Rt Hon Justine Greening MP

Secretary of State

Department for international Development

22 Whitehall 

London

SW1E 2EG

Date: 27th January 2016

Dear Justine,

I write to you ahead of the first World Humanitarian Summit in May, which as you know, is essentially a call to recalibrate our understanding of humanitarian aid in light of the changing issues currently facing many parts of the world.

My constituents are especially concerned that the conversation at the World Humanitarian Summit afford the protection and education of children in conflict proper attention. Children are routinely the worst effected by conflict and in the last decade two million children have been killed in conflict.

As you may be aware, last month UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered his second report on this very issue, which details ‘abhorrent violations against the rights of children’ in areas of armed conflict. He notes that children are faced with a series of threats in areas of conflict revolving around three main areas:

i. Physical and Sexual Violence

ii. Recruitment of Child Soldiers in War and Conflict

iii. Destruction of Child Services (Schools and Hospitals)

i. Physical and Sexual Violence

For example, in Iraq 1,400 children have been abducted between January 2011 and June 2015. Furthermore, the report also found that ‘maiming and killing’ is by far the most poignant threat to child safety, with 3,000 cases of ‘child casualties’ identified (with the real number expected to be much higher due to limited access during the observation window). It is also noted that most causalities were caused by ‘improvised explosive devices’.

ii. Recruitment of Child Soldiers in War and Conflict

Ban Ki-Moon highlights the hundreds of cases of children being recruited to take part in hostilities. There is also the suggestion of ISIL ‘youth wings’ with ‘training centres in Iraq and Syria’. Since 1998 36 countries have been involved in conflicts in which there are child soldiers. Over the last 15 years it is estimated that 10,000 children or more have been taken by the Lord’s Resistance Army, in the area of Gulu in Northern Uganda alone. Child soldiers who survive war also face unique difficulties in integrating back into communities, often receiving blame for the actions that they were forced to commit.

iii. Destruction of Child Services (Schools and Hospitals)

I am sure you will remember the Israeli air strikes on UNWRA schools in Palestine, which caused not only the deaths of many civilians but also left a broken infrastructure behind in their wake. The role of schools and hospitals in the rehabilitation of children during and after conflict cannot be understated. The protection of these neutral zones is paramount to the protection of children. They serve as a point of education regarding health and well-being and, as my constituents have pointed out in their letters: “decreases the likelihood of future conflict”.

The World Humanitarian Summit is an opportunity for the UK to demonstrate real leadership when it comes to a global ambition for children in conflict. Such ambition needs to be matched with funding. As the campaign group ‘War Child’ has pointed out, 38 pence is currently spent for delivering education to children in conflict – if we are to tackle the three areas that Ban Ki-Moon has identified as crucial, the UK needs to step up financially.

I trust that you will make a strong case for the protection, education and rehabilitation of children in areas of conflict during the World Humanitarian Summit in May and look forward to learning about DfID’s plans for the summit, which I will be sharing with my constituents.

Yours sincerely,