UNITED NATIONS, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven on Monday asked for the implementation of a just adopted Security Council resolution on the protection of children in armed conflict.
Speaking at a high-level debate at the Security Council on the issue of children in armed conflict after the adoption of Resolution 2427, Lofven said: "We've agreed on today's resolution. Now we must implement it."
"I can think of no better way to address the root causes of conflict than to give children a loving and safe childhood and protect them from the scourge of war," he told the debate, which he chaired.
Childhood is not just the start of human life, it is the foundation of it. It is the base from which humans reach full potential, the base for peaceful and prosperous societies. Put simply: ensuring the care, safety and protection of children today prevents conflicts tomorrow, he said.
"For us, in this council, our responsibility is to consider the effect of conflict on children in all our work, in the renewal of mission mandates, by ensuring every mission has child protection advisors, and by including children's perspectives in our discussions," said Lofven, whose country holds the presidency of the Security Council for the month of July.
He said some 350 million children live in armed conflict today. "They are at risk of being killed or maimed. They risk being victims of sexual violence. They risk having no other school than that which war teaches them: loss, fear, hatred, revenge."
The situation represents a failure of the international community, he told reporters earlier Monday, before the adoption of the resolution.
He said the resolution, which his country championed, is "definitely a step forward."
Resolution 2427, which won unanimous approval of the 15 members of the council, strongly condemns the recruitment and use of children by parties to armed conflict as well as their re-recruitment, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and abductions.
It also emphasizes the responsibility of all states to put an end to impunity and to investigate and prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other egregious crimes perpetrated against children.
The resolution states that children in armed conflict should be treated primarily as victims.