UN Philippines chief reviews progress on national plan on child protection and armed conflict

MANILA, 11 August 2022--United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez convened a meeting today to review progress of implementation of the Strategic Action Plan between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the UN Country Taskforce on Monitoring and Reporting on Grave Violations against Children (UN-CTFMR)

The Strategic Plan to Prevent And Respond to Grave Child Rights Violations In Situations of Armed Conflict was signed on 9 June 2021 by AFP Chief Of Staff, General Cirilito Sobejana, UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines, Gustavo Gonzales, and UNICEF Representative to the Philippines, Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov, as co-chairs of the UN-CTFMR.

Among the accomplishments reported at the meeting were the following:

• Series of Meetings and Workshops conducted with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Consultant
• Publication of Letter Directive No 52, which prescribes the policies, procedures, and guidelines to be followed by all AFP personnel, units, and offices in the handling of Children in Situation of Armed Conflict (CSAC)
• Different trainings conducted for AFP Senior Officers to update them on the latest in International Humanitarian Law (IHL), as well as to human rights officers in the field to capacitate them on the Anti Terror Act of 2020, the domestic law on IHL, and the recently enacted law known as the Children in Situations of Armed Conflict Law
• Conduct of advocacy campaign and information dissemination by the AFP Center for Law of Armed Conflict (AFP CLOAC) in 2021 and 2022, and reaching 5,107 persons.