Germany’s interministerial strategies governing the implementation of the guidelines also apply this limited perspective, as they refer to children almost exclusively in connection with civilian women. Children are often deliberately targeted by conflict actors, help to actively shape the conflict’s development and ultimately determine the long-term outlook for peace. By diluting the role of children in conflict, this framing not only dismisses children’s agency, but also infantilizes women and imposes inadequate assumptions of helplessness on both groups. For example, the UN Security Council’s resolutions on children in armed conflict focus on children’s need for protection without addressing their unique perspectives and agency.Ĭhildren are often lumped into two broad categories in the peace and security sector: passive civilians ( “women and children”) who are the collateral victims of conflict, or abducted child soldiers forced into war against their will. However, children younger than 18 years old are not recognized as stakeholders in the same manner. The UN Security Council’s 2015 resolution on youth, peace and security was an important milestone toward the meaningful participation of youth, which they defined as people between the ages of 18 and 29. When children are discussed, it is only in the context of UN resolutions on children and youth in conflict. In Germany’s guidelines for “ Preventing Crises, Resolving Conflicts, Building Peace”, children are only mentioned a handful of times.
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