The Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism for Grave Violations of Children’s Rights

Prior to the establishment of the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (‘mrm’) in 2005, conflict related violence against children was a largely unknown phenomenon in its real numbers and forms. This situation was rightly perceived as being unacceptable by several reports, including UN documents. Nevertheless, the establishment of mrm leaded to the introduction of a number of criteria and rules for the gathering and reporting of information and data on conflict related violence against children to the UN Security Council. It was generally believed that these innovations would enhance the fight against these acts of violence at UN level. This paper critically examines the various criteria and rules through which the mrm has contributed to the fight against violence towards children in armed conflict scenarios. It asserts that due the continued growth of episodes of violence against children, the benefits anticipated to reduce these odious forms of violence under mrm have remained elusive throughout the fifteen years since the mrm was established. The work advances a suggestion for the improvement of the operation and functioning of the mrm through the attribution of adjudication powers to this body.