UNSC Chair Addresses Children and Armed Conflict 10 September

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the sixth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Colombia (S/2024/161), agreed to address the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group.

To all parties to the armed conflict in Colombia, including the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN); the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - Ejército de Pueblo (FARC-EP) dissident groups, and the Clan del Golfo/Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC); as well as the Colombian armed forces and other parties mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General:

• Commending the continued positive steps the country has undertaken since the signing of the 2016 Peace Agreement, which set as guiding principles the best interest of the child, that children who have been separated from armed groups should be treated primarily as victims, and a focus on community-based rehabilitation and reintegration and education, marking the seventh anniversary of the peace agreement and calling for its continued and full implementation and for it to continue to serve as a model for the protection of all children in other peace processes;
• Welcoming the announcement of the "Total Peace" policy to seek broader peace through dialogue, which includes commitments to human security, the comprehensive implementation of the Peace Agreement, resumption of peace negotiations with the ELN and dialogues with other armed and criminal groups; the resumed formal peace negotiations between the Government and the ELN and the agreed bilateral temporary ceasefire, also welcoming the ongoing peace negotiations with the FARC-EP dissident group known as Estado Mayor Central (EMC FARC-EP) to strengthen the temporary bilateral ceasefire, as well as engagement by the Colombian High Commissioner for Peace with armed groups and the start of bilateral ceasefires between the Government and other armed groups, as well as organized criminal groups;