Doha, Qatar, 27 September 2026 – The specific rights and needs of children should be an integral part of peace negotiations and mediation efforts. The Analysis and Outreach Hub of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (OSRSG CAAC) in Doha, in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the State of Qatar, is organizing a three-day Child-Sensitive Mediation Training at the Diplomatic Institute from 27 to 29 September 2026 in Doha, Qatar, for diplomatic staff and mediation practitioners working on mediation and ceasefire processes.
“Child-sensitive mediation is not about adding a paragraph on children to a peace agreement,” said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Vanessa Frazier, in her opening statement, delivered on her behalf by Dawoud Almassri, Head of the Analysis and Outreach Hub in Doha. “It means putting children at the heart of mediation from the outset: in the priorities we set, the issues we negotiate and the commitments we ask parties to uphold.”
She stressed that every mediation process should ask what a peace agreement will mean for children today and for generations to come. With Qatar’s established role as a mediator, there is a significant opportunity to make the protection of children a more systematic part of the peace processes it supports.
The training brings together diplomatic staff and mediation practitioners to strengthen their capacity to integrate child protection considerations into mediation efforts and ceasefire negotiations. It combines substantive sessions on the Children and Armed Conflict agenda with practical mediation exercises and scenario-based discussions.
Participants will explore the Children and Armed Conflict architecture, including relevant international humanitarian and human rights frameworks and the six grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict. They will also draw on the Practical Guidance for Mediators to Protect Children in Situations of Armed Conflict, developed by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, and examine how child protection considerations can be incorporated into ceasefire and peace agreements, including provisions addressing the release and reintegration of children associated with armed forces and armed groups.
Through practical simulations based on realistic negotiation scenarios, participants will apply these approaches in practice and consider how mediators can address child protection concerns in complex peace processes. The training aims to strengthen capacity for more systematic and child-sensitive approaches to mediation and contribute to efforts to institutionalize child-sensitive approaches firmly within peace processes.
For more information about the training, please contact the OSRSG-CAAC Doha Hub.