Oslo/Hadeland 09. – 11- November 1998, Conference Report
In November 1998, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Redd Barna (Save the Children Norway) hosted a conference on protection of children and adolescents in complex emergencies, in co-operation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The conference was supported financially by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The aim of the event was :
* to increase the common understanding of the meaning of international protection of children and adolescents
* to address the main problems and principles and give some recommendations to concrete action
The Oslo/Hadeland conference was a follow-up of the United Nations Study on Impact of armed conflict on Children of August 26. 1996, chaired by Graça Machel.. The study presents recommendations on how to improve the protection of children in armed conflicts. These recommendations where the starting point for the work that was done during the Oslo/Hadeland conference.
The conference consisted of a one-day seminar in Oslo, and a two-days’ workshop in Hadeland, north of Oslo. The United Nations Secretary General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed conflict, Olara A. Otunnu, and the Norwegian Minister for Development and Human Rights, Hilde Frafjord Johnson, where among the key speakers on the first day.