A father holds his daughter after they fled their home due to escalating violence in Afghanistan.
AT A GLANCE
- Henrietta Fore, the Executive Director of UNICEF, and Virginia Gamba, the Special Representative of the Secretary
General on Children and Armed Conflict, have released a joint statement on the impact of war on children. - The statement highlights the devastating toll conflict takes on children: since 2005, the UN has verified 266,000 grave violations against children in more than 30 conflict situations – including 104,100 children killed or maimed; 93,000 recruited into armed groups; 25,700 children abducted; and 14,200 children who experienced sexual violence.
266,000 cases of grave rights violations against children in conflict, joint statement reports
Twenty-five years ago, Graça Machel – the former First Lady of South Africa and Mozambique, and international advocate for women’s and children’s rights – released a seminal report on the impact of war on children. In the report, Machel urged the international community to protect children in humanitarian settings. On the report’s 25th anniversary, two global leaders are echoing her words.
“In 2020, the UN verified a total of 26,425 violations against children in conflict situations,” the joint statement reads. “This corresponds to 72 violations occurring every single day or three violations every hour.”
The joint statement was issued by Henrietta Fore, the Executive Director of UNICEF, and Virginia Gamba, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict, both of whom are members of the End Violence Partnership's Board. It highlights the devastating toll conflict takes on children: since 2005, the UN has verified 266,000 grave violations against children in more than 30 conflict situations – including 104,100 children killed or maimed; 93,000 recruited into armed groups; 25,700 children abducted; and 14,200 children who experienced sexual violence.
“These are only the cases that can be verified through the UN-led Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism, established in 2005 to systematically document the most egregious violations against children in conflict zones,” the statement reads. “The true figures are undoubtedly much higher.”
As part of Together to #ENDviolence, the End Violence Partnership is calling for governments and humanitarian actors to protect children in humanitarian settings. To do so, we are pushing for these actors to prioritise child protection in all humanitarian and refugee response plans, and are urging governments and donors to more than double funding to meet the existing – and escalating – protection needs of children in crisis.
“As Graça Machel said 25 years ago, the impact of conflict on children is everyone’s responsibility, and it must be everyone’s concern,” the statement reads. “Parties to conflict and those with influence over them, as well as the international community, should heed this call to action and redouble efforts to end grave violations of children’s rights.
All children have the right to be protected from harm and to live in peace.”
Read the joint statement and download the related fact sheet to learn more.
Photo: UNICEF/UN0498792/UNICEF Afghanistan