Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

Many of the projects we finance on security sector reform or disarmament,
demobilisation and reintegration contain child protection elements, as it is important
that the specific needs of children are recognised and understood. In Uganda, for
example, we are providing £100 million over five years to the government’s Peace,
Recovery and Development Plan, more than £16 million of which will be directed
towards helping vulnerable individuals and improving young people’s prospects.
We have also spoken out publicly against those governments and groups that abuse
children’s rights. We worked closely with the International Labour Organization to
raise greater awareness of abuses in Burma, including forced labour and military
recruitment. In Nepal, our staff in Kathmandu participated in a UN field visit, which
resulted in commitments from the Nepalese army to increase their child protection
training, and from Nepalese political youth wings to end the use of children under 18
in potentially violent political activities.
We also worked multilaterally, including at the UN where we encouraged the
development of action plans to halt abuses against children. These plans will be
drawn up and implemented jointly by the UN and by the parties to conflict identified
by the UN as responsible for recruiting children or engaging in patterns of killing,
maiming or sexual violence against them.
UK stabilisation capacity
When fighting ceases and negotiations for political settlements or peace agreements
start, it does not necessarily mean the end of a conflict. Security needs to be
established and the underlying causes of the conflict need to be addressed to create
lasting stability and peace. Restoring respect for human rights in post-conflict
situations is vital in re-establishing a well functioning society.
The UK’s Stabilisation Unit is specifically tasked to help rebuild fragile states. Its
main roles are to source, manage and deploy civilian experts to conflict-affected
countries to help re-establish peace and security; to support cross-government
planning for stabilisation; and to draw lessons from our involvement in conflict
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