At France's initiative, the 15-member council last year adopted a resolution that set up the first comprehensive monitoring and reporting mechanism system to track six grave violations against children around the world.

The violations being monitored include killing or maiming, recruiting or using child soldiers, rape or sexual violence, abducting children or denying them humanitarian access and attacking schools or hospitals.

A year on and despite marked progress in countries such as Sierra Leone, Burundi, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), "over 250,000 children continue to be exploited as child soldiers by armed forces and groups around the world," Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN chief Kofi Annan's new special representative for children and armed conflict, told the council.

She underscored the need for "long-term developmental responses that will result in meaningful re-integration of these children."

Ann Veneman, executive director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), also urged stronger measures to combat the use of child soldiers as well as sexual violence, particularly against girls, and curb the illegal trade in small arms and light weapons.

She said France would host a symposium in Paris this year on prevention, demobilization and reintegration programs offering children education, vocational training and psychological support.

"Since 1996, approximately two million children have died as a result of war, while a further 12 million have been left homeless and at least six million injured or physically disabled," she noted.

French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, the council president for July, said the council must be ready to use all its "arsenal of measures to punish those who defy its authority by refusing to comply with its resolutions" on the protection of children in armed conflict.

He also underscored the link between security and development, noting that lack of promising prospects for children undermined all prevention and demobilisation efforts.

He said Paris would earmark five million euros to help bankroll UNICEF's action plan.

Representatives of 36 countries and international organizations, including the World Bank and the UN Development Program were to take the floor in the day-long debate.

The meeting ended with the adoption of a statement underlining "the importance of a sustained investment in development, especially in health, education and skills training, to secure the successful reintegration of children in their communities and prevent re-recruitment."

"The specific situation of girls exploited by armed forces and groups must be recognised and adequately addressed," said the statement read by de La Sabliere.

The council also appealed to donors to provide additional resources to fund the development of the monitoring and reporting mechanism and the reintegration of children.

In London, a UNICEF report said violence, disease and malnutrition in the Democratic Republic of Congo kill 1,200 people a day -- more than half of them children.

Four million people have disappeared or have been killed in the conflict between the Congolese army and rebel militias since 1998, claiming more victims every six months than the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami that struck in December 2004, said the report.

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