Untitled Document
The overall contribution

   
 


 
   
   
   
 
 

 The overall contribution of this project will be an advancement of both theoretical and empirical knowledge about the plight of war-affected children and the ways in which this issue is being addressed. Therefore, research outcomes will be of benefit to those in academia, government, NGOs, and the media. Out of this project should emerge "best practices" and "lessons learned" that could inform future policy decisions at national, regional and international levels.


Importance of the Research to the UN and UNU

The importance of this subject to the United Nations and the United Nations University is evident. The UNU's mandate is "to contribute, through research and capacity building, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems that are the concern of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States". "Children exposed to armed conflict" is without doubt one of the pressing human security problems of our post-Cold War era.

The UNU has recognized this, having already held a symposium in January 2003 on the subject "Children in Turmoil: Rights of the Child in the Midst of Human Insecurity" in collaboration with the European Union. To quote from the UNU's Strategic Plan 2000: "To address complex causes, we need complex, interdisciplinary solutions." [p.26] This project, and particularly the April 2004 conference will build on the work already done by the UNU in this area.

The UN of course signaled to the world, in the Millennium Declaration, the urgency of protecting children and the most vulnerable in society against the onslaught of civil conflicts and complex emergencies. Our project complements the work being done by the UN and the UN Secretary General's Special Representative on Children in Armed Conflict to find a way of moving beyond mere declarations, principles and legal standards to actually developing concrete means to ensure that childhood of children everywhere is preserved, and that those who violate standards of protection of children will no longer be able to do so with impunity.

Thus the relevance of this research project to the UN's objectives is quite clear. In addition, because the problem of war-affected children is so prevalent in the developing world, especially in Africa, this project will have much relevance to capacity building and legal efforts being undertaking in those member governments of the UN that are either in the midst of armed struggle or just emerging out of it.