The findings of the report are the results of a wide-ranging, multistakeholder process that included participation by young people. Despite the considerable achievements of the past 10 years, challenges remain. According to 2006 estimates, more than 1 billion children under the age of 18 were living in areas in conflict or emerging from war. Of these, an estimated 300 million were under age five, and more than 18 million children were refugees or internally displaced. The strategic review notes that there is increased global awareness about deliberate violations against children in armed conflict, such as the recruitment and use of children by armed groups. However, appalling consequences that stem from the complex interplay of conflict, poverty and discrimination are often overlooked. Children living in war-affected contexts are less likely to be in school or have access to clean water and basic sanitation. They are more vulnerable to early mortality as a result of disease and undernutrition, and they have less chance of becoming adults able to play a constructive role in their societies.

These Guidelines address implementation of the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) on grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict under Security Council Resolutions 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009), 1998 (2011) 2068 (2012), and 2143 (2014). They describe the purpose and focus of the mechanism; specify the leadership, roles and responsibilities of implementing actors, in particular UNICEF, peacekeeping and political missions and Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, and the MRM architecture and information flow; outline reporting requirements; and highlight the critical linkage of the MRM to response programming and advocacy. The MRM Guidelines are essential reading for co-chairs and members of the country task forces for monitoring and reporting, also known as CTFMRs.The MRM Field Manual, a companion publication to the Guidelines, is designed to serve as a comprehensive resource for practitioners responsible for implementing the MRM. The manual and its annexes cover in detail the technical aspects of monitoring and reporting practice, as well as critical issues related to information management and security. The manual also covers the issue of response, to ensure that monitoring and reporting activity is underpinned by adequate programmes and services for victims of violations. The MRM is a living document, and both the Guidelines and the Field Manual will undergo periodic reviews under the auspices of the Global Task Force on Children Affected by Armed Conflict.

While no government has a fully comprehensive response to modern slavery, all countries in the Europe and Central Asia region have either mantained or improved their response since the publication of the 2016 Global Slavery Index. Most notably, the Netherlands has retained its position as having the world's strongest response to modern slavery, taking the most steps of any nation to address the problem and, for the second consecutive time, being the only country anywhere to receive an "A" rating. The Netherlands national response is strong across indicators of victim support, criminal justice responses, and addressing risk, including society safety nets and protection for migrants, a feature missing in many countries of destination. Netherlands was closely followed by the United Kingdom, Belgium, Sweden, Croatia, Spain, Norway, and Portugal, all of which took significant action against modern slavery in the previous two years.

The economic, geographic, and cultural diversity of Asia and the Pacific region is reflected in the varying prevalence and forms of modern slavery found across the region. In Asia and the Pacific, there are instances of debt bondage, including hereditary forms of bonded labour in South Asia, forced labour exists in migrant dominated sectors across the region, forced marriage persists, and state-imposed forced labour, while most commonly known to exist in North Korea, occurs in several countries within the region. The Asia and Pacific region is home to the two most populous countries in the world, India and China, as well as some of the least populous island nations, among them Tuvalu, Nauru and Palau.

The Arab States are currently both the source and recipient of the largest numbers of refugees and internally displaced people globally. As the region experiences conflict and resulting displacement – and given its position at the junction of migratory paths for Afghans, Sudanese, and Somalis fleeing conflicts in their homelands – vulnerability to modern slavery in the Arab States has sharply increased. An estimated 5.7 million refugees originated in the region since mid-2016 and 12 million people were displaced internally in Middle Eastern countries.This displacement, accompanied by severe economic decline, widespread violence and psychological distress, collapse of essential public services in many districts, and weak labour laws has contributed towards the vulnerability of refugees, internally displaced persons, minority groups, and ordinary citizens to trafficking and exploitation.

Although African countries face challenges in effectively responding to all forms of modern slavery, many countries in the region are taking steps to strengthen their responses. Improvements in the legislative framework have occurred across the region with some notable examples. Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco, and Tunisia enacted comprehensive trafficking legislation in 2016- a new development since the 2016 Global Slavery Index. As a result, in 2017, nearly 70 percent of African countries had criminalised human trafficking, an increase from the nearly 60 percent reported in the previous Global Slavery Index in 2016.

While no government has a fully comprehensive response to modern slavery, all countries in the Americas region have either mantained or improved their response. Most notably, the United States has retained its position as demonstrating the strongest response to modern slavery in the region, and the strongest response globally to prevent governments and business from sourcing goods and services linked to modern slavery. The United States is joined by Argentina and Chile, both of wich have made improvements that result in the highest government response ratings in the Americas region of "BBB". Other countries that have improved their response to modern slavery this year include Peru, Uruguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama and Bolivia.

The 2018 Global Slavery Index measures the extent of modern slavery country by country, and the steps governments are taking to respond to this issue, to objectively measure progress toward ending modern slavery. The Index draws together findings from across estimates of prevalence, measurement of vulnerability, and assessment of government responses, alongside an analysis of trade flows and data on specific products. When considered as a set, the data provide a complex and insightful picture of the ways modern slavery is impacting countries around the world. This enables us to refine our thinking on how to better respond to modern slavery, and also how to predict and prevent modern slavery in future.

The present report, prepared following consultations and covering the period from January to December 2019, is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2427 (2018) and presents trends regarding the impact of armed conflict on children and information on violations committed. Where possible, violations are attributed to parties to conflict and the annexes to the present report include a list of parties engaging in violations against children, namely the recruitment and use of children, the killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, attacks on schools, hospitals and protected personnel, and the abduction of children. The information contained in the present report was vetted for accuracy by the United Nations. Where information is not verified, it is qualified as such. Where incidents were committed earlier but only verified in 2019, that information is qualified as relating to an incident that was verified at a later date. The information presented does not represent the full scale of violations against children, as verification depends on access. The report presents trends and patterns of violations, in order to effect a change in behaviour by parties, contribute to facilitating engagement with parties responsible for violations, promote accountability and include child protection issues in peace processes. Attacks or threats of attacks on community and civic leaders, on human rights defenders and on monitors of violations against children is a cause for concern and a strain on the monitoring capacity.

This article addresses sex trafficking committed by the terrorist group Da’esh in the Syrian Arab Republic and its neighboring Republic of Iraq. It proposes primarily that sex trafficking perpetrated by Da’esh falls into at least two unique categories of trafficking — “combat trafficking” and “institutional trafficking” — that require markedly different legal responses in order to ensure accountability and justice. The article outlines the divergent factual patterns and characteristics of each form of trafficking, exploring how “combat trafficking” occurs through the active invasion of territory, whereby Da’esh forcibly captures women and girls and subjects them to sexual slavery, and how “institutional trafficking” occurs outside the active conflict, whereby Da’esh recruits women and girls to join the group and subjects them to forced marriage and domestic servitude. It discusses how institutional trafficking has been largely overlooked in discussions of accountability for Da'esh's trafficking crimes. This article then argues for accountability for institutional trafficking under the international system of Transnational Criminal Law (“TCL”). It delineates how the crime of trafficking has been interpreted and defined to date within this system and how that definition applies to Da’esh’s acts of institutional trafficking. It explains how TCL is best suited to addressing this form of trafficking. The article then argues that full accountability for perpetrators of this form of trafficking is two-fold, requiring recognition of the crime and enforcement of the criminalization of it.