YPFP Brussels would like to invite you to our next UN Series event on Children in Armed Conflict.
You will have the chance to learn more about the recruitment and use of children by armed groups and the serious risks associated with it with our speakers, Brigid Kennedy Pfister and Sharon Riggle. We will also discuss the value and challenges of UNICEF’s efforts to partner with governments, community groups and others to address the drivers of child recruitment in armed conflict and stop violations before they occur. In particular, the event will highlight the importance of UNICEF’s work in linking children and families with mental and physical health services, education, and vocational opportunities.
Brigid Kennedy Pfister has been a Senior Child Protection Specialist for UNICEF in New York focused on Children and Armed Conflict since 2019. From 2015 to 2018, she served as Chief of Child Protection and Adolescent Development for UNICEF in Iraq, and from 2012 to 2015 she was a Judicial Affairs Officer for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. As a lawyer, she represented children in care and protection proceedings and appeals in the United States. She holds an LL.M. from Harvard Law School and a JD from Northeastern University School of Law.
Sharon Riggle is the Chief of Office and Chief of Advocacy and Outreach for the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG CAAC). Previously, she led the Centre for European Security and Disarmament think tank in Brussels. She was also Director of the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, a Senior Officer at the UN World Food Program, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan, and at the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro working on police reform. She is an Adjunct Professor at Hunter College in New York teaching Child Rights. She holds a dual-major BA in Psychology and Spanish, and an MA in International Relations and European Studies.
The event will take place via Zoom and the link will follow after registration. For more details please contact Lina Stahl, Programmes Officer.
Speakers: