NEW YORK – A United Nations (UN) Children and Armed Conflict annual report verified 26,425 grave violations against children last year.
Of the total, 23,946 were committed in 2020 and 2,479 were committed earlier but verified only last year, according to the report released yesterday, reported Xinhua News Agency.
The violations affected 19,379 children, including 14,097 boys in 21 situations.
The highest numbers of violations were the recruitment and use of 8,521 children, followed by the killing and maiming of 8,422 and denial of humanitarian access incidents, which affected 4,156.
The children were also detained for actual or alleged association with armed groups, including those designated as terrorist groups by the UN.
The report said escalation of conflict, armed clashes and disregard for international humanitarian law and international human rights law has a severe impact on the protection of children.
Cross-border spillover of conflicts and intercommunal violence affected children, in particular, in the Sahel and Lake Chad basin regions, it added.
The highest numbers of grave violations were verified in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
Verified cases of abduction and sexual violence against children alarmingly increased by 90% and 70%, respectively, the report said, adding that abduction is often combined with recruitment, use of children and sexual violence.
Grave violations affect boys and girls differently.
While 85% of children recruited and used were boys, 98% of sexual violence was perpetrated against girls. Sexual violence remains vastly under-reported, owing to stigmatisation, cultural norms, absence of services, and safety concerns.
The Covid-19 pandemic aggravated existing vulnerabilities of children, including by hampering their access to education, health and social services, limiting child protection activities and shrinking safe spaces.
The report said the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic has exposed these children to grave violations, notably recruitment, abduction and sexual violence. Attacks on schools and hospitals, and the military use thereof, exacerbated the plight of children.
The protection of children affected by armed conflict is crucial to preventing conflict and sustaining peace, it added, urging national and regional stakeholders to develop and expand initiatives to prevent grave violations. – Bernama, June 22, 2021
