Intervention by the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Argentine Republic, Minister Alejandro Verdier.
August 1
Argentina would like to thank the Government of Canada for organizing this event on the Implementation Guidance for the Vancouver Principles. This strategic document constitutes a valuable tool for Member States on how best implement the Vancouver Principles at a national level and from a gender perspective.
In this regard, we reaffirm our strongest commitment to all initiatives that aim to prevent and stop the six serious violations of the rights of children in the context of armed conflicts.
In that sense, Argentina has endorsed the Vancouver Principles on Peacekeeping and the Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers and has co-sponsored the Security Council Resolution 2427 (2018) on Children and Armed Conflict.
Furthermore, we are looking forward to participating in the Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict that will be held at the Security Council tomorrow in order to reinforce our support to this agenda item and discuss ways in which the international community can better protect the rights of all children in the context of armed conflict.
Children are one of the populations mostly affected by armed conflicts; however, they remain invisible victims. That is why we need to put them in the center of our initiatives and support strategies for ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers, stopping all forms of violence against them and providing comprehensive and sustainable reintegration programs.
In this respect, we highly value the work of the Global Coalition for Reintegration of Children Soldiers, which serves as a platform for Member States to exchange experiences, good practices and information regarding the implementation of reintegration processes for children who were involved in armed conflict from a humanitarian-development and peace perspective, in order to achieve a sustainable outcome to ensure the successful reintegration of all children.
Thank you.