Advancing Child Protection Through Peacekeeping

UN peacekeeping missions are integral tools for preventing, mitigating, and addressing the recruitment and use of child soldiers and supporting efforts to strengthen child protection. Peacekeeping mandates call for child protection to be streamlined in protection of civilian activities; integrated into disarmament, demobilization and re-integration (DDR) and security sector reform (SSR); and prioritized in human rights monitoring and reporting.

The Vancouver Principles on Peacekeeping and the Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers are political commitments that encourage the inclusion of child protection provisions – particularly prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers – in all UN peacekeeping mandates and operations. More than 100 UN member states have endorsed the Vancouver Principles to prevent the recruitment and use of child soldiers by armed groups in peacekeeping contexts.

This project aims to enhance understanding around how peacekeeping missions can effectively identify and address risk drivers and emerging challenges that perpetuate or exacerbate grave violations against children and to build an evidence base on actions that strengthen the approaches and capacities of peacekeeping missions, host governments, and host communities on child protection.