Capacity building and dialogue on children in armed conflict and atrocity prevention The purpose was stated as: Capacity building, knowledge-sharing and dialogue among
partners within the topics of protection of children in armed conflict and prevention of
atrocities in developing countries
Firstly, the purpose of this project was to ensure capacity building, knowledge-sharing as well as
a dialogue among a broad range of relevant stakeholders from civil society, academia, government
and international institutions and international actors. Secondly, the aims were to strengthen the
research capacity and knowledge among key South African stakeholders on the issues related to
the broader international development and rights-based agendas included in the SDG's, and then
the AU 2020 Silencing of the Guns policy and the 2063 "The Africa we want" agenda. The project
supported research and development of research material that informed the seminars and
included lessons and knowledge shared at the seminar to a wider group of practitioners from
government, international organisations and civil society.
The issues discussed related to the security-development nexus, areas found predominantly in
SDG 16, but also in SDG 4, 5 and 8. The themes addressed issues related to gender, human
rights, atrocity prevention and protection and recruitment of children in armed conflict. The
developmental agenda featured prominently in the seminars and focused on the impact of
conflicts and weak institutions on the lives and well-being of affected vulnerable groups.
3. Description of the activity:
SIGLA and the Embassy organised two closed seminars and two public events focusing on South
Africa’s policies and priorities related to its UNSC membership. From each seminar, a series of
outputs were produced, resulting in six policy papers (four more than was agreed upon in the
grant agreement), one academic report (being drafted and one academic article (submitted) and
one in drafting. The participants in the seminars were relevant government officials, politicians,
academics, civil Firstly, the purpose of this project is to ensure capacity building, knowledge-sharing as well as a dialogue among a broad range of relevant stakeholders from civil society, academia, government  and international institutions and international actors. Secondly, it aims to strengthen the research capacity and knowledge among key South African stakeholders on the issues related to the wider international development and rights-based agendas included in the SDG´s, and then the AU 2020 Silencing of the Guns policy and the 2063 “The Africa we want” agenda. The project supports research and development of research material that will both inform the seminars and include lessons and knowledge shared at the seminar to a wider group of practitioners from government, international organisations and civil society.

In implementation, the organised seminars bring together a variety of academia and practitioners and the international actors. Based on the seminars, a policy paper and a research report/article is produced. The topics for the seminars will be ‘Children in armed conflict’ and ‘Prevention of atrocities’.