped the discussions and were recognised as useful inputs also to the follow-up work in relation to the EU-agenda and the upcoming UN Special Session on Children 19-22 September 2001.

3. The meeting stressed the need to further articulate and strengthen the child-rights perspectives of relevant EU common policies and directives, especially with regard to the coming into being of a Common EU Policy on Asylum and Migration.

4. In opening the seminar, the Swedish Presidency underlined that the direct targeting of children in armed conflict and the violence that prompted flight under extremely difficult circumstances, particularly for children, were phenomena that cried out for more effective response. This was highly relevant for the harmonisation of the asylum and migration policy of the EU, for the enhanced capacity of the EU in conflict prevention and crisis management, for the external affairs in general and development co-operation and humanitarian assistance in particular. In all these areas, the EU is working in partnership with the UN and civil society.

5. Ms Graça Machel provided the keynote address and set much of the tone of the continued deliberations, both in plenary and the two working groups on respectively asylum/migration and development co-operation/humanitarian assistance. Ms Machel called for stronger EU-action to reverse the trend of mounting horrors to which children were exposed in armed conflict and to improve the performance on the part of all EU-countries in meeting the UN-target of 0,7% of GNP in Official Development Assistance (ODA). She called for improvements in the design of humanitarian assistance to better reflect different age and gender needs of displaced populations and to address the disparity of assistance available to refugee children in various parts of the world. She appealed for a more proactive engagement on the part of EU for the internally displaced children, whose safety and needs were neglected. Ms Machel also addressed the plight of children exposed to sexual abuse and the HIV/AIDS transmission, of children abducted for military or other exploitative purposes, as well as of minors held in detention often together with criminal offenders. She reiterated the need to improve the quality and breadth of educational opportunities in conflict and refugee situations and underscored the link between access to education and psychosocial healing.

6. Ms Maria Minna, Minister of International Co-operation of Canada and equally host of the Winnipeg Conference on War Affected Children of September 2000, underscored that involving children - girls and boys of different ages, background and experience - was as much an example of good development as fulfilling a fundamental right of the child. However, there was a need for improved knowledge about how violent conflict affects girls and boys, how better to integrate gender-sensitive considerations and support to community coping mechanisms into the programming of assistance to war-affected communities. She called for redoubled support to quality education for war-affected children, promoting values of peace, tolerance and conflict resolution. Such support should also encompass reproductive health services to contain the HIV/AIDS pandemic so contagious in conflict settings. It was noted that Canada had appointed a Special Advisor on War Affected Children and established a research fund on child protection issues to further shape and develop policies and programs in the sphere of development co-operation.

7. In his statement, the EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian aid, Mr Poul Nielson, confirmed the commitment of the European Commission to further its support to war-affected children by making them priority beneficiaries in humanitarian assistance and programmes linking relief, rehabilitation and development in transition from crisis to peace and sustainable recovery. He called for further efforts to address the deplorable lack of compliance by warring parties with international humanitarian and human rights law, and referred to the decision by the Security Council that the impact of armed conflict on children in fact constituted a threat to long-term peace and stability. Mr Nielson suggested that strengthening the documentation of child rights abuses would be a step towards improving the respect for the standards of international child protection. He further addressed the need to integrate child rights issues in the poverty-oriented development programmes. Mr Nielson strongly supported the importance of assisting emergency education, including as a means of conflict prevention. He also referred to the critical support by ECHO towards the reintegration of traumatised children and confirmed the aim of the Commission to further develop its partnership with the UN.

8. The meeting took note of the important work done by the NGO community in promoting child participation and rights-based approaches in the areas of asylum and migration as well as in rendering assistance to vulnerable children in the midst of conflict and refugee emergencies. In a presentation on behalf of Save the Children Alliance, Mr Lars Lööf, child psychologist, raised the relationship between smuggling of child asylum seekers, trafficking for sexual and other forms of child exploitation and migration management. He also raised the importance of building – rather than bypassing - local capacities. The presentation elaborated on the mutually reinforcing links between addressing the right to education, psychosocial rehabilitation and the right of children to have their views given due weight in reclaiming their rights.

9. Mr Antonio Vitorino, Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, reviewed a large number of ongoing initiatives in the European Commission relating to the protection of the rights of the child, in particular the process of drafting building blocks for the creation of a Common European Asylum System within the harmonised asylum and migration policy. In line with the Charter of fundamental rights proclaimed at the EU summit in Nice last December, Mr. Vitorino pledged to make the best interests of the child a guiding principle in directive proposals such as for asylum procedures, family reunification and reception conditions for asylum seekers. He expressed the wish that the best interests of the child should be a primary consideration for Member States when enforcing the provisions of EU directives that involve minors, be they separated or not from their family. Mr. Vitorino drew attention to the identification of best practices with reference to the joint UNHCR and Save the Children program on Separated Children in Europe, and to possible future guidelines in the framework of the implementation of the open coordination policy that the Commission has proposed to set up.

10. Ms Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF, emphasised that education, psychosocial care, family tracing and reunification should more fully be integrated into humanitarian assistance. She drew attention to the complex economic driving forces in violent conflict and called on EU member states to take measures to discourage the corporate sector from engaging in commercial activities with warring-parties, responsible for violations of children’s rights. She raised the need to address the alienation of young people deprived of viable opportunities, and elaborated on the statement in the background document that: “The resourcefulness of adolescents in peace-building programmes are not fully tapped and their views on what constitutes a just and sustainable peace rarely considered". Ms Bellamy further drew attention to the lack of security for children of minority groups, for instance in the Balkans, often without access to schools and other social services because of the insecure environment they face. She mentioned the recent release of Congolese and Sudanese children from forced military recruitment, following long and often frustrating negotiations and sustained advocacy by UNICEF. She called for political leadership by the EU in securing the best interests of the child into the upcoming UN Special Sessions on Children, on HIV/AIDS, the Least Developed Countries (LDC) and in the UN Special Conference on small arms.

11. The Special Representative of the Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG/CAAC), Mr Olara Otunnu, raised four issues in relation to improving child protection; the need for the main actors and experts to jointly address the remaining protection gaps and enhance the knowledge, i.a. through further research; the need for an independent mechanism for monitoring and reporting on the situation of war-affected children; the importance of including local norms and values on child protection, commensurate with and additional to international law; and, the need to include youth in post-conflict and prevention programs. He called on the EU to provide leadership in the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and in ensuring that the UN Special Session on Children in September had a clear focus on children affected by armed conflict.

12. The meeting underlined the importance of concrete contribution on the part of EU to the UN Special Session on Children in identifying outstanding challenges in living up to the Convention on the Right of the Child in situations of violent conflict and forced displacement. Speaking on UNGASS, Ms Patricia Durrant, underlined that achieving “a world fit for children” – the motto for the Special Session – called for an integrated approach to child protection issues between development co-operation, humanitarian assistance, refugee affairs, migration and international peace and security. Armed conflict and displacement undermined social and economic development, particularly in areas essential for the well-being of children, such as education and health. There was thus a need to enhance partnership to promote human security and develop a culture of peace and non-violence. In addressing the vulnerabilities of children in situations of conflict, the Special Session should also recognise the capacity of children and the young to participate actively in conflict resolution initiatives and in programmes promoting their access to health, nutrition, education and reintegration following displacement. Ms Durrant stated that despite many good achievements, there was a clear need for reaffirming commitments to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In this regard, she welcomed the landmark decisions of the Security Council on children in armed conflict and more specifically on incorporating the protection of children into peace-keeping operations.

13. A perspective of looking ahead was also provided by the incumbent EU Presidency Belgium. Mr Eddy Boutmans, State Secretary for Development Co-operation, referred to the very difficult situation of war-affected children in Burundi which he had experienced from a recent visit to the country. He emphasised the need to address the impunity for violence against children and the responsibility incumbent on States. He proposed technical and other forms of support to developing countries in their reporting on compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. He confirmed the intention by Belgium to follow-on from the Swedish Presidency in paying particular attention to conflict prevention, for instance on the theme of co-operation with countries weakened by conflict to be discussed at the Development Council in November 2001. Mr Boutmans also joined other speakers in emphasising the importance of access to education for war-affected children. He addressed the link between migration pressures, inequality and poverty and the role of development co-operation in addressing such root causes.

14. The seminar provided a broad overview of the priority needs of children affected by armed conflict and forced displacement, but addressed in particular the right to education, the right to psychosocial rehabilitation and the overarching right of children to be heard and be involved in decisions affecting them. Despite the recognised priority of these provisions, they have been identified by many actors, including by children themselves, as neglected, both in the asylum procedures and in the development co-operation/humanitarian assistance. These rights were mutually reinforcing in that education provided an opportunity for psychosocial healing and such healing was essential for the receptiveness of the war-affected child to a learning environment. It was also agreed that the value of both education and psychosocial rehabilitation was closely linked to the ways in which the child was invited to have her or his voice heard and have a visible impact.

15. The following more specific observations were made by the seminar as a basis for further work among Member States and the Commission, including in their partnership with UN agencies and civil society organisations:

1. General

a) In their efforts to consolidate peace, prevent violence and promote peace-building activities before, during and after violent conflict, partners should recognise that targeting children in armed conflict is a most serious threat to peace and security, social disintegration and state collapse. Restoring children’s rights, therefore, is in itself an act of conflict prevention and rebuilding social cohesion on which development and stability depend. Peace operations, crisis management, preventive diplomacy and peace-building should therefore improve the ways in which child protection is built into individual missions and the co-operation between the EU and the UN and with other regional entities such as OSCE. Peace accords should provide for the protection needs, rights, and prospects of children and youth.

b) Documentation on the impact on children of armed conflict and forced displacement should be improved. Such information will facilitate the assessment of the impact of remedial measures and build the basis for advocacy by governmental and non-governmental actors. It is essential to collect such information with care and respect for the integrity of the child and with awareness of the risks that might be associated with exposing war affected communities to sensitive data collection by outsiders. Local expertise should be brought into the search for better knowledge about the situation of war-affected children and co-operation sought with countries, who had themselves experienced conflicts where children had been particularly targeted and therefore were expected to be sensitive to the need for such information.

c) Children should have better access to information about conditions, which affect them, in refugee camps as well as in refugee reception and asylum processes, including within the EU. Such information would facilitate the direct participation of children in their own right and as appropriate, together with family and other members of their community, and contribute to meeting the best interests and protection needs of the children.

d) Children having experienced ethnic cleansing or similar inter-group hostilities should, in the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, be given the possibility of identifying ways forward towards reconciliation and co-existence and thereby overcome the temptation to demonise the enemy as a collective group.

e) Measures to meet the rights of war-affected and displaced children should be adjusted to their varied needs depending on age, gender, level of maturity, circumstance and background.

f) Child peer group interaction should be promoted as a means of providing comfort to children with common experience from displacement or violent conflict and with shared concerns in face of an often uncertain future. Experience demonstrate that such group dynamics have strong empowering effect on the child’s ability to master her or his situation.

2. Asylum and Migration

a) The commitment of EU Member States to a full and inclusive implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in the field of migration and asylum policy was reaffirmed.

b) Reaffirmation was made of the proclamation of the Charter of the fundamental rights in Nice and its Article 24, which is based upon the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and confirms at the EU level the fundamental principles of the Convention.

c) It was recognised that the principles of the right of the child are to be implemented not only in Community and national legislation, but also in the policy and practice of authorities and other relevant organisations.

d) The follow-up to the deliberations of the seminar will primarily take place in the development of the common European asylum and migration policy and the UNHCR Global Consultations. The seminar discussed the proposal by UNHCR for an optional Protocol additional to the 1951 Refugee Convention on the protection of refugee children as a means to consolidate the protection of children.

e) In this framework, particular consideration should be paid to:

- the right to participation. Children have the right to be heard in the refugee determination process. The child should be considered a subject of law in its own rights.

- the right to education. All children should be granted education in the reception system while awaiting decision on an application for a resident permit, their special needs taken into account, in view of asserting their integration into the local school system. All education should be rooted in and promote the rights of children.

- the right to psychosocial rehabilitation. Such rehabilitation may stem from sharing experiences with other children or persons with a similar past.

f) In accordance with the EU Vienna Plan of Action and the Commission Scoreboard, the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are to be at the core of the legal instruments under consideration, for instance tabled Directive proposals on the asylum procedures, the reception policy and the right to family reunification.

g) In the implementation of the HLWG (High Level Working Group on Asylum and Migration) action plans as regards countries of origin and transit the needs of children should be highlighted. Access to education is of particular relevance in this regard, in order to find sustainable solutions to inter alia unaccompanied minor asylum seekers.

h) Combating trafficking in human beings and in particular children, violence against children - especially sexual exploitation - should remain a priority concern for the EU, inter alia through Commission programmes.

i) Determining the best interests of the child should always be done in consultation with the child, due regard taken to the age and maturity of the child, bearing in mind in particular the importance of

- access to information of procedures, all decisions affecting the child and their context,

- meeting the child’s need for stability and of belonging to a group or community

- ensuring that legal representatives, interpreters, officers handling individual cases, and other persons involved, fully take the special needs of children into account;

- training of persons involved, also with regard to the cultural background of the child, in view of facilitating the participation of the child;

- access to rehabilitation, including psychosocial counselling and peer systems, in view of facilitating recovery and the social integration of children.

j) In all return policies, the special needs of children are to be considered, and education possibilities in the area of origin taken into consideration.

k) In addition to the adoption of legal instruments within a common European asylum system the best practices for safeguarding the well-being of the child should be promoted through an open coordination process between Member States as suggested by the Commission.

3. Development Co-operation/Humanitarian assistance

a) The integration of a child rights perspective in the development co.-operation instruments of the Community, as expressed in the Development Policy of November 2000, the EU-ACP Cotonou Partnership Agreement of June 2000, other regional partnerships and the ECHO Strategy, should be ensured through strategic implementation guidelines.

b) Member States and the Commission recognise the mutual benefit of sharing experience from best practice, lessons learned, thematic evaluations and programmatic issues particularly in relation to providing support for sustained education and psychosocial rehabilitation for war-affected children. Development and humanitarian aid of Member States and the Commission were encouraged to undertake child impact assessments as part of their programming, monitoring and evaluation work.

c) Member States and the Commission, in partnership with the UN and NGOs, recognise the need for further development of methods towards genuine child participation in the design of humanitarian assistance.

d) There is a broad acceptance within the EU that humanitarian assistance should include support for better access of war-affected and refugee children to quality education, including knowledge about the CRC. The importance of providing young people with access to post-primary and other forms of quality education was stressed.

e) The necessity of a long-term perspective and commitment towards humanitarian and other forms of assistance in war-torn environments was stressed. To this effect, some Member States were in favour of considering multi-year, and thereby more predictable, contributions to UN-agencies such as UNHCR and UNICEF. The challenge of introducing a longer-term programming and funding approach to certain protracted humanitarian emergencies covered by the Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) was raised.

f) Ensuring the rights of the child in war-torn situations called for a continuity of assistance from displacement to return, reintegration and recovery, particularly in such areas as education, health, including reproductive health, and other social services. Such continuity was also seen as a vital contribution to providing the child with a sense of confidence and belonging, and therefore stronger coping capacity. The need to overcome the sometimes stereotype divide between relief, rehabilitation and development assistance was underlined.

g) In addressing the need to further operationalise child protection in situation-specific contexts, the inadequate coverage of the difficult situation of internally displaced children (IDPs) was addressed and recognised as a priority concern of the humanitarian community. In general the provisions and implications of the Convention on the Rights of the Child needed to be more broadly disseminated, not least to warring parties with limited respect for or knowledge about international law.

h) Addressing the protection of war-affected children required professional staff, who were increasingly difficult to recruit due to the highly insecure environment in which humanitarian work was carried out. UN-agencies were under difficult pressure to meet the security needs of humanitarian workers and deeply deplored that it had, as yet, not been possible to include security-related costs in the Regular Budget of the UN and that such costs therefore had, as far as possible, to be met from humanitarian budgets. The meeting recognised the legitimacy of investment in better security provisions for humanitarian operations, and the need to provide incentives for professional staff to work in high-risk environments.

i) Regrets were expressed at the unbalanced and often inconsistent assistance to children in similar war-affected situations at different geographic locations. The need to address “forgotten crises” was raised.

j) The meeting noted the difficulties of mobilising timely resources for early peace-building programmes. The programmatic approach to the reintegration of child soldiers in an atmosphere of reconciliation needed further development. The role of local civil society should be further encouraged. Human security programmes in relation to the control of the irregular spread of small arms, easily accessible to children, should be further developed.

16. The meeting concluded with a commitment to pursue the concerns and recommendations raised in the seminar in preparing for the UN Special Session on Children, at national level, internationally, within the EU in partnership with the UN, civil society and in consultation with children and youth.

17. The Presidency undertook to report on the Norrköping-seminar to the European Preparatory meeting in Berlin on the UN Special Session on Children and to the G8-meeting in Genoa, both scheduled to take place in the next few months.

Norrköping 2 March 2001