Conflict Prevention:Fundamental Way to Protect War-Affected Children

China said here Wednesday that a fundamental approach to protect children in armed conflict is to effectively prevent, check and eliminate armed conflict and the U.N. Security Council should concentrate its efforts on the issue.

The statement came as Shen Guofang, deputy Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, took the floor at an open Security Council debate on children and armed conflict.

"A fundamental approach to protect children in conflict is to effectively prevent, check and eliminate armed conflict," Shen said. "The Security Council, which has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, should make more efforts to concentrate its energy on this aspect."

"Only when conflicts are resolved at an early date and crisis are addressed promptly, can the issue of the protection of children be truly settled," he said. "This is the contribution that the Security Council should make towards the resolution of the issue of children and armed conflict."

"The protection of children in armed conflict calls for the joint efforts by the international community, and the collective efforts by various U.N. agencies in particular," he said. "In this regard, we have some good experience, but there is still room for further improvement."

"Protecting children in armed conflict demands a good international environment, especially a good legal framework," he said.

The Chinese delegation welcomes the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Conventions of the Rights the of Child by the General Assembly in May, and regards such an adoption as "an important step forward by the international community in recent years to promote the protection of children," he said.

"We are actively considering signing the Optional Protocol," he said. "And we hope that the minimum age to join the armed forces can be observed as soon as possible."

The Optional Protocol strengtens the convention in a number of significant ways, including the setting of the minimum age for compulsory recruitment or direct participation in hostilities at 18, and calling on States or parties to raise the age for voluntary recruitment and to provide special protection and safeguards for those under 18.

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