Iraq officially removed from UN list of countries using children in armed conflict
Shafaq News/ On Friday, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Ahmed Al-Assadi, announced that Iraq has officially been removed from the United Nations list of countries using children in armed conflict.
"The recent report by the UN Secretary-General on countries using children in armed conflict did not include Iraq's name," Al-Assadi said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency. "This is due to Iraq's commitment to the joint action plan we signed with the UN Country Team (UNICEF, UNAMI) to prevent the involvement of children in armed conflict."
Al-Assadi noted that this step will enhance Iraq's standing in the international community. He also affirmed that Iraq has complied with all the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol of 2008, to which it is a signatory.
The statement said that the Executive Committee of the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism, headed by Undersecretary of Labor for Social Affairs Huda Sajjad and under the direct supervision of the Minister, worked for less than a year on the implementation of the plan in stages in cooperation with a Qatari team, a team from UNAMI, and several ministries, which included prevention, treatment, and cooperation stages.
Notably, the UN list of countries using children in armed conflict is compiled by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. The list includes countries where government forces or armed groups have been credibly reported to have recruited or used children in armed conflict, or to have killed or maimed children in violation of international law.
Iraq was added to the list in 2016 due to the use of children by ISIS and other armed groups. The Iraqi government has taken a number of steps to address the issue of child involvement in armed conflict, including developing a national action plan and establishing a monitoring and reporting mechanism.
