The Rabat Declaration on Child-Focused Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Published as a Joint Document of the UN Security Council and General Assembly
The Rabat Declaration on Child-Focused Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration has been published in the six official languages of the United Nations as a joint document of the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly.
This document was registered under item 67 of the General Assembly agenda entitled “Promotion and protection of the rights of the child,” and listed among the official documents of the United Nations Security Council.
The Rabat Declaration was adopted during the African Ministerial Conference on the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) of child soldiers, held on 20 November 2025 under the theme “Building sustainable pathways for children affected by armed conflict.”
This high-level event, which coincided with World Children’s Day, enabled a collective commitment to protecting children’s rights, preventing the recruitment and use of children by armed groups, and promoting their sustainable reintegration into local communities.
The Rabat Declaration serves as an African complement to existing international legal and institutional frameworks related to the protection of children, while supporting efforts undertaken by the United Nations, reflected in successive resolutions on children and armed conflict.
The Declaration expressed the determination of the African countries participating in the Rabat Ministerial Conference to launch a process for the development of a specific African instrument in the form of a Convention on the Prevention of the Recruitment of Child Soldiers and their Integration. To this end, a Group of Friends was established to advance this objective.
This timely and significant African contribution strengthens the efforts of the United Nations to prevent and combat, at the continental level, the recruitment and use of child soldiers and to promote international cooperation aimed at enhancing their protection.
This multilateral recognition of a process initiated by the Kingdom of Morocco to combat the exploitation of children in armed conflict highlights the value and importance of the content of the Rabat Declaration within the United Nations framework.
Editorial team/le7tv
