NDF agrees to UN action plan vs child soldiers

MANILA, Philippines—The National Democratic Front of the Philippines has agreed to partner with the United Nations in developing an action plan that will ensure that no children are among the ranks of the insurgent group’s military arm, the New People’s Army.

The agreement was made public by the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy in a press conference Friday.

She said that representatives of the NDF leadership have given a green light to the talks and that the UN wishes to immediately send their representatives to begin the discussion. However, Coomaraswamy did not specify any name of NDF leaders whom they have made contact with.

The action plan aims to reintegrate to the society children who will be identified to be affiliated with the rebel group, Coomaraswamy said. Although the NDF did not outrightly admit that they have children among their ranks, the group has acknowledged the issue.

“They did not categorically say that they have children (among their ranks), maybe for legal reasons, but they have acknowledged that this is a problem by agreeing to work towards an action plan,” Coomaraswamy told reporters.

She added that they were not only focusing on child combatants but also children working for the rebel group as messengers, cooks, couriers and the like.

The agreement with NDFP came two years after the agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to also conduct the same.

To date, the MILF has registered some 600 children but UN expects the numbers to be by the thousands. Coomaraswamy added that they have decided to give the MILF a nine month deadline starting March to register all children among their group.

“After the nine-month period, we will work toward a period of reintegration and rehabilitation of these children,” Coomaraswamy said.

These programs will include education and vocational training for the children. Similar programs will be provided for children who will be registered by the NDFP. Likewise, children from communities near rebel camps will also be included in the education and vocational training, the she added.

Furthermore, the UN will organize a monitoring mechanism to be led by a task force based in the country to be facilitated by human rights groups and non-government organizations. However, Coomaraswamy did not give further details on this.

Meanwhile, she said that all their activities with the two rebel groups will undergo proper consultation with the government.

“These negotiations are purely humanitarian and will be done with full consultation with the government of the Philippines,” Coomaraswamy said.

Aside from child combatants, the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict also monitors other children’s rights violations such as killing and maiming, rape and sexual harassments, being caught in crossfires, abduction, and denial of humanitarian access when schools and hospitals are burned down during an armed conflict.