Closing date: 11 Feb 2020
Research project summary
The UK has signed up to all international legal and political commitments related to the Children and armed conflict (CAAC) agenda, but we are concerned that this commitment is too often in name only, and there is not enough action to implement these commitments. With the UK’s expected exit from the EU, there is growing unease that the UK is slipping in its commitment to international human rights and that the general direction of travel in the context of Brexit will be towards the prioritisation of economic and security interests
over these. Children’s rights are a subset of human rights and therefore the protection or violation of these rights by and actor is indicative of their wider commitment to human rights.
A specific illustration of this is shown by the UK’s continued alliance with certain countries, despite their well-known abuses of children’s rights. For instance, despite the fact that Saudi-led coalition has been reported by the UN as a grave violator of children’s rights in Yemen for 3 consecutive years, the UK continues to approve arms sales to Saudi Arabia. This suggests that maintaining a positive bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia is more important to the UK than protecting children’s rights and upholding international humanitarian law.
To ensure that the UK government’s performance with regards to protecting children’s rights in times of conflict is monitored we plan to produce an annual report for each of the next three years (2020-2022) to assess critically:
- Whether and how the UK is living up to their legal and political commitments on protecting children in armed conflicts
- To what extent the UK government is leading on the issue of CAAC using its international standing
- How the UK government is responding to grave violations of children’s rights
- Recommend steps that the UK government can take to further protect children.
To maximise the attention that this report receives from parliament, government ministers, civil servants and media we plan to publish the first of these reports in September 2020 to coincide with the resumption of parliament and political party conferences and to enable us to incorporate the latest findings from the UN Secretary General’s CAAC report (which is usually published in August).
Role of the research consultant
The research and drafting of the report will be led by the research consultant in coordination with a pro-bono legal adviser, and War Child policy and advocacy staff.
Details of the project are summarised in the table in Annex A. This table outlines how the UK’s performance will be assessed, suggestions of what research and evidence is to be collected in order to make that assessment and which member of the project team would be responsible for carrying out that research.
The role of the research consultant will be to lead the production of the first draft of the report; conduct all research that responds to research questions to assess the UK’s commitment to implementing its obligations with regards to CAAC and draw together the evidence and information to make an assessment/narrative against each of the research questions on how the UK has been living up to its international commitments: - Assessment area 1, research questions: To what extent has the UK government endorsed the children in armed conflict frameworks and obligations? To what extent does the UK government encourage other states to endorse CAAC obligations/frameworks?
- Assessment area 2, research questions: To what extent does the UK implement their CAAC obligations through existing policies/practises/funding? The extent to which the UK monitors, evaluates and improves its practises and policies around protecting children in armed conflict?
- Assessment area 3, research questions: How does the UK use its international influence to condemn/deter states and other actors from violating children’s rights?
How to apply:
For more info, deliverable, research brief and timeline please click on this link: https://www.warchild.org.uk/who-we-are/jobs/consultancy-advocacy