Our Programme on International Peace and Security (IPS) announces the publication of new research, in partnership with Save the Children, on Advancing Justice for Children: Innovations to Strengthen Accountability for Violations and Crimes Affecting Children in Conflict. The research is the result of more than a year of work, led by IPS Executive Director Federica D’Alessandra, alongside IPS Visiting Fellow of Practice Sareta Ashraph and IPS Consultant Jelia Sane (Doughty Street Chambers). This partnership was built around the second pillar of Save the Children’s Stop the War on Children campaign, seeking to hold perpetrators of violations and crimes against children to account. As part of our analysis, we looked at obstacles currently obstructing the investigation and indictment of crimes against/affecting children in conflict, as well as strategies and innovative solutions to overcome them. As part of our research, we looked at lessons and solutions that could be drawn from the pursuit of accountability for sexual and gender-based violence, as well as the successes of domestic prosecutions. We also analysed the approach of select UN fact-finding and investigative bodies to the investigation and documentation of violations and crimes affecting children, and analysed the approach of prosecutors in international criminal courts and tribunals to the investigation and indictment of these crimes.
