China

August 2016: CAAC Open Debate: “We should give full play to the role of the family, the school and the community in forming a protective umbrella against the encroachment on children by terrorist ideologies.”

March 2017: Attended Buenos Aires Conference on Safe Schools.

May 2017: Zama met with the New York Mission. The meeting was very friendly. She had read the material we sent beforehand and explained to us why she thought this was in accord with China’s priorities. We were able to make all our arguments and she took a lot of notes. (Including re peacekeeping and, separately, the AU). Not clear if her report to capital will have an impact.

June 2017: Human Rights Watch had advocacy meetings with Bolivia, Burkina Faso, and China in New York.

August 2017: The plan is to arrange a joint letter from African government to encourage the endorsement that is on hold since HRW’s AU focal point has left the position.

September 2017 UNSC: GCPEA sent a letter to the ambassador in New York asking to raise the issue on attacks and military use and to the Declaration in view of the Open Debate on children and armed conflict.

September 2018: Gisela sent a meeting request ahead of the UNSC Open Debate on WPS. The mission responded they would not be able to meet. Gisela followed up with a letter issued by GCPEA Director Diya Nijhowne and addressed to Foreign Minister H.E. Mr. Wang Yi. It includes an encouragement for the government of the People’s Republic of China to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration.

November 2018: GCPEA met with the Counsellor from the Mission in New York. She didn’t have any update from capital on the endorsement process. She showed great interest in the Spain conference, and praised the approach to give opportunity to conflict-affected countries to share their experience in implementing the Guidelines as case studies on the second day of the conference. She seemed encouraged by the examples of implementation and was interested to know if we were planning to organise any other international events/forums as an opportunity for states to exchange information on protection of education. GCPEA followed up with a letter addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

September 2020: statement Niger’s CAAC briefing on attacks on schools: Welcomes the presidential statement just adopted by the Council and encourages the Secretary-General and the relevant United Nations agencies to continue, in accordance with their mandates, to strengthen the monitoring and reporting of such attacks in conflict situations. All countries should prioritize the development of education and increase investment in educational resources, including building and strengthening school infrastructure and expanding the resiliency of school premises against risks and shocks. At the same time, we should combine legal and administrative means to prevent schools from becoming targets of armed attacks.