(U.S. Mission to the UN) U.S. Ambassador David Pressman told the UN Security Council on Thursday: The Secretary General's Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict should be a valuable and trusted resource for advancing accountability against the world's most serious abusers of children. This year alone, we have seen the Islamic State publicly execute and stone children; kids manipulated to literally explode themselves in service of Boko Haram terrorists; and the continued unlawful recruitment and use of children in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan. The Secretary-General's Annual Report should contribute to our common cause to protect children by using standards that are applied uniformly, when documenting the actions of all parties in conflict - so that it is perceived as credible, objective, and non-political. But if this report is politicized, if it becomes more of a political tool to advance political agendas, it will be seriously compromised. Let's be clear: the idea that the Government of Israel, as some have suggested in this debate, would be listed on the same page as ISIL, Boko Haram, or Syria is factually and fundamentally wrong.
2015-06-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive