As protracted and new armed conflicts have continued to rage in 2022, the number of children severely affected by hostilities has remained shockingly high at almost 19,000 children in 25 countries and the Lake Chad Basin region, according to a new UN report published Tuesday. While there were 27,180 grave violations verified overall, the conflicts with the highest numbers of children affected last year were in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Yemen.
The UN Secretary-General Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict reveals the grim reality faced by these children who were recruited or used, killed, or maimed, raped or victims of sexual violence, or abducted. Their schools and hospitals were damaged or destroyed, and access to humanitarian aid for children has been repeatedly denied.
The report found blatant and systematic disregard for international humanitarian law and international human rights law continues to severely impact the protection of children.
In 2022, the number of verified grave violations affecting children in the monitored situations, including those lately added namely Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Ukraine, reached 27,180, up 13 percent on the year before. However, this is sadly only the verifiable tip of the iceberg. The real number is certainly considerably higher, and this realization hints at a much larger and profoundly distressing human tragedy.
While non-State armed groups were responsible for 52 percent of the grave violations overall, Government forces were the main perpetrator, particularly in the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access.
āMilitary operations set in motion due to rebellions, offensives and counter-offensives have led to an increase used of explosive weapons including with wide impact in populated areas, which resulted in an outrageous number of children being killed and maimed and a striking increase of schools and hospitals being damaged, denying children education and access to health servicesā, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, said.
āCivilian populations, and particularly children, are paying the price of armed conflict. We need to reconsider the value of peace for the sake of our children.ā
The highest numbers of violations were the killing and maiming of children, following by the recruitment of 7,622 children and the abduction of 3,985 children. The United Nations verified the killing and maiming of over 8,630 children, which represents a 5 percent increase compared to 2021. The use of explosive ordnance, including explosive remnants of war (ERW), improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and landmines, was responsible for over 25 percent of the killing and maiming of children.
With 1,846 incidents verified, the number of attacks on schools and hospitals showed the sharpest increase of all grave violations with 112 percent, mainly in Ukraine, Burkina Faso, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Myanmar, Mali, and Afghanistan.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo had the highest number of grave violations against children for a second year in a row in 2022, with at least 2,420 children suffering from killing, maiming, abductions, and sexual violence. The report verified 3,377 grave violations against children in the DRC of which about 46% involved the recruitment of children ā some as young as five - by armed forces or groups. Among those added to this yearās offendersā list are armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo including M23, Mai-Mai Zaire, and CODECO.
For the first time, Russia was named as a notable perpetrator of grave violations against children for Moscow's actions in Ukraine, including the number of attacks on hospitals and schools carried out during the invasion and the killing of children during military operations.
In the report, the UN verified the killing of 136 children and the maiming of 518 in Ukraine, attributed to Russian forces and groups affiliated with them from January to December 2022. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, but denies that it is targeting civilians.
The report says most of the casualties were caused by "the use of explosives with a wide-impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery, multiple-launch rocket systems, missiles and air strikes in populated areas." Russia was also cited for 480 attacks on hospitals and schools in Ukraine.
While Ukraine is not listed as a grave violator, the UN did verify at least 80 deaths and the maiming of 175 children attributed to Ukrainian parties.
āAround the world, children living in situations of armed conflict have been denied their basic rights, including for them to be recognized as a child. The age definition of a child, which is up to 18 years of age as per the International Convention of the Right of the Child, has been ignored by armed groups and governments,ā Gamba stressed.
At least 2,496 children were detained for their actual or alleged association with parties to conflict, making them even more vulnerable to ill-treatment and torture, including sexual violence. The denial of humanitarian access remained very high, with 3,931 verified incidents.
The report said, while there has been a concerning deterioration in the situations faced by children in some contexts such as Myanmar, South Sudan or Burkina Faso, progress made in protecting them was also observed. Notably, countries such as the Central African Republic, Colombia, Iraq, Nigeria, and Yemen, among others, demonstrated proactive efforts to safeguard children, including engagement with parties to conflict.
When engagement was achieved between the United Nations and parties to conflict or when peace agreements and ceasefires primed over ongoing armed conflict, violations against children sharply fell. As a result, some 12,460 children formerly associated with armed forces or armed groups were provided with protection or reintegration support in 2022.
āChildren will always be the first ones to pay the price of an armed conflict. Children have the right to a childhood free from violence. We need to strengthen compliance with international humanitarian law and human rights obligations through commitment, conviction, and concrete actionsā, the Special Representative said.
The Children and Armed Conflict report, names and shames perpetrators who recruit, kill, maim or abduct children, commit sexual violence against them, deny them humanitarian assistance, or attack schools and hospitals. The Secretary-Generalās special representative, Virginia Gamba, is mandated by the UN Security Council to work to prevent and end these grave violations.
Further information
Full text: Summary of the UN Secretary-General Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, released June 27, 2023
https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/23-00045_CAAC_AnnualReport_Summary_2022-FINAL.pdf
Full text: UN Secretary-General Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, released to the public on June 27, 2023
https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/document/secretary-general-annual-report-on-children-and-armed-conflict-2/
Website: Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/