The number of verified children affected by grave violations in armed conflict in 2022 increased compared to 2021, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict told a press conference.
During the presentation of António Guterres’ annual report on children and armed conflict, Virginia Gamba explained that the United Nations was able to verify 27,180 grave violations last year.
Gamba specified that the most common violations were the killing (2985) and maiming (5655) of 8631 children, followed by the recruitment and use of 7622 minors and the abduction of 3985.
Among the nations with the highest levels of verified grave violations it listed Israel and Palestine, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Yemen.
It also noted a high number of denials of humanitarian access (3931 incidents) and a 112% increase in the number of attacks on schools (1163) and hospitals (647), particularly in Ukraine, Burkina Faso, Israel and Palestine, Myanmar, Mali and Afghanistan.
Russia appears for the first time in the report
Although Russia is listed in the annex to the report as one of the parties that committed grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict not under the control of the Security Council, it was included as one of the “parties that implemented measures to improve the protection of children”.
“In Ukraine, the Secretary-General decided to include Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups in Annex II, section B, for attacks against schools and hospitals and for the killing of children, in particular through the use of explosive weapons over a wide impact area (…) resulting in a very high number of casualties and destruction of infrastructure,” he said.
Gamba specified that the inclusion of the Russian armed forces and their affiliated armed groups under this heading was due to their engagement with her since last year and also following her visit to Russia in May.
“I pledge to continue this commitment to ensure that the measures identified to end and prevent grave violations of children’s rights have been implemented.”
The report also issues a warning for Ukraine due to the high number of children killed and maimed and attributed attacks on schools and hospitals and recalls that the representative’s mandate applies to all parties to conflict, whether grave violations are committed during offensive or defensive operations.
“The Secretary General will continue to monitor how Ukrainian forces respond to his requests. But he commended the progress made by the Ukrainian government in taking further steps to protect children since my engagement with them began last year,” said Gamba.
Colombia: Recruitment of children by armed groups a concern
Although 290 grave violations were verified against 209 children in Colombia (122 boys, 83 girls and four of unknown sex), the report commended the government for progress made in preventing violations, “and for the suspension in August 2022 of air strikes against armed group camps where children may have been present”.
However, the study highlighted the Secretary-General’s concern about “the continued increase in the number of grave violations, especially regarding the recruitment, use, killing and maiming of children by armed groups, in particular by dissident groups of the FARC-EP”.
António Guterres also expressed concern about the increase in sexual violence against girls, especially when linked to armed groups, and urged all parties to stop and prevent these attacks.
Israel and Palestine not listed
Despite the 3133 grave violations in Israel and Palestine, Gamba justified the non-listing of violators in both territories by a decrease in ground attacks and rocket fire during 2022, compared to those during the escalation of violence in Gaza in May 2021.
To this, he added a decrease in Israeli airstrikes during 2022 from 598 in 2021 to 52, and indicated that the purpose of the report is to create behavioural changes in the parties and to strengthen the protection of children.
However, he expressed concern about the persistently high level of violence in the West Bank and other occupied territories so far this year.
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