War-affected children need bold protection measures
Last year, 27,180 grave violations were committed against children caught up in war, the highest number ever verified by the UN, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict reported to the Security Council on Wednesday.
Presenting her annual report on the issue, Virginia Gamba urged decisive and bold action to protect children at risk of death, recruitment, rape and other scourges.
Gamba focused on 26 scenarios in five regions of the world, including for the first time Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ukraine and highlighting new situations in Haiti and Niger.
According to UN-verified data, 18,890 children suffered grave violations during war in 2022. Disaggregating that figure means 8630 killed or maimed, 7622 recruited and used in combat, and 3985 abducted.
Gamba said these three violations reached their highest levels after increasing last year.
"Children were killed or injured in air strikes, explosive weapons, live ammunition, crossfire or direct attacks. In many cases, they were victims of explosive remnants of war," she explained.
In addition, the Special Representative gave an account of 1,165 children, mostly girls, who suffered rape - often mass rape, forced marriage or sexual slavery, and sexual assault. Some cases were so severe that the victims died.
Children's faces behind the numbers
In this context, he stressed the need to never forget that these numbers represent real children whose individual stories are not told.
He cited examples such as the case of three girls in South Sudan who were gang raped over a five-day period, a 14-year-old girl abducted and burned alive in Myanmar and children killed by an improvised explosive device in a school in Afghanistan.
"That is why we must remember that behind the numbers are the faces of children suffering from armed violence around the world. We must do more to prevent and protect our children from the ravages of armed conflict," he said.
Punishment instead of protection
Gamba also noted that some children are being punished for their circumstances rather than protected. Last year, 2,496 children were deprived of their liberty because of their real or perceived association with parties to conflict.
"Particularly vulnerable at the hands of the authorities, children in detention were exposed to more violations of their rights, including torture and sexual violence. In some cases, they were even sentenced to death," it said.
The report also revealed verified attacks on 1163 schools and 650 hospitals in 2022, an increase of 112 per cent from the previous year. Half of these attacks were carried out by government forces.
Gamba noted with concern the use of schools and hospitals for military purposes, which saw an increase of more than 60 per cent last year, both by armies and armed groups.
Denial of humanitarian aid
Meanwhile, humanitarian workers and the life-saving aid they provide, often the only hope for children and communities affected by conflict, are increasingly under fire.
The UN verified more than 3,930 incidents of denial of humanitarian access to children last year. Humanitarian workers were also killed, assaulted and abducted, while supplies were looted and vital assets and infrastructure were destroyed.
Long-standing conflicts
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Deputy Executive Director Omar Abdi, meanwhile, told the Security Council that the highest numbers of grave violations against children were recorded in long-standing conflicts, citing countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel and Palestine, and Somalia.
Although the current conflict in Sudan erupted outside the reporting period, UNICEF also highlighted its impact on the 21 million children living there.
"More than one million children have now been displaced by the fighting and the UN has received credible reports that hundreds of children have been killed and injured," he said.
Abdi insisted that the UN mandate on children and armed conflict is effective, noting that armed groups have released at least 180,000 children from their ranks in the past 23 years.
However, he added that "as the number of countries on the children and armed conflict agenda grows, the number of children in need of protection and support increases, and he called for more international support for the UN's work.