Treatment of Children Associated with Terrorist Groups, Including Children Who Are Recruited and Exploited by Those Groups

E/RES/2024/12View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Economic and Social Council, under agenda item 19c Crime prevention and criminal justice, published in 2024.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Subprogramme 5	Justice	77

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Subprogramme 5	Justice	77	—

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Children Conferences Crime Prevention Crime Victims Criminal Justice Terrorism

What’s in this document?

10 operative paragraphs

Urges Member States to prevent and prohibit all forms of child recruitment and exploitation by terrorist groups, in accordance with their domestic law and consistent with their obligations under applicable international law, by adopting or strengthening relevant provisions, including through criminalization;

Calls upon Member States to develop or strengthen, as appropriate, measures to prevent the recruitment and exploitation of children by terrorist groups as a priority, with a view to effectively protecting children and society as a whole from future violence and promoting and protecting the rights of the child;

Also calls upon Member States to recognize, in accordance with their domestic law, that children recruited and exploited by terrorist groups have been victimized, that children otherwise associated with terrorist groups may also be victims or witnesses and that all should be treated as children and in a way that takes into account their best interests as a primary consideration, that promotes their physical and psychosocial recovery and reintegration and that fosters their health, well-being, self-respect and dignity through age- and gender-sensitive approaches, and stresses that the recognition of victim status may not exclude criminal liability and other forms of accountability of children alleged to have committed terrorist, criminal and other offences and does not exclude potential prosecution of such crimes in accordance with domestic law;

Encourages Member States to provide appropriate support to children associated with terrorist groups, including children recruited and exploited by those groups, in particular rehabilitation and reintegration support, including to children who have returned following repatriation, in accordance with domestic law and on a case-by-case basis, and in line with the child’s best interests;

Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, within its mandate and subject to the availability of extrabudgetary resources, to continue to assist Member States, upon request, in the repatriation, rehabilitation and reintegration of children formerly associated with terrorist groups, including, as appropriate, in cooperation with other United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact entities and its secretariat;⁷

⁷The Office of Counter-Terrorism serves as the secretariat of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact and works together with the entities listed at www.un.org/counterterrorism/global-ct-compact/entities, in particular with the United Nations Children’s Fund on issues relating to children.

Urges Member States, in accordance with domestic law and consistent with their obligations under international law, to take measures to ensure that children formerly associated with terrorist groups, including children exploited or recruited by those groups, and who are in contact with the justice system or other national authorities, are treated according to specific safeguards and in a way that prevents further victimization and is conducive to promoting their rehabilitation and reintegration;

Encourages Member States to share information on organized criminal and terrorist groups through bilateral and multilateral platforms such as the International Criminal Police Organization and to make best use of its policing capabilities, tools, resources and expertise in order to prevent and to counter the recruitment and exploitation of children by terrorist groups;

Requests the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, within its mandate, in close consultation with relevant United Nations offices responsible for the protection of children, within their respective mandates, to convene an intergovernmental expert group meeting, with interpretation into all official languages of the United Nations, subject to the availability of extrabudgetary resources, to share good practices and case studies and identify gaps and challenges relating to children associated with terrorist groups, with a view to developing principles and guidelines, including in child-friendly and accessible formats, that can serve as tools for Member States in the treatment of these children, and to report on the results of that meeting to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its session following the conclusion of the intergovernmental expert group meeting;

Requests the intergovernmental expert group, in the context of its meeting, to take into consideration relevant materials created by United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact entities, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime road map on the treatment of children associated with terrorist and violent extremist groups, current developments and research, and to seek the views of children;

Invites Member States and other donors to provide extrabudgetary resources for the purposes outlined in the present resolution, in accordance with the rules and procedures of the United Nations.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents

Who cites this mandate in the budget?