MILF working towards removal from UN list of groups with child soldiers

“MILF working towards removal from UN list of groups with child soldiers” was first published in the GMA News Online on May 17, 2015.

By Ferdinandh B. Cabrera/GMA News Online

COTABATO CITY — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is completing the UN-MILF action plan that will remove the organization from the list of groups that use child soldiers.

Recruiting child soldiers is prohibited under international law and is listed by the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict as one of the six grave violations of parties to conflict it monitors.

“Parties to conflict must not recruit or use children as combatants or other support roles. Parties to conflict must prevent children from participating in hostilities,” it said in a working paper last updated in 2013.

The MILF — along with the Abu Sayyaf, the New People’s Army, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters — was included in the UN- Secretary General’s list of organizations that use child soldiers.

Edward Guerra, chairperson of the five-member panel on the UN-MILF action plan, said that sanctions will come quickly if any member or ground commander violates a general order not to involve children as combatants in armed conflict.

“As to the implementation,we are almost halfway through. We have the checklist and we will not go astray as long as we follow the roadmap, ” Guerra said.

According to the UN special representative, action plans for groups in the list are “designed to address a specific party’s situation, and outlines concrete, time-bound steps that lead to compliance with international law, de-listing, as well as a more protected future for children.”

During last year’s inauguration of the program, UNICEF Country Representative Lotta Sylwander said the MILF’s commitment to the action plan was a “very unique move” because it is the only non-state armed group in the world seeking to be delisted.

‘Children, Not Soldiers’ campaign

On Monday, UNICEF and the MILF will launch the “Children, Not Soldiers” campaign in Cotabato City.

The campaign is a series of public events to be run by the MILF in coordination with the UNICEF over the next four months, to signal their commitment that no child will be recruited or associated with any future MILF armed activity.

“What we want from the children in Mindanao is to have a happy, healthy and peaceful childhood, we don’t want children to be fighting, carrying guns or used as spies but rather learning and playing” said Rebecca Pankhurst, UNICEF’s chief field officer.

For Bangsamoro Islamic Women Auxillary Brigade (BIWAB) member Wilma Madato, the action plan is a way to a better future for children.

She recalls how mothers have to take on the role of fathers when their husbands are out. “So we make sure if our husband is not around, mothers should strive hard to [keep the children in school],” Madato said.

The MILF is working with the government on the formation of the proposed Bangsamoro entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The UNICEF-MILF campaign is meant to spread the message to MILF members, their children and families in communities across Mindanao that no child should be ever be used in armed conflict. The campaign will include activities like group discussions with children in war-torn communities, radio programs, and a play.