Note: A complete summary of today's Security Council meeting will be made available after its conclusion.
Briefings
VIRGINIA GAMBA, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, noted that, in 2017 - when she took office - the Secretary-General's report covered 20 situations across 4 geographical regions and documented 21,000 violations. The current mandate spans across five geographical regions and covers 26 situations, including the unfolding security situations in Haiti and Niger, as well as the related situations in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ukraine which were added in 2022 and in the report for the first time. In 2022, there were 27,800 verified violations against 18,890 children, including 8,630 children killed or maimed, 7,622 children recruited and used, and 3,985 children abducted. Rape and sexual violence against children, including gang-rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery - although unreported - has also been verified, while children were also killed or injured in air strikes. Some cases were so severe that they resulted in the death of the victims.
There were verified attacks in 1,163 schools and 647 hospitals - half of which were perpetrated by Government forces - representing a 112 per cent increase compared to 2022, she continued, also spotlighting a 60 per cent increase of the use of schools and hospitals for military purposes by armed forces and groups. More so, in 2022, 3,931 incidents of the denial of humanitarian access to children were verified - where humanitarian workers were killed, assaulted or abducted and the humanitarian supplies were looted - while bureaucratic impediments and restrictions on movement further complicated the humanitarian aid delivery. "Behind each verified violation is the life of a child, with its own individual story," she emphasized, reporting that 18,890 children were affected last year and yet their stories have not been told. She recalled, among other incidences, the case of three girls gang raped in South Sudan; the boys killed in a school in Afghanistan, and the 14-year-old girls in Myanmar abducted and burnt alive. "Despite the need to protect our children better, there are simply too many areas we do not have access to," she said, noting that boys are taught that being a victim undermines their masculinity and societies shame girls for the harm done to them.
In some cases, child victims, instead of receiving protection, are punished for their circumstances, she pointed out, recalling that, in 2022, 2,496 children were deprived of liberty for their actual or alleged association with parties to conflict. However, the main perpetrators of the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian access in 2022 were the armed and security forces of Governments. Spotlighting some positive achievements, she reported that, in Yemen, the United Nations signed an action plan with the Houthis to end and prevent violence. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mai-Mai Machine signed unilateral commitments to protect children, and in Iraq, the Government signed an action plan to prevent the recruitment of children by the Popular Mobilization Forces and repatriated 1,448 Iraqi children from north-east Syria. The United Nations is also engaging with parties to the conflicts in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
In other situations, progress was achieved through the adoption of handover protocols and the development of child protection policies, she said, adding that 12,460 children formerly associated with armed forces were released and provided with reintegration support. Going forward, she called for the definition of a child as "everyone under the age of 18" and urged those present to boost financing of protection and reintegration programmes, including demining action and mine education initiatives. Underlining the importance of supporting the monitoring and reporting mechanism in budgetary decisions, she said that UNICEF country offices' resources, dedicated to the mechanism, need to be preserved and sustained. "We need to put children at the centre of our efforts and hear their voices," she emphasized, while pointing to the new, child-focused public-awareness campaign that aims to include children's participation.
OMAR ABDI, Deputy Executive Director at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said that this year's report from the Secretary-General includes the highest number - over 27,000 - of grave violations ever verified by the United Nations. Particularly concerning was the plight of children in the situations most recently added to the report, including Haiti and Niger this year, and Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ukraine in 2022. The highest numbers of grave violations against children were verified in long-standing protracted conflicts, including those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel and the State of Palestine, and Somalia. Children in these contexts have faced unrelenting violations for years, and in some cases like the children in the State of Palestine, for decades. "Due to recent escalations, we expect verified violations in at least some of these situations to increase over the coming months," he warned.
He also expressed concern about the impact of the ongoing conflict in Sudan's 21 million children. More than 1 million children have now been displaced by the fighting and the United Nations has received credible reports, under verification, that hundreds of children have been killed and injured. He further highlighted how some countries have succeeded in preventing and ending grave violations against children through proactive measures. For instance, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, implementation of the 2012 action plan led to a significant reduction in the number of children recruited and used by the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), including the screening and separation of over 1,100 children. This led to the delisting of FARDC for that violation.
The United Nations monitoring and reporting mechanism for grave violations serves as the evidence base for this report, he continued, also adding: "We stand behind the veracity of this data and call on Member States to do the same." This data helps UNICEF target prevention actions and responses to tragic incidents like the one that killed 27 children and injured 53 others last month in southern Somalia after an ordnance exploded at a playing field, he said. "With over 27,000 violations verified this year, up from 24,000 last year, existing commitments are clearly not enough," he added, expressing disappointment by the lack of progress by the Security Council's Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict towards adoption of the conclusions from the Secretary-General's country reports. Non-State armed groups were responsible for over 50 per cent of grave violations last year, he noted, urging States to enable and support the United Nations engagement with armed groups, including with armed groups that may be designated as terrorist.
Ms. VIOLETA, child civil society representative, said that the armed conflict in Colombia has left millions of victims across the country, with the inhabitants of rural areas being most affected. Being a boy, girl or adolescent and living in the Colombian countryside, belonging to indigenous or Afro-Colombian communities, being a refugee and migrant or belonging to the LGBITQ+ community is not easy. To add to that, there is the constant fear of stepping on a mine or being tangled up in a clash. "Armed groups may suddenly arrive in your school and recruit some of your colleagues," she added, noting that, with passing weeks, there are more empty seats in the classroom due to recruitment, death or displacement. Armed groups or gangs undoubtedly limit the life and development of adolescents and young people. As well, in the countryside, the scarcity of resources, lack of opportunities, school dropout and violent dynamics translate into a great refusal to conform among young people.
Although it is impossible to make an exact calculation or record of the total number of victims to the conflict in Colombia, she reported that, according to documented figures from the Truth Commission, until 2019 more than 3 million children and adolescents were victims to the conflict due to recruitment, forced disappearance, kidnapping, displacement, murder or sexual violence. In the first quarter of the year, there have been at least 4,583 child or adolescent victims. Among these were 18 events related to forced recruitment, leaving 36 victims; 17 events related to forced displacement, leaving 1,283 victims; 15 attacks on schools and hospitals, leaving 1,126 victims. Many of these violations could be prevented in the future if children, adolescents and youth have the opportunity to participate in peace processes.
Outlining recommendations, she stressed the need to condemn and prevent recruitment. It is also essential to free children and youth - including indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, refugees and migrants - from the ranks of armed groups to prevent their continued use for war. She called on States to accelerate and finance the route for the restoration of the rights of children detached from these groups and to recognize their role as agents of change. She underlined the need to strongly condemn sexual violence committed against children and youth and take immediate measures boost physical and mental health services and legal support.
It is essential to make the pertinent changes to guarantee access, quality and permanence of education, especially in rural areas, as well, she continued. To this end, she suggested forming a commission that is committed to defending human rights, supports peace negotiations and guarantees the participation of children and youth in peace processes. Warning against the normalization of violence, conflict and its aftermath, she underscored that, despite the signing of a peace agreement, the conflict is still affecting communities in the country. "Peace doesn't just happen when certain groups sign a piece of paper," she pointed out, adding that everyone must work towards that goal. A country that does not allow its youth and children to work towards building peace is "a country that is condemned to a future at war," she stated.
Statements
VANESSA FRAZIER (Malta) expressed concern over the deteriorating situations faced by children in countries including Myanmar, South Sudan, Burkina Faso and Ukraine, calling for the continued, objective and transparent listing of perpetrators in the Secretary-General's annual report. Underscoring the importance of maintaining sufficient capacity and robust mandates for peacekeeping operations and special political missions - including during their drawdown and withdrawal - she urged the Special Representative to deepen analysis of how gender norms have shaped children's exposure to violations in different contexts. The drivers of conflict are complex due to new armed actors and crises, and Member States should mitigate the impact of armed conflict on children, conclude and implement action plans, monitor and report violations, and facilitate humanitarian access by engaging with all parties, including armed groups. Also noting her role as Chair of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, she urged continued support for the Group's mandate.
NICOLAS DE RIVIÈRE (France) spotlighted the devastating consequences for children resulting from the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine. The inscription of the former country in the list of infamy confirms the gravity of the crimes committed by the Kremlin in Ukraine, he said, urging Moscow to respect international law and to end atrocities. It is imperative to leverage all available tools to ensure child protection, and he urged all States to ratify and implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child, its optional protocols and the Rome Statute. With UNICEF, France is campaigning for the universalization of the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups and the Safe Schools Declaration. He added that the Council must continue to support the work of the monitoring and communication mechanism, and that the organ's Working Group must be able to swiftly adopt conclusions that are implemented on the ground.
ZHANG JUN (China) voiced alarm over grave violations against children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; in Haiti, where 500,000 children live at the mercy of gangs; in the Sahel, where hundreds of thousands of children are forced to pick up rifles instead of pens; and in Afghanistan, where foreign military operations caused harm. The Convention on the Rights of the Child has yet to achieve universal coverage, as one country has yet to ratify it. Emphasizing that "lasting peace is the ultimate protection", he called on the international community to use dialogue and mediation and avoid the imposition of external solutions. Noting that 1.1 billion children urgently require humanitarian assistance, he called for aid that goes beyond crisis response to eradicating hunger and poverty and providing universal basic education. It is regrettable, he added, that, although the Occupied Palestinian Territory saw the second-highest number of grave violations among all situations in the report, no perpetrators were listed.
HAROLD ADLAI AGYEMAN (Ghana) called on the Secretary-General to facilitate more systematic reporting to the Council regarding early warning indicators of potential violations against children. United Nations and regional peacekeeping missions should incorporate child-protection obligations into mission planning, policies, decisions and activities, and must include child-protection focal points in field operations. In that regard, he welcomed the African Union's efforts to mainstream child protection in its institutional responses. He went on to stress the need for enhanced cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, as well as with Member States, through the development and implementation of joint strategies and coordination mechanisms to prevent cross-border recruitments and use, as well as trafficking. Regional organizations should also deepen their collaboration with civil society in early warning and early response, he said, spotlighting the "Peace and Security CSO Platform" developed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as an example to follow.
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