Three Days after the inauguration of new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto a high-level dialogue on Protecting Children from Terrorism was organized by the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, on 23 October 2024 in Jakarta.
The event which was attended by high level representatives from 17 ministries was an opportunity for participating agencies to reconfirm their common vision that all children, in Indonesia and in the world, must be free from crime and violence; and that stakeholders have a shared responsibility to invest in child protection as a prerequisite to eradicating poverty, achieving peace and sustainable development.
The Head of BNPT Police Commissioner General Eddy Hartono emphasized that child association with terrorist groups – which involves children recruited and exploited by these groups, as well as those with links to the foreign terrorist fighter (FTF) phenomenon including those returned from conflict zones – deserves immediate attention and demands comprehensive intervention in line with the identified priorities of the new President.
Ms. Alexandra Martins, who leads the team on ending violence against children in the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Section of UNODC, stressed the urgency of tackling the root causes of child association with terrorist groups; and implementing strategies that provide a bridge between child rights, development, rule of law and security. She stressed the value of evidence-based policies and programmes, and presented key recommendations of the recently published research study entitled “Targeted by Terrorists: Child Recruitment, Exploitation and Reintegration in Indonesia, Iraq and Nigeria”.
Conclusions of the meeting included reaffirmation of commitments contained within the Bali Call for Action including the endorsement of the 2019 “UNODC Roadmap on the Treatment of Children Associated with Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups” as the basis for a comprehensive, just and sustainable approach to the treatment of these children.
Participants agreed to recognize that children associated with terrorist groups should be treated first and foremost as victims, and that child recruitment is, in all its forms and regardless of the denomination of the groups who perpetrate it, a serious form of violence against children which should be criminalized and perpetrators held accountable.
Action-oriented results included consensus on a call to extend comprehensive prevention efforts online and offline; and to promote child rights and community-based rehabilitation and reintegration of children formerly associated with terrorist groups, including child returnees from conflict zones.
Mr. Andhika Chrisnayudhanto, Deputy Head of BNPT for International Cooperation, underlined Indonesia’s international leadership role including as the main sponsor of an important international policy decision on the Treatment of Children Associated with Terrorist Groups which was endorsed by the Economic and Social Council and recommended for adoption by the United Nations General Assembly in July 2024. This resolution, said Mr. Chrisnayudhanto, represents a very important international policy document that will be essential for countries all over the world faced with the complexities of the phenomenon; as well as for the alignment of global efforts to tackle it.
Mr. Erik van der Veen, Head of Office and Liaison to ASEAN, UNODC Indonesia, thanked Indonesian counterparts for the productive and equal partnership that has been established with UNODC and which was instrumental to the development of the joint UNODC-Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General to End Violence Against Children Strategy to End Violence Against Children 2023-2030.
