UN Report on Children and Armed Conflict submitted to the General Assembly
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - The UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict has said grave violations against children reached “shocking levels” in 2024.
The new report covered the period from August 2024 to July 2025, highlights a staggering 25% surge in grave violations compared to 2023.
The report, according to a summary posted by the UN on Wednesday, stressed the dramatic impacts hostilities continue to have on children, pointing to the failure to respect international humanitarian and human rights law, disregard for the specific protection of children, and deepening humanitarian crises.
“Children are paying a huge price. They are being starved, displaced and killed. This underscores the crucial importance of ensuring lasting peace and stability, which is the only way to ensure children’s protection,” the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid, said.
The Special Representative's ongoing multistakeholder engagement to build partnerships to end and prevent grave violations against children is also highlighted in the report.
The report, the statement said, has shown that engagement with parties to the conflict bears fruit, as shown by the signature of handover protocols for the transfer of children to civilian authorities in the Central African Republic and Yemen, or the release of children in Afghanistan and Sudan.
The statement underlined that to date, more than 40 action plans have been signed, and dialogue has resulted in the release of over 220,000 children from armed forces and groups.
In collaboration with partners, a new advocacy campaign, entitled “Prove It Matters”, was also launched in March 2025, aimed at rallying the international community behind the Convention on the Rights of the Child, with children’s voices at the centre.
The report further emphasises the urgent need to address the situation of children affected by armed conflict. At a time of acute humanitarian and protection needs for children, resources for child protection must be sustained and reinforced, Maalla M’jid stressed.
The report underlined that as the 30th anniversary was approaching, it is essential to uphold the Children and Armed Conflict mandate, allowing it to build on its long-standing work to ensure the protection of children.
“The international community must recommit and uphold the protection of children. Protecting children contributes to breaking the cycles of conflict and violence and promotes sustainable peace,” she said.
The Special Representative, meanwhile, stressed in her report that she remains deeply alarmed by the scale and severity of the grave violations committed against children, including killing and maiming, the denial of humanitarian access, recruitment and use, and abduction as the violations with the greatest number of verified cases during the reporting period.
She urged all parties to immediately prevent their occurrence and reoccurrence and also appealed to Member States to adopt and implement legislation criminalising violations and abuses against children, and to strengthen accountability and end impunity.
The Special Representative called on all Member States to ratify and implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child and accede to its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and to endorse and implement the Paris Principles, the Safe Schools Declaration and the Vancouver Principles.
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