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STATEMENT BY

MR. AZRIL ABD AZIZ

DEPUTY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF MALAYSIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS

 

AT THE

UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL

OPEN DEBATE ON CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

 

 

Mr. President,

 

At the outset, Malaysia would like to thank Brazil for organising this important meeting. We would also like to thank Special Representative Virginia Gamba and other briefers for their valuable contribution to this debate.

 

2.         Malaysia is commited in promoting and safeguarding the rights and well-being of children in armed conflict. This is reflected through our initiative in tabling Security Council Resolution 2225 in 2015.

 

3.         While the latest report by the Secretary-General reported a decrease in number of grave violations as opposed to the 2021 report, the numbers remain alarmingly high, at more than 20,000 cases. We are appalled by the spike in abduction cases, which had increased by over 20 percent as compared to last year, with a 41 percent rise in abduction of girls. It is also alarming to note that a total of 36 parties to conflicts around the world, State and non-State actors alike, have not put in place measures to improve the protection of children pursuant to relevant Security Council Resolutions.

 

Mr. President,

 

4.         These distressing trends demand concerted action from all concerned parties. Malaysia commends the effort of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and UNICEF in publishing the Guidance Note on Abduction last April. This would facilitate Country Task Forces on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR), their equivalents in non-Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) situations, as well as their partners, in implementing relevant UN Security Council resolutions. This, in turn, would help in strengthening monitoring, reporting and response to the abduction of children in armed conflict settings.

 

5.         In this respect, I would like to focus on three central aspects that Malaysia considers of particular importance:

 

5.1       First, it is pivotal to develop practical guidance on data collection on the denial of humanitarian access. This effort would help standardise and support the work of CTFMRs of the MRM;

 

5.2       Second, we echo the Secretary-General’s proposal for the Security Council to ensure child protection provisions and capacity are included in all relevant mandates of UN peacekeeping operations and special political missions, and to ensure that data and capacity on child protection are preserved and transferred during mission transitions; and

 

5.3       Lastly, it is important for all States to become Party to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict at the earliest opportunity as well as endorse and implement the Safe Schools Declaration and the Vancouver Principles.

 

 

Mr. President,

 

6.         Malaysia reiterates the importance of a reporting mechanism that is credible, independent, impartial, objective, and transparent. We regret that Israel, the occupying power, is not listed in the Annex of the report despite its indiscriminate killing of and violence against thousands of Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. We emphasise the need to hold Israel accountable for its apartheid crimes and grave human rights violations. We support the Secretary-General’s recommendation for the listing of Israel in the Annex of future reports. 

 

7.         Children are society’s most precious asset as they are our future. Let us all work together to ensure that children around the world affected by armed conflict are given the greatest consideration and attention that they truly deserve.

 

Thank you.