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<p>The UK is firmly committed to protecting all children affected by conflict and
in particular ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers. 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 (CAAC), contributing £800,000
over the last five years to her Office and £450,000 for the 2019/20 financial year
in support of her mandate. The UK is an active member of the United Nations Working
Group on CAAC which leads the international response on child protection, supporting
the SRSG's work by applying diplomatic pressure to listed governments and armed groups.</p><p>In
2018, the UK endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, a political commitment to reduce
the impact of conflict on education, and the Vancouver Principles, a political commitment
to operationalise child protection during the conduct of United Nations peacekeeping
operations. We continue to support these key instruments. The UK is mainstreaming
child protection into its own military deployments through bespoke training. Through
the Department for International Development, we are one of the largest bilateral
donors to "Education Cannot Wait", an initiative which protects access to
education for children in conflict zones.</p><p>In November 2019, the UK will host
an international conference on preventing sexual violence in conflict. A key focus
will be how we can better support children born of sexual violence in conflict, including
tackling stigma.</p>
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