On Wednesday 26 June, the Council of the European Union approved the updated “EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict”.
This practical tool, designed to guide the political action of EU players in protecting children in armed conflicts, was launched in 2003 and then amended for the first time in 2008. The latest version of the tool aims to “support continued effective EU action in line with a more comprehensive and holistic approach” and to take account of the evolution of war.
“The past two decades have witnessed a dramatic shift in warfare; tactics like indiscriminate and disproportionate aerial bombardments, shelling and drone strikes, siege and blockade to deny the delivery of relief supplies to civilians, the persistence of unexploded ordnance and mining of civilian areas, put children at grave risk of being killed or maimed”, the EU document states.
The updated guidelines also aim to bring the EU’s approach fully into line with the framework established by the United Nations Security Council on “the six grave violations against children during times of armed conflict”.
They also reinforce the EU’s alignment and cooperation with the mandate of the United Nations Secretary-General and the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict.
See the updated EU guidelines: https://aeur.eu/f/cul (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)