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Senior UN official welcomes body to protect children in Afghanistan
The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy on Thursday welcomed the creation of a body to protect children in Afghanistan.
children in Afghanistan
She says the "inauguration this week of a steering committee to address and respond to grave violations against children in armed conflict affirms the Afghan Government's commitment to protect Afghan boys and girls from the on-going conflict."
Ms. Coomaraswamy adds that with President Hamid Karzai's approval of the body she is "delighted" to see that he has kept one of the key promises that he made during her visit to Afghanistan in February this year.
She describes the inauguration of the Steering Committee on Children and Armed Conflict, as "a first step towards a broader national engagement in protecting children from the adverse effects of the Afghan conflict."
She suggests that this engagement must include the development of an Action Plan to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers in the Afghan National Security Forces.
Ms. Coomaraswamy expresses the hope "that the Afghan Government will take the necessary measures to ensure that its national police are removed from the Secretary-General's list of shame."
Jocelyne Sambira, United Nations Radio.
(duration: 1'09")
