Over 70 grave violations against children caught up in war recorded daily: UNICEF
A “staggering” average of 71 verified grave violations a day, are committed against children by parties to conflict in more than 30 settings across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.
This is one of the key findings of a new report entitled, 25 years of children and armed conflict: Taking action to protect children in war, launched by the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, on Tuesday.
Speaking at a news briefing at the UN in Geneva, Tasha Gill, UNICEF’s Senior Advisor on Child Protection in Emergencies, said that between 2005 and 2020, the Organization had verified over 250,000 grave violations in total, against children in the 30 locations.
“This is a staggering average of 71 grave violations against children daily”, she told reporters.
The report analyses 16 years of data on grave rights violations committed against children in conflict situations, to show the impact of armed conflict on children across the world.
Ms. Gill emphasized that in the time frame examined, “82 percent of all verified child casualties occurred in only five locations”: Afghanistan, Israel and the State of Palestine, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia.
The report examines how engagement with parties to conflict – state and non-State actors alike – enables ending and preventing child rights’ violations.
According to Ms. Gill, “our analysis shows that despite decades of advocacy with parties to conflict and those who influence them – as well as enhanced monitoring, reporting and documenting grave rights violations - children continue to bear the brunt of war.
“Every day, girls and boys living in areas under conflict experience and endure unspeakable horrors that no one should experience”.
During the period from 2005 to 2020, UNICEF found that more than 104,000 children were verified as killed or maimed, more than 93,000 children verified as recruited and used by parties to conflict and at least 25,700 were verified as abducted by parties to conflict.
“To give just some sense of the magnitude of the problem: in one decade alone - from 2010 to 2020, there was an increase of 185% of verified grave child rights violations committed against children in conflict situations,” said UNICEF’s Senior Advisor on Child Protection in Emergencies.
She added that “it is also important to note that many children experience more than one violation, increasing their vulnerability. For example, abduction is often combined with or leads to other violations, like recruitment and use and sexual violence”.
The effort of UNICEF staff, other UN and partner organizations to collect and verify information on grave violations to better understand and respond to the needs of children, has yielded positive results.
Since 2000, at least 170,000 children have been released from armed forces, many having survived multiple violations, including abduction or sexual violence.
“While we are complaining or criticizing all members of wars parties to conflict for not upholding their obligations under International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, we also believe that the international community at large can do more to protect children in conflict”, said Ms. Gill.
Speaking at a news briefing at the UN in Geneva, Tasha Gill, UNICEF’s Senior Advisor on Child Protection in Emergencies, said that between 2005 and 2020, the Organization had verified over 250,000 grave violations in total, against children in the 30 locations.
“This is a staggering average of 71 grave violations against children daily”, she told reporters.
The report analyses 16 years of data on grave rights violations committed against children in conflict situations, to show the impact of armed conflict on children across the world.
Ms. Gill emphasized that in the time frame examined, “82 percent of all verified child casualties occurred in only five locations”: Afghanistan, Israel and the State of Palestine, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia.
The report examines how engagement with parties to conflict – state and non-State actors alike – enables ending and preventing child rights’ violations.
According to Ms. Gill, “our analysis shows that despite decades of advocacy with parties to conflict and those who influence them – as well as enhanced monitoring, reporting and documenting grave rights violations - children continue to bear the brunt of war.
“Every day, girls and boys living in areas under conflict experience and endure unspeakable horrors that no one should experience”.
During the period from 2005 to 2020, UNICEF found that more than 104,000 children were verified as killed or maimed, more than 93,000 children verified as recruited and used by parties to conflict and at least 25,700 were verified as abducted by parties to conflict.
“To give just some sense of the magnitude of the problem: in one decade alone - from 2010 to 2020, there was an increase of 185% of verified grave child rights violations committed against children in conflict situations,” said UNICEF’s Senior Advisor on Child Protection in Emergencies.
She added that “it is also important to note that many children experience more than one violation, increasing their vulnerability. For example, abduction is often combined with or leads to other violations, like recruitment and use and sexual violence”.
The effort of UNICEF staff, other UN and partner organizations to collect and verify information on grave violations to better understand and respond to the needs of children, has yielded positive results.
Since 2000, at least 170,000 children have been released from armed forces, many having survived multiple violations, including abduction or sexual violence.
“While we are complaining or criticizing all members of wars parties to conflict for not upholding their obligations under International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law, we also believe that the international community at large can do more to protect children in conflict”, said Ms. Gill.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
