Mr Chair,
I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of Albania, Belgium, Norway and Poland, members of the Group of Friends on Children and Armed Conflict, co-chaired by Belgium and my own country. We warmly welcome your insightful presentation and wish you, Ms Frazier, the very best in your crucial work as we honour the 30th anniversary of the CAAC mandate. We continue to express profound concern regarding the increase of grave violations against children in the context of armed conflict, particularly in the framework of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
The Group of Friends was established in 2022 on the fundamental premise that protecting children in armed conflict is an integral component of comprehensive security. The plight of children in conflict is not only a military or human rights concern. It intersects deeply with humanitarian needs, education, and social stability, putting the very future of our societies at stake.
To ensure that due attention is given to this agenda, our Group of Friends is dedicated to driving tangible progress at both political and technical levels. To this end, we recently took a step further in our work on the voluntary questionnaire on CAAC attached to the annual Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security that is structured around four key pillars: the international legal framework, the integration of CAAC agenda into national defence policies, specialized military education and training, and international partnerships. We decided to present the main trends and key practices resulting from these voluntary submissions, firmly believing that open exchange and dialogue remain at the very core of this organization. This initial exchange took place in close cooperation with the UN CAAC Liaison Office in Brussels, which played a key role in highlighting the importance of the CAAC mandate and in sharing critical expertise.
We are pleased to share that, for the year 2026, a total of 21 participating States submitted voluntary questionnaires on CAAC. This represents concrete, measurable progress, and we strongly encourage all remaining participating States to follow this positive example. Finally, we reaffirm our commitment to deepening technical cooperation with your office, particularly through close collaboration with the Liaison Office in Brussels.
I thank you.