United Nations Draft Resolution 1.
UNITED NATIONS
November 4, 2024
TOPIC : Protecting the Rights of Child Soldiers in the Midst of the Ethiopian Conflict
SPONSOR : Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
SIGNATORIES : Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo,, Federal
Democratic Republic of Nigeria, Federal Republic of Somalia, Republic of India, Republic of
Kenya, Republic of Uganda, Republic of Sudan, Republic of Rwanda, South Africa, State of
Eritrea,
Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Optional Protocol on the
Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC),
Reaffirming that Article 38 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires governments to
do everything they can to protect and care for children affected by war; and not to allow children
under the age of 15 to take part in war or join the armed forces,
Concerned by the situation in Ethiopia and similar conflict-affected countries where children
face risks of forced recruitment due to displacement, food insecurity, and loss of education,
Recognizing that although there have been resolutions on this issue, they only have temporary
effects, therefore the situation of recruitment of children into the military and attacks on innocent
children are still severe in some regions,
Also reiterates the call for collaboration with relevant stakeholders, to expedite the development
of a Continental Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Framework to address the
psychosocial needs of children affected by armed conflict, including those formerly associated
with armed groups;
Further reaffirming the need for regional collaboration with other African countries to share
upon expertise;
ARTICLE 1: HUMANITARIAN AID
1. Encourages the establishment of humanitarian access safe corridors;
a. Negotiated by the Ethiopian government, under the supervision of UNSC, with
MINUSCA operation and the unicef as the supporting body;
b. Providing delivery of life-saving aid, including nutrition, emergency medical kits,
and medical response services to blockaded regions like Tigray;
c. Independent monitoring will be used to track deliveries via digital verification
systems where feasible based using UN bodies and international PPPs including
but not limited to;
i. Children, not soldier;
ii. Save the children;
d. Provide psychosocial and temporary schooling to accommodate and heal the state
of children’s mental health;
ARTICLE 2: STRENGTHENING LEGAL FRAMEWORKS
1. Advocates for the legal reform of national law to explicitly criminalize the recruitment of
children under 18 by all actors, including non-state groups;
2. Recommends the nationwide expansion of mobile birth registration and biometric age-
verification systems to ensure proper age documentation;
3. Calls for the UNICEF-supported judicial and law enforcement training programs,
equipping judges, police officers, and community enforcers to interpret child protection
treaties accurately and enforce them consistently.
ARTICLE 3 : COMMUNITY BASED REINTEGRATION PROGRAMS
1. Ensures the need of psychosocial support as means to recover traumatic events
experienced by children in conflict zone, which will be put in safe zones but not limited
to ensuring the safety of workers in conflict zones;
2. Recommends the implementation of demobilization, rehabilitation, and reintegration
(DDR) with partnership to body including but not limited to ;
a. International committee of Red Cross,
b. Save the children,
i. Rehabilitation will include social therapy and peer-support circles,
ii. Reintegration focuses on accelerated education to give victims a second
chance and vocational training to give youth a better preparation for the
future linked to UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited,
iii. Progress will be tracked by the Annual Africa Report on Children in
Conflict supported by the UN bodies,
3. Recommends the Comprehensive Framework for Child Soldiers Reintegration into Society
(CFC-RIZZ), consisting of three phases:
a. Phase 1: Identification and Trauma Assessment
I. Identify children that were formerly associated with armed forces or groups, who will
later be assessed for trauma, abuse, and indoctrination effects;
II. Engage UNICEF Africa and qualified professionals (‘I Am Somebody’s Child’
specialized in trauma and mental illness of child soldiers) to provide psychosocial support
and monitor children’s ongoing development;
b. Phase 2: Education and Awareness
I. Provide basic education and vocational training tailored to the needs and contexts of
former child soldiers;
II. Implement education programs affirming the dangers of being part of the military and
preceding efforts to protect re-recruitment, using relevant local stories and examples to
foster understanding and resilience;
c. Phase 3: Family Reintegration and Monitoring
I. To facilitate family tracing and reunification, or even placement in foster care, where
and if necessary;
II. Monitoring reintegration progress to ensure children’s social and general well-being,
and to prevent these children from relapsing back into armed groups;
ARTICLE 4 : MULTI SKATE-HOLDER COLLABORATION
4. Recommends dialogues in judicial setting to hold questionable acts of human rights
violation and aid corruption
5. Reccomends ethiopia propose structural and regional reforms for sustainable long term
solutions by creating an Ethiopia-led African Knowledge Hub, supported by UNICEF
and AU, to facilitate expansion of DDR tool sharing and peer learning between countries
including but not limited to;
a. Sudan,
b. CAR,
c. Uganda,
d. DR. Congo
10. As ration that has endured the trauma of internal conflict and is now actively working toward
2. Calls for strengthened coordination between the Government of Ethiopia, UNICEF, the
African Union, and other relevant UN bodies including UNHCR, ILO, UNDP, and
OHCHR to:
a. support child-focused aid operations;
b. align reintegration programs with national development goals;
3. Suggests the establishment of a national child protection observatory to collect data, track
progress, and share best practices regionally;
ARTICLE 5 : FUNDING MECHANISM
4. Supervises transparent funding to ensure no corruption of aid happens by holding
international, regional, and non-state actors accountable
5. Welcomes collaboration between the African Union, European Union, the African
Development Bank in means of supporting fund mechanisms
6. Urges neutral intervention by external actors while verified thoroughly by Ethiopian
authorities
7. Recommends developed countries to respectively use their amount of wealth to support
capacity building while ensuring neutrality and no bias.
