(Second from left in back) Sitan Doumbia, 5, plays with her friends at the Early Childhood Development Center in Baraouéli village, Ségou Region, Mali, Tuesday 6 February 2018. (Credit; childrenandarmedconflict.un.org)
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMTIC TIMES
UNITED NATIONS – NEW YORK – Armed conflicts have a devastating impact on children. Grave violations against children in armed conflict in 2020 remained “alarmingly high” according to a report by the UN Secretary General published Monday. The UN report verifies 26,425 grave violations against children in armed conflict in 2020. More than 19,300 boys and girls affected by war last year were victims of grave violations such as recruitment or rape, and the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for experts to reach them, the UN said in its annual report on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC). According to the report, violations against children remained at nearly 26,500, while the pandemic increased their vulnerability to abduction, recruitment and sexual violence, as well as attacks on schools and hospitals. Violations affected 19,379 children (14,097 boys, 4,993 girls, 289 sex unknown) in 21 situations. The highest numbers of violations were the recruitment and use of 8,521 children, followed by the killing (2,674) and maiming (5,748) of 8,422 children and 4,156 incidents of denial of humanitarian access, according to the UN report.
The highest numbers of grave violations were verified in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen.
Children were detained for actual or alleged association with armed groups (3,243), including those designated as terrorist groups by the United Nations, or for national security reasons.
“The wars of adults have taken away the childhood of millions of boys and girls again in 2020. This is completely devastating for them, but also for the entire communities they live in, and destroys chances for a sustainable peace”
-Virginia Gamba, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on CAAC.
(Credit: Gary Raynaldo ©Diplomatic Times) Virginia Gamba, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict( CAAC) briefs reporters virtually at UN world headquarters in New York, NY June 21, 2021.
Recruitment and use, as well as killing and maiming of children, were the most prevalent violations in 2020, followed by denial of humanitarian access and abduction, the report said. More than 8,400 youngsters were killed or maimed in ongoing wars in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia, while nearly 7,000 more were recruited and used in fighting, mainly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Syria and Myanmar.
Attacks on Schools and Hospitals “Remained Excessively High”
Attacks on schools and hospitals “remained excessively high”, which included serious attacks perpetrated against girls’ education and against health facilities and personnel. There was also an increase in the military use of schools, as the temporary closure of schools during the pandemic made them easy targets for military occupation and use. The report further revealed that girls made up a quarter of all child victims of grave violations. They also were mostly affected by rape and other forms of sexual violence, comprising 98 per cent of victims, followed by killing and maiming.
“If boys and girls experience conflict differently and require interventions to better address their specific needs, what the data also showed is that conflict doesn’t differentiate based on gender,”
-Ms. Gamba stated.
Despite the sobering statistics, the report also details tangible progress in dialogues with warring parties in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Sudan and Syria.
“This is an opportunity to stop and reflect on the suffering we are causing our children, who are our future,” the senior UN official said.
“We need to give children an alternative to violence and abuse: we need peace, respect for child rights and democracy. We need hope in good governance. We need to act to build a future where peace prevails. Please, give children that alternative.”
