Reports, Periodicity and Information Flow

© UNICEF/NYHQ2007-0603/Giacomo Pirozzi
Morris Freeman, 5, holds up his identification card at Samuel D. Hill Public School, a combined primary and secondary school in Tubmanburg, capital of the north-western Bomi County in Liberia. UNICEF supports the school's Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP), which condenses six years of primary schooling into three to enable children to make up for years lost to armed conflict..

The MRM generates information for four main categories of report to the Security Council:

  1. Global Annual Report of the Secretary-General on CAAC;
  2. Annual country-specific Reports of the Secretary-General under Security Council Resolutions 1612, 1882 and 1998;
  3. Bimonthly GHN; and
  4. Quarterly/periodic mission reports from the Secretary-General to the Security Council.

Even though these four categories of report are different in structure, in general monitoring reports should provide concise descriptions specifying incidents of violations (What happened and to whom?); locations and period of the incidents (Where and when did the incidents take place?); and identity of parties responsible for perpetrating the violations (Who committed the violations?).

It should be stressed that all MRM information should be used at first hand for local-level advocacy and response interventions.

  1. Global Annual Report of the Secretary-General on CAAC


    This report is the 'gateway' to the Security Council-related CAAC agenda, serving as the basis for the deliberations of the Security Council on CAAC since 1999. The report addresses the situation of children in situations of armed conflict, and in other situations of concern as determined by the Secretary-General. The resolutions of the Security Council on CAAC have been generated on the basis of the recommendations of the Secretary-General as contained in his report on CAAC. The report is typically prepared on an annual cycle at the request of the Security Council. The Security Council stipulates key elements for the report, and typically convenes an Open Debate to deliberate it.

    The Report has a number of key features:

    1. It provides information on violations committed by parties to conflict in specific country situations.
    2. It updates progress in the implementation of Security Council resolutions on CAAC, including the establishment of the MRM and dialogue with parties to conflict for child protection commitments and Action Plans.
    3. It contains targeted recommendations to a wide range of stakeholders to advance the agenda for the protection of children.
    4. It contains annexed lists that specify state and non-state parties who commit grave violations against children.

    The Secretary-General's annexed lists

    The purpose of the lists annexed to the report of the Secretary-General is to focus the attention of the Security Council on specific parties, whether states or non-state actors, who commit violations. It is understood that, on this basis, the Security Council may take targeted measures against violators, including the possibility of sanctions.24

    The Secretary-General's Report contains two separate annexed lists. The first annex refers to parties in country situations that are on the formal agenda of the Security Council, while the second annex refers to parties in countries that are not on the Security Council agenda.

    The killing or maiming of children; recruiting or use of children in armed forces and groups;25 and rape or other grave sexual violence against children are the three categories of violations that lead to the listing of parties.26

    The specific criteria for the listing and delisting of parties are attached as Annex XIII [PDF]. All staff involved in the implementation of the MRM should be thoroughly familiar with these criteria.

    The Report of the Secretary-General on CAAC - particularly the annexed lists - represents a powerful advocacy and pressure tool for child protection practitioners. Due consideration should be given by practitioners on how most effectively to use the Report to advance in-country protection agendas, including pressuring parties to conflict to engage in child protection dialogue.
     

  2. MRM country-specific annual Report of the Secretary-General under Security Council Resolutions 1612, 1882 and 199827


    All country situations covered by the two annexes in the Report of the Secretary-General on CAAC are included on the Workplan of the SCWG-CAAC. Therefore, the CTFMRs in these countries are required to prepare a report on the situation of CAAC, which will be submitted formally by the Secretary-General to the Security Council and reviewed on behalf of the Council by the SCWG-CAAC.

    • The timing for and review schedule of the country reports of the SG are determined by the SCWG-CAAC, but typically the review of each country report is on an annual cycle.
    • Reports should be a maximum word limit of 8,500 words, which includes the report recommendations, executive summary and any annexes.
    • The reports should contain information on the six categories of grave violations as specified above; information on dialogue and Action Plans to address violations; follow-up of the recommendations included in the previous Country Report of the SG (if applicable); follow-up of the conclusions of the SCWG (if applicable); and recommendations.
    • All information in the report must be UN-verified.

    The reports prepared by the CTFMR should be transmitted by the SRSG or Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator directly to the SRSG-CAAC, with copy to UNICEF's Executive Director and the Under-Secretary-General of DPKO/DPA (as appropriate) or the UNDP Administrator.

    It should be noted that the reports as transmitted by SRSGs/RCs undergo a process of vetting, edit and consultation at Headquarters level prior to submission to the Executive Office of the Secretary-General for clearance. Typically, this process may require additional clarifications or information from the CTFMR.

    The SRSG-CAAC sends information to all CTFMRs detailing the work plan of the SCWG and reporting timelines.
     

  3. GHN28


    The GHN is transmitted to the SCWG under cover letter of the Secretary-General, but it is not a formal public document. Therefore, the GHN serves as an informal tool for countries to provide regular updates or an alert on the situation of children affected by armed conflict to the Security Council Working Group. Any country situation can be covered by the GHN: this includes situations that are already on the SCWG workplan (i.e., Annex 1 and 2 situations); other situations covered in the Secretary-General's Report on CAAC; and, emerging situations of concern which may not have been covered in the Secretary-General's report.

    • All countries on the workplan of the SCWG and other situations of concern covered in the Report of the Secretary-General on CAAC are requested to submit information for the GHN on a fixed date every two months. In addition, any other country where there may be emerging CAAC concerns may choose to submit information to the GHN.
    • The maximum submission should be no longer than three pages.
    • Submissions should focus on significant verified incidents and key trends of grave violations against children; specific follow-up actions undertaken on the Secretary-General recommendations and SCWG conclusions; and any significant achievements, challenges or constraints.

    All GHN submissions should be made by the co-chairs of the CTFMR to the OSRSG-CAAC, as explained in the GHN template in Annex X. Where there is a peacekeeping or political mission, the reports are channelled through the SRSG (with copy to UNICEF).
     

  4. Secretary-General's quarterly/periodic mission reports to the Security Council

    These are reports prepared on a quarterly basis by UN peacekeeping or political missions, with primary focus on peace and security and political developments. They are submitted by the Secretary-General to the Security Council. The Council has requested that all such reports include a specific section on CAAC.29 MRM information should be used as a basis for these reports. Given the fact that these reports have a broader peace and security focus, the CAAC inputs will typically be more concise, identifying violations, perpetrators and trends. These reports provide an additional opportunity for CTFMRs to bring CAAC information to the attention of the Security Council.

 

24 Insert specific resolution language referring to sanctions.
25 Previously labelled as 'child soldiers'.
26 Mandate to list for recruitment in Security Council Resolution 1379; two latter violations were added as listing 'triggers' by Resolution 1882. Reference to relevant paragraphs in Resolution 1882 [PDF].
27 Refer to the Country Annual report template, attached as Annex X [PDF].
28 Refer to the GHN template, attached as Annex X [PDF].
29 Reference relevant OP in Security Council Resolutions 1612 [PDF] and 1539.


Back to top

Quick Links

Glossary of key terms and acronyms

MRM Good Practice
Study

Feedback

Contact DPKO

Contact OSRSG CAAC

Contact UNICEF