PSC/PR/COMM.2(DCLXI) Page 2 tragedy that the recruitment and use of child soldiers brings up, namely prolongation of conflict and enlarging the magnitude of killing, injuring, destruction and socio-political disharmony; 6. Condemns in strongest terms possible the continued recruitment of child soldiers on the continent by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes, and emphasizes the need for AU Member States to take robust punitive measures against all perpetrators of violations and abuses against children, including state and non-state actors; 7. Acknowledges that despite the global engagement towards the protection of children in conflict situations and the progress achieved to strengthen the existing AU legal frameworks, grave child rights violations remain an urgent and serious concern in African countries affected by conflict. Council further notes that the implementation of these instruments and turning commitments into concrete action still remains a daunting challenge across the continent. In this regard, Council emphasizes that it is the primary responsibility of each government to ensure that children are protected and that their rights and welfare are promoted and calls on all AU Member States to fully implement the existing AU instruments on protection of children and their rights; 8. Commends the Commission’s efforts towards ensuring that troop contributing countries uphold international humanitarian law in the conduct of operations and enforce conduct and discipline amongst mission personnel, such as the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) which has institutionalized training on protection of women and children as part of the predeployment training. Council further commends the development by the AU of the Operational Guidance Documents on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) and children which can be used by all AU peace support operations missions, AU Member States and Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs), as reference documents highlighting case studies and lessons learnt across the continent. Council also applauds all Member States who have established formal demobilization and reintegration processes to ensure a long-term reintegration of children into society. In this regard, Council urges Member States and RECs/RMs to make full use of these Guideline Documents in the protection of children in African communities; 9. Underlines the need for governments to institutionalize the protection of children within their disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) and security sector reform (SSR) programmes, as well as to include rehabilitation and opportunities for education to former child soldiers, particularly in countries emerging from conflicts, and make full use of DDR and SSR, especially paying attention to rehabilitation of child soldiers, re-skilling and integrate them into the community; 10. Expresses concern that, despite the progress made in developing a comprehensive normative and operational child protection framework, serious gaps continue to exist in terms of implementation and follow-up, thus undermining the effectiveness of Africa’s response to challenges relating to the protection of children in conflict situations. Accordingly, Council