Children are killed and injured in unprecedented numbers in places like Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, especially Gaza; Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Ukraine, his annual report on Children and Armed Conflict reveals.
The alarming increase is due to the increasing nature, complexity and increasing intensity of armed conflict and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, the report said.
UN Secretary General ‘horrified’
The United Nations has verified nearly 33,000 serious violations affecting more than 22,500 children, mainly boys, in 26 situations worldwide.
The highest number was for killing and maiming, with 11,649 children affected – a 35% increase from last year’s report. This was followed by the recruitment and use of 8,655 children and the kidnapping of 4,356 more children.
While more than half of the violations were committed by non-state armed groups, including those deemed terrorist by the United Nations, government forces were the main perpetrators of killings and causing injuries, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access.
The report found that the conflict in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories has led to a 155% increase in serious violations against children.
“I am appalled by the sharp increase and its unprecedented scale and intensity about serious violations against children in the Gaza Strip, Israel and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, despite my constant calls for all parties to take measures to end serious violations,” Mr. Guterres wrote.
annual blacklist
The annual report contains appendices of serious violators. As has been widely reported, for the first time, Israeli armed and security forces have been included in the list of killing and injuring children and attacking schools and hospitals.
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were also added to the list for the first time for murder, wounding and kidnapping of children.
The report notes that the war in Sudan has led to a “staggering” 480% increase in serious violations.
Sudan’s army and its rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been fighting for more than a year and are both blacklisted for killing and maiming children and attacking schools and hospitals. institute.
RSF also recruited and used children in addition to committing rape and other sexual violence against them.
‘We are failing children’
Despite the multiplying and escalating crises detailed in the report, more than 10,600 children formerly involved in armed forces or groups received protection or reintegration support last year.
The UN has initiated or maintained engagement with conflict parties in places such as Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia , South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.
In some cases, this engagement has led to the adoption of measures to better protect children.
Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said the report was “a wake-up call”.
“We are children of failure,” she said speak. “I call on the international community to recommit to reaching a common consensus to protect children from armed conflict and I call on States to fulfill their primary responsibility to protect their populations and to respect all applicable norms and standards in the conduct of situations of armed conflict.”
“No bullets. One rose for each child.” These were the powerful words of 10-year-old Majd during a psychosocial session organized by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners in Sudan.
