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<p>The UK is firmly committed to protecting children in armed conflict. We use our
membership as a UN Security Council Permanent Member to prioritise conflict-related
child protection issues in Council discussions and ensure that UN operations have
the capacity and capability to address them. The UK is the largest single financial
contributor to the Office of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General
(SRSG) for Children and Armed Conflict, contributing £800,000 in the last five years.
The office works with parties to conflict that are committing grave violations to
develop and implement action plans with the UN to (1) verify and release any child
soldiers associated with armed groups and forces, (2) prevent re-recruitment and (3)
the perpetration of other grave violations. The UK increased our funding for the 2019/20
financial year by a further £450,000 to the SRSG's core mandate and £50,000 for activities
relating to the SRSG's Global Coalition for Reintegration.</p><p>In 2018, the UK endorsed
the Safe Schools Declaration and the Vancouver Principles, both key mechanisms for
preventing grave violations against children. We collaborated with Sweden and others
to agree Resolution 2427, adopted by the UN Security Council in July 2018, to strengthen
protection mechanisms for children in armed conflict. We delivered a joint statement
to the Human Rights Council in March 2019, reiterating our strong support for the
mandate of the SRSG for Children And Armed Conflict, and called upon States to increase
accountability for perpetrators of all six grave violations. Last year, the 30<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UK signed up to the
<em>UN Voluntary Global Pledge – for Every Child, Every Right</em>, which called for
Member States to reaffirm their commitment to upholding and protecting child rights
in the 21<sup>st</sup> century, and promoted children's perspectives in the development
and assessment of strategies and programmes designed to realise their rights.</p>
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