§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress towards the ratification of the Optional Protocol on child soldiers to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. [137745]
§ Mr. HainThe Government are working toward ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. The Ministry of Defence is currently drawing up administrative guidelines for the armed forces to implement this protocol, once they are in place, we hope to ratify the protocol. An initial target t of January 2001 has been set.