This report was issued in response to a presidential statement (S/PRST/1999/21) prepared by the Security Council after a meeting on this subject which urged that the report pay special attention to child soldiers. Important subjects covered by the report include: Planning phase for these activities; Role of UN peacekeeping in disarmament including: availability of expertise and resources, disposal of arms and ammunition, illicit arms flows and the disarming of child soldiers; Demobilization, including : importance of having enough resources and of keeping this phase as short as possible, demobilizing child soldiers, and the possible formation of a unified force at a later time; Reintegration discusses the importance of creating a favorable environment to come back to, child soldiers, and the harmonization of efforts by a peacekeeping operation. A section at the end entitled "Ensuring an effective response" offers some unique insights into achieving success in these activities. DAA

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