These children have been exposed to “shocking levels” of violations such as killing and mutilation, recruitment and use for armed purposes, and denial of humanitarian access.
According to the Secretary-General’s report on children and armed conflict, presented to the Security Council on Thursday, children in countries including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen have suffered an unacceptable level of violations at the hands of parties to the conflict – both government forces and non-state armed groups.
“The tragic fate of child victims of conflict cannot and must not leave us impassive,” declared in a press release the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba. “One child killed, recruited as a soldier, injured in an attack or prevented from going to school due to conflict is already one child too many.”
Of the 20 countries reviewed in the report, at least 4,000 verified violations were committed by government forces and more than 11,500 by non-state armed groups. Afghanistan has recorded the highest number of verified child deaths since the UN began tracking civilian casualties in 2009, with 3,512 children killed or maimed last year – a 24% increase from to the previous year.
The report also identifies 851 verified cases (more than double the number in 2015) of children recruited and used for combat purposes in Syria and 1,915 in Somalia in 2016. The study also notes that in Yemen, at least 1,340 children were been killed or mutilated. In Syria, this number was 1,299.
UN chief ‘dismayed’ by scale of violations
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has reiterated his call on parties to conflict to respect their responsibility to protect children, in line with their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law.
“The objective of the report is not only to raise awareness of violations of children’s rights but also to promote measures likely to reduce the tragic fate of children in conflict,” the UN chief’s spokesperson said in a statement.
“The Secretary-General said he is encouraged that several governments and non-state actors are working with the United Nations towards this goal. He hopes that more will follow,” he added.
Violations mentioned in the report include the recruitment or use of children for conflict; the murder or mutilation of children; rape and other forms of sexual violence against children; attacks on schools and/or hospitals; and the abduction of children in situations of armed conflict.
The parties that committed these violations are listed in the annexes to the report. The annexes also include those parties which have put in place measures to improve the protection of children during the period considered and those which have not put in place adequate measures.
Press release issued by the Special Representative at the time of the publication of the report (in English)
Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict
This text is a modification of an article published by the United Nations News Center
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