Latest news with #armedConflict
SBS Australia
21-06-2025
- Politics
- SBS Australia
One killed every two hours: Why is violence against children rising in armed conflicts?
The violence against children in armed conflict reached unprecedented levels in 2024, with children bearing the brunt of relentless hostilities, indiscriminate attacks, disregard for ceasefires and peace agreements, and deepening humanitarian crises, according to a new UN report. Source: Getty / Global Images Ukraine This article contains references to abuses against children. Violence against children caught up in wars and conflicts hit "unprecedented levels" last year, according to a new United Nations report. The Children and Armed Conflict report shows that with a 25 per cent increase, there were 41,370 grave violations incidents in 2024 — the highest number reported since the inception of the Children and Armed Conflict mandate almost 30 years ago. Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, notably the Gaza Strip, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Nigeria, and Haiti were cited as experiencing the highest numbers of child deaths. The UN has identified six grave violations against children in conflict, which it monitors and reports on: killing and maiming, recruitment or use of children as soldiers, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools or hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access. Most of these violations rose in 2024, including attacks on schools (44 per cent), and rape and other forms of sexual violence (34 per cent). In total, 22,495 children were affected by recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and abduction. Special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, said this "should keep all of us awake at night'. 'This must serve as a wake-up call. We are at the point of no return." According to the report, 4,676 children lost their lives in armed conflicts in 2024, equivalent to one child being killed every two hours. It also shows that 7,291 children were maimed, 7,402 were recruited and used in armed conflicts, 4,573 were abducted, and 1,982 were victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence. There were also 2,374 attacks on schools and hospitals, mostly in "Ukraine, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Haiti, Afghanistan and Myanmar". According to the report, warfare strategies in 2024 "included targeted attacks on children, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, and the systematic exploitation of children in hostilities and for military and sexual purposes". "Heavy bombardments, missile strikes, and the relentless use of explosive weapons in urban areas have turned homes and neighbourhoods into battlefields," Gamba said. She said that the "widespread deployment of landmines" had "dire consequences" for children. "These weapons alone account for one-quarter of all those killed or injured in hostilities," she said. The report says armed forces respecting international law, protecting hospitals, and refraining from using explosive weapons in populated areas were among measures that would prevent grave violations against children. "The best way to protect children from hostilities is to eliminate the push and pull factors leading to their involvement in armed conflict," it stated.
Arab News
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Violence against children hit ‘unprecedented levels in 2024'
NEW YORK: Violence against children caught in multiple and escalating conflicts reached 'unprecedented levels' last year, with the highest number of violations in Gaza and the West Bank, Congo, Somalia, Nigeria and Haiti, according to a UN report. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' annual report on Children in Armed Conflict detailed 'a staggering 25 percent surge in grave violations' against children under the age of 18 from 2023, when the number of such violations rose by 21 percent. In 2024, the UN chief said children 'bore the brunt of relentless hostilities and indiscriminate attacks, and were affected by the disregard for ceasefires and peace agreements and by deepening humanitarian crises.' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is 'appalled by the intensity of grave violations against children in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel,' and 'deeply alarmed'by the increase in violations, especially the high number of children killed by Israeli forces. He cited warfare strategies that included attacks on children, the deployment of increasingly destructive and explosive weapons in populated areas, and 'the systematic exploitation of children for combat.' Guterres said the UN verified 41,370 grave violations against children — 36,221 committed in 2024 and 5,149 committed earlier but verified last year. The violations include killing, maiming, recruiting and abducting children, sexual violence against them, attacking schools and hospitals, and denying youngsters access to humanitarian aid. The UN kept Israeli forces on its blacklist of countries that violate children's rights for a second year, citing 7,188 verified grave violations by its military, including the killing of 1,259 Palestinian children and injury to 941 others in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry has reported much higher figures, but the UN has strict criteria and said its process of verification is ongoing. Guterres said he is 'appalled by the intensity of grave violations against children in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel,' and 'deeply alarmed' by the increase in violations, especially the high number of children killed by Israeli forces. He reiterated his calls on Israel to abide by international law requiring special protections for children, protection for schools and hospitals, and compliance with the requirement that attacks distinguish between combatants and civilians and avoid excessive harm to civilians. The UN also kept Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad on the blacklist. Israel's UN Mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In Congo, the UN reported 4,043 verified grave violations against 3,418 children last year. In Somalia, it reported 2,568 violations against 1,992 children. In Nigeria, 2,436 grave violations were reported against 1,037 children. And in Haiti, the UN reported 2,269 verified grave violations against 1,373 children. In the ongoing war following Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the UN kept the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups on its blacklist for a third year. The secretary-general expressed deep concern at 'the sharp increase in grave violations against children in Ukraine' — 1,914 against 673 children. He expressed alarm at the violations by Russian forces and their affiliates, singling out their verified killing of 94 Ukrainian children, injury to 577 others, and 559 attacks on schools and 303 on hospitals. In Haiti, the UN put a gang, the Viv Ansanm coalition, on the blacklist for the first time. Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021. They are estimated to control 85 percent of the capital and have moved into surrounding areas. In May, the US designated the powerful coalition representing more than a dozen gangs, whose name means 'Living Together,' as a foreign terrorist organization. Secretary-General Guterres expressed deep 'alarm' at the surge in violations, especially incidents of gang recruitment and use, sexual violence, abduction, and denial of humanitarian aid. The report said sexual violence jumped by 35 percent in 2024, including a dramatic increase in the number of gang rapes, but stressed that the numbers are vastly underreported. 'Girls were abducted for the purpose of recruitment and use, and for sexual slavery,' the UN chief said. In Haiti, the UN reported sexual violence against 566 children, 523 of them girls, and attributed 411 to the Viv Ansanm gang. In Congo, the UN reported 358 acts of sexual violence against girls — 311 by armed groups and 47 by Congo's armed forces. And in Somalia, 267 children were victims of sexual violence, 120 of them carried out by Al-Shabab extremists. According to the report, violations affected 22,495 children in 2024, with armed groups responsible for almost 50 percent and government forces the main perpetrator of the killing and maiming of children, school attacks, and denial of humanitarian access. The report noted a sharp rise in the number of children subjected to multiple violations — from 2,684 in 2023 to 3,137 in 2024. 'The cries of 22,495 innocent children who should be learning to read or play ball — but instead have been forced to learn how to survive gunfire and bombings — should keep all of us awake at night,' said Virginia Gamba, the UN special representative for children and armed conflict. 'We are at the point of no return,' she said, calling on the international community to protect children and the parties in conflict 'to immediately end the war on children.'
CNA
20-06-2025
- CNA
Children in armed conflict: UN reports 25% jump in violations in 2024
A UN report says children in conflict zones fell victim to unprecedented levels of violence last year. Tens of thousands of them were affected by armed conflict, with many of them recruited, maimed, violated or killed in more than 20 countries. In Asia, most cases were recorded in Myanmar.
The Guardian
20-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Children suffered record levels of violence in conflict zones in 2024, UN report shows
A record number of children were subjected to acts of violence in conflict zones in 2024, with the number of incidents recorded rising by 25%, according to a UN report. The UN security council's annual report on children and armed conflict found 22,495 children in 2024 were killed, wounded, denied humanitarian support or recruited for conflict. It highlighted a 44% rise in attacks on schools and 35% rise in sexual violence against children. 'This must serve as a wake-up call. We are at the point of no return,' said Virginia Gamba, the special representative of the UN secretary general for children and armed conflict. 'Children living amid hostilities are being stripped of their childhood. Instead of recognising the special protection afforded to children, governments and armed groups around the world blatantly ignore international law that defines a child as anyone under 18.' The report verified 41,370 incidents of violations against children – including 5,149 that occurred earlier but were only verified in 2024 – with 4,856 in Gaza, primarily carried out by the Israeli security forces, including killings, injuries and the denial of permits for medical treatment. It verified 22 cases of Palestinian boys being used by Israeli forces as human shields in Gaza and five in the occupied West Bank. It also highlighted rises in violence against children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Somalia, Nigeria and Haiti. The number of incidents was the highest since the UN began verifying reports in 1996. The report also said there was an increase in the number of children suffering multiple violations, from 2,684 in 2023 to 3,137 in 2024, especially in cases where abductions, recruitment and sexual violence converged. 'To normalise this level of violence against children is to accept the dismantling of our collective humanity. The level of alarm is unprecedented. Governments must act immediately to turn the tide of grief, trauma and loss borne by children,' said Helen Pattinson, CEO of War Child UK. Of more than 4,000 incidents recorded in DRC, more than half involved children being recruited by armed groups. There was also a 35% rise in sexual violence against children in 2024, with almost 2,000 cases. More than a quarter were recorded in Haiti, with 406 cases of rape and 160 involving gang rape. There were 419 cases of sexual violence in Nigeria, 358 in DRC and 267 in Somalia. The report said it was concerned by the 'dramatic' rise in gang rape and the abduction of girls for sexual slavery, which it said highlighted how sexual violence against children was being used as a weapon of war. Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said sexual violence 'must be treated with the same gravity as guns and bombs'. 'Sexual violence against children in conflict is a crime which once took place in the shadows but is now more and more becoming used as an overt tactic of war,' said Ashing. 'No one should have to endure the pain and humiliation of rape and sexual exploitation and violence, and it is particularly deplorable when a child is subjected to this brutality.'
LBCI
20-06-2025
- LBCI
Violence against children hit 'unprecedented levels' in 2024: UN
The United Nations said Thursday that violence against children in conflict zones reached "unprecedented levels" in 2024, setting a new grim record since monitoring began nearly 30 years ago. "In 2024, violence against children in armed conflict reached unprecedented levels, with a staggering 25 percent surge in the number of grave violations in comparison with 2023," according to the annual report from the secretary-general. AFP
