YouSaid · the spoken record

Gamba de Potgieter

lines on the record: 51
first: 2020-09-10
most recent: 2023-07-05
sittings or episodes: 4
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I am therefore committed to working on four major areas during 2023 and forward: advocating for the peaceful resolution of conflict, improving the directives for monitors to best identify grave violations, increasing the resources available for child protection expertise on the ground and the development of a new public awareness campaign that aims at putting the voices of children at the centre of all our work. That campaign will be child-focused and will include their participation, their views and their voices for us to better respond to their concerns. In that regard, I thank Violeta for being here today to share with all of us her recommendations on how to involve children in peacebuilding processes. I for one remain hopeful that our joint engagement, dedication and action can lead to positive change for children trapped in war.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“It is important for friends of the mandate to support the MRM in budgetary decisions, including in the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly and in United Nations mission budgets. Furthermore, the resources of UNICEF country offices specifically dedicated to the MRM, monitoring and response and the reintegration of children also need to be preserved and sustained, while building similar child protection capacity and expertise in other United Nations entities as part of country task forces for monitoring and reporting on violations against children in armed conflict. Lastly, we need to put children at the centre of our efforts and hear their voices.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“It is heartbreaking when children who have been released from recruitment and use, or encountered after enduring other violations, find that there is in fact no safe place for them to go and no support available. The financing of demining action programmes and mine education should also be a priority, given the devastating impact of explosive remnants of war on children globally. I would also like to underline that the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) is only as strong as the resources and capacities given for its operations, including budgetary resources and staff positions and capacity-building. That is particularly salient as between 2022 and 2023 five new situations have been added to the agenda of children and armed conflict, including the Niger and Haiti this year.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“We must build on the international consensus on child protection and rally behind the instruments that have already been agreed upon widely. That includes defining as a child everyone under the age of 18, as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which must be protected. I urge everyone to embrace peace and the peaceful resolution of conflicts, which remains the only sustainable way to reduce and prevent violations against children. I call on everyone to boost financing for child protection programmes, including meeting the enormous needs for reintegration programmes, which far outpace the resources currently available.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“In other situations, progress was achieved through the adoption of handover protocols, the development of child protection policies, the strengthening of legislation and the integration of child protection in peace processes and national dialogues. United Nations engagement also focused on training and awareness- raising, reaching thousands of stakeholders. Notably, 12,460 children formerly associated with armed forces or groups were released and provided with protection or reintegration support. Those achievements are important and meaningful, and I commend every single person who was involved in attaining them. Going forward, however, much bigger strides are required. We urgently need bold and resolute action.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“That is the third commitment signed in Yemen, meaning that the United Nations has engaged concretely with all three major parties to the conflict. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Mai-Mai Machine signed unilateral commitments to protect children. In Iraq, the Government signed an action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children by the Popular Mobilization Forces. In addition, 1,448 Iraqi children were repatriated from north-east Syria. The United Nations is engaging actively in other situations and with parties to those situations, such as in Ethiopia, Mozambique, Ukraine and the Russian Federation, all of which I recently visited, to secure concrete and practical commitments to protect children and put in place prevention plans and/or protection plans.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“For instance, upon assuming my Office in 2017, a total of 8,052 incidents of the recruitment and use of children were documented. Nevertheless, by 2022 that number had decreased to 7,622 incidents, despite the fact that we are reporting on six more situations than in 2017. Those figures attest to and reinforce the ongoing significance of our mandate and its effects when consistently applied. Allow me to also underline the positive achievements accomplished thanks to United Nations engagement with all parties to conflict, which led to concrete results in multiple situations last year. In Yemen, we signed an action plan with the Houthis — who call themselves Ansar Allah — to end and prevent violations.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“We owe it to children to guarantee them access to justice. And while acknowledging that armed groups, including those designated as terrorists by the United Nations, were responsible for 50 per cent of grave violations, I would like to underscore that the main perpetrators of the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals and the denial of humanitarian access in 2022 were the armed and security forces of Governments, whose primary responsibility is to ensure the protection of civilians, including children. In the face of ongoing tragedies that children endured, our hope remains unwavering. The relentless commitment of my Office and the United Nations on the ground, actively engaging with parties to conflict, has not only given us purpose but has also empowered us to strengthen our efforts.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“And therefore those most in need of our support are left alone in their suffering, without receiving care or justice. In some cases, instead of receiving protection, child victims are punished for their circumstances. Last year, 2,496 children were deprived of liberty for their actual or alleged association with parties to conflict. Being particularly vulnerable at the hands of authorities, children under detention were exposed to further violations of their rights, including torture and sexual violence. In some cases, they were even sentenced to death. Finally, justice and accountability continue to elude children. Despite progress in some situations, grave violations against children continue to go unpunished, and perpetrators are unchecked by the national and international legal systems.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“That is why we must remember that behind the figures are the faces of children suffering from armed violence around the globe. We must do more to prevent and protect our children from the ravages of armed conflict. Despite the need to protect our children better, there are simply too many areas that we do not have access to; too many situations where the demands far outweigh our monitoring capacities; and too many victims and witnesses have been silenced. All too often, children and their communities either do not have access to safe reporting channels and assistance or are too afraid to make use of them. Boys are often taught that being a victim undermines their masculinity. Societies shame girls for the harm done to them. Communities are put under pressure. Human rights defenders and humanitarian workers are threatened.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“Humanitarian supplies were looted, and assets and vital infrastructure were destroyed. Bureaucratic impediments and restrictions on movements further complicated the delivery of humanitarian aid. Given the increasing control over the work of humanitarian actors and restrictive laws, that unfortunately is a deteriorating trend as well. We should never forget that behind each verified violation is the life of a child, with their own individual story. Last year 18,890 children were affected, yet their stories are not told, as is the case of the three girls gang- raped in South Sudan during five days of terror, the boys killed by an improvised explosive device in a school in Afghanistan, the 14-year-old girl in Myanmar abducted and burned alive and the girl with amputated limbs as a result of airstrikes in Ukraine — and so many more.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“It exposes teachers, students, medical personnel and patients to harm, and it often leads to damage to, or the complete destruction of, civilian infrastructure. The United Nations verified a sharp increase of over 60 per cent of such cases last year, conducted by both armed forces and armed groups. In situations of conflict, when protection, education, health care, food production systems, water facilities and essential services are weakened or broken down, the only hope left for children and communities often comes in the form of humanitarian assistance. But that too is increasingly under threat. The United Nations verified 3,931 incidents of the denial of humanitarian access to children in 2022. Humanitarian workers were killed, assaulted and abducted.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“Rape and sexual violence against children, although chronically underreported, was also verified at high levels — 1,165 children, almost all of them girls, were raped, gang-raped, forced into marriage or sexual slavery or sexually assaulted. Some cases were so severe that they resulted in the death of the victims. The crimes committed against those children are horrifying. Overall, the United Nations verified attacks on 1,163 schools and 647 hospitals. That represents a 112 per cent increase as compared to the year before. Fifty percent of those attacks were perpetrated by Government forces. In addition, the use of schools and hospitals for military purposes remains a major concern.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“And the situation outlined in this year’s report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict reflects on all of those. The United Nations verified 27,180 grave violations against 18,890 children last year. They include 2,880 violations that were late-verified. As well, 8,630 children were either killed or maimed, 7,622 children were recruited and used, and 3,985 children were abducted. Those three violations remained the ones verified at the highest levels; and all of them increased in 2022. Children were killed or injured in airstrikes, by explosive weapons, by live ammunition, in crossfire or in direct attacks. In many cases, they fell victim to explosive remnants of war.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“Two new situations — Haiti and the Niger — have been added given the worrisome and unfolding security situations on the ground. Detailed information on both will be included in next year’s report, as was done for Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ukraine, which were added in 2022 and are featured for the first time in the report (S/2023/363) before the Council. The challenges that the world is facing also increased and layered on each other. Just to mention a few: climate insecurity added a layer to the fight over resources and forced displacement; the accumulation of explosive remnants of war and mines added new dimensions to the killing and maiming of children; and terror tactics of armed groups were played out against children and their education rights, particularly those of girls.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“Mrs. Gamba de Potgieter: I thank Ambassador Woodward for her remarks and for hosting today’s open debate. I deeply appreciate the United Kingdom’s long- standing support to the children and armed conflict mandate, as well as the collective commitment of Security Council members. I also thank my co-briefers and all participants for their presence here and online today. I value the attention given to this important issue. In 2017, the year I took office, the Secretary- General’s report (S/2017/821) covered 20 situations across four geographical regions and documented 21,000 grave violations verified the previous year. The mandate has since grown significantly; it now spans five geographical regions and covers 26 situations.”
2023-07-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9366 (2023) · source
“I hope that my call will be heeded, as it is clearer than ever that the best way to protect children is to prevent violations from occurring at all. That includes delivering on the improved reintegration of children and finding sustainable solutions for peace to which children themselves contribute. The Council stands poised to undertake that task, and we stand ready to support its members in their continued work.”
2023-02-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9258 (2023) · source
“We commit to better understanding and externally communicating the integral linkages between the two agendas going forward, including between early warnings and incidents of violations and abuses against children, with children and their voices at the centre. The humanitarian-peace-development nexus straddles prevention, protection, peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction and should be better understood. In conclusion, in October 2022, in presenting my annual report to the Third Committee, I called on it to gather together all existing tools and initiatives related to children and armed conflict into one comprehensive international framework for unifying the elements of this agenda with the goal of better protecting children and preventing violations against them.”
2023-02-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9258 (2023) · source
“It could also include a coordinated mapping of vulnerabilities on the ground in close collaboration with United Nations entities in countries or regions where such situations exist, possibly through deployable expertise. Ideally, the capacity and expertise of the United Nations in terms of child protection should be deployed to support that effort. For those reasons, my Office and I have strengthened our partnership with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and with her Office to better address the continuum of violence and anticipate risks before, during and in the aftermath of conflicts in order to close the conflict loop.”
2023-02-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9258 (2023) · source
“The Paris Principles, the Vancouver Principles and the Safe Schools Declaration have each been endorsed by more than 100 Member States, representing another strong commitment to protecting children in armed conflict. Those instruments all contribute to child protection and the prevention of grave violations. But more needs to be done. There are opportunities to develop national-level strategies, or common approaches to prevention, as well as at the subregional and regional levels, and Governments willing to engage in that direction should be provided with sufficient capacity to do so. That includes sharing best practices for information-sharing, capacity- building and follow-up with regard to existing protection and prevention commitments, including Security Council resolutions.”
2023-02-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9258 (2023) · source
“Prevention plans have been developed in the Philippines, and we are engaging with the Central African Republic, Colombia, Mali and the Sudan to develop more prevention commitments. I should note that our existing action plans in South Sudan and Yemen contain prevention elements, and I would also like to highlight the work we have done with regional organizations, such as the African Union and the League of Arab States, with which we have extensive cooperation. Such regional organizations work with their member States to promote child protection throughout their own processes and to further the prevention of grave violations against children. It is worth mentioning that 172 State parties have ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.”
2023-02-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9258 (2023) · source
“Its strength has been in ensuring dialogue with the parties to conflicts, with hundreds of commitments, including 41 action plans, put in place by warring parties to better protect children since the mandate’s inception. Recently, the mandate has also sought to foster prevention, reinforced by the Security Council’s adoption of resolution 2427 (2018), and has developed joint prevention plans with Governments in situations on our agenda, in addition to action plans and other concrete, time-bound agreements. Today the Security Council is giving us an opportunity to focus on resolution 2427 (2018) and the importance of providing support and capacity for its further and urgent implementation and operationalization.”
2023-02-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9258 (2023) · source
“Every person under 18 years of age must be recognized as a child, as children are entitled to special protection under international human rights law, particularly under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Sustainably addressing the situation of children already facing other forms of violence and abuses, as well as adequately addressing the main drivers of recruitment, helps us break the cycle of the occurrence and recurrence of conflicts. That requires investment in a response that is long-term and tackles the root causes of conflict. What can we do, going forward? The United Nations agenda for children and armed conflict possesses a multitude of robust tools and initiatives developed at various levels for protecting children from grave violations in situations monitored through that agenda.”
2023-02-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9258 (2023) · source
“The assessment of risks and vulnerabilities should include, for example, systematically applying an intersectional gender lens in analysing the data in order to establish a more complete and context-specific understanding of the factors that contribute to the risks and vulnerabilities facing boys as well as girls in terms of conflict-related sexual violence, including gender stereotyping and sociocultural norms. It should also include the consideration of other circumstances, such as age, disability and displacement, as factors that can put children at a higher risk of becoming targets of grave violations by the parties to a conflict.”
2023-02-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9258 (2023) · source
“Our partners’ years of experience in delivering reintegration programming, and our own research, show that the children who are the most vulnerable to grave violations once a conflict or emergency emerges are those who lack education or livelihood opportunities, who are in situations of pov- erty and displacement or who have disabilities, among other risk factors. Such children are therefore more ex- posed to recruitment or re-recruitment by armed groups as well as to other risks, such as gender-based violence in time of war. Similarly, as we document children being taken across borders and trafficked from or through conflict situations, we would be remiss in our account of such situations if we failed to track and respond to the particular risks those children face.”
2023-02-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9258 (2023) · source
“The violations with the highest verified numbers involved the killing, maiming, recruitment and use of children, followed by denials of humanitarian access and abductions. As we are preparing our forthcoming report for 2022, the data already gathered show that those trends continue. The documentation and verification of violations and abuses represent the first critical step to under- standing the situation of children in armed conflict on the ground. However, in the face of continued cycles of violence and conflict that are only becoming more intense, frequent and complex, we are increasingly aware that understanding and identifying the pre-exist- ing risks for children, and their vulnerabilities, will be critical to protecting them and preventing violations of their rights once a conflict occurs.”
2023-02-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9258 (2023) · source
“In his address to the General Assembly last week, the Secretary-General expressed the need for a holistic view of the peace continuum that identifies the root causes of conflict and, in his words: “invests in prevention to avoid conflicts in the first place, focuses on mediation, advances peacebuilding and includes much broader participation of women and young people”. (A/77/PV.58) Each year in this Chamber, I present his annual report on children and armed conflict, with data collected through the monitoring and reporting mechanism denoting trends in violations, which remain at a shockingly high level. In 2021, the previous reporting year, the United Nations verified nearly 24,000 grave violations committed against children.”
2023-02-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9258 (2023) · source
“Ms. Gamba de Potgieter: I thank the Security Council for organizing this timely briefing on preventing violations against children in armed conflict. With 25 situations currently monitored through the United Nations children and armed conflict agenda, including one region, the prevention of conflict and sustaining peace, as envisaged in resolution 2427 (2018), has never been more pertinent or urgent. I commend Malta for providing a platform in which its implementation can be discussed.”
2023-02-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9258 (2023) · source
“For those reasons, it is important to prioritize children’s rights and needs as central to conflict prevention, early warning, mediation and peace processes, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration initiatives, security sector reform and other crucial peace and security tools in the nexus between peace, conflict and post- conflict reconstruction. In conclusion, as we gear up to strengthening the protection of children so that we can stop their use and abuse in, for and by armed conflict, it is fitting to end this statement with a stark fact. The best way to protect children and prevent violations against them in situations of armed conflict is to promote and champion peace. Let us strive to do so, for their sake.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“All parties to conflict must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international refugee law while conducting military and armed operations. Furthermore, they must ensure that the perpetrators of grave violations are held accountable. There are many other actions that Member States can undertake to support prevention, including signing, ratifying and implementing relevant international instruments and commitments to protect children from hostilities, while preventing violations against them.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“In addition, we must continue to promote best practices and develop essential tools to consistently evolve in our work. In that regard, I thank our wide network of partners for their continuous cooperation as we seek to enlarge and deepen our analytical capacity to better serve children. Children affected by conflict need our support — and they need it now. There is much we can do. For example, given the devastating impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war on children long after conflict ceases, it is critical for the international community to urgently step up support for mine action, including to increase child-sensitive data collection and assistance programmes.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“Without child protection advocacy and work undertaken on the ground and by my Office, the situation would surely be worse. Secondly, humanitarian spaces must always be safeguarded, and parties to conflict must allow safe, timely and unimpeded humanitarian access to all children, while also ensuring the safety of humanitarian personnel and assets. Of critical importance, hospitals and schools must always remain safe spaces, and they should always be protected. Thirdly, sustainable financial support and technical assistance for timely, gender-, age- and disability- sensitive, survivor-centred and inclusive reintegration programmes for children, including for the survivors of sexual violence, are critical for breaking cycles of violence and allowing child survivors a second chance at a constructive life.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“To that end, we have trained mediators and diplomats, including for the League of Arab States, using the Practical Guidance for Mediators to Protect Children in Situations of Armed Conflict, which the Secretary- General launched in 2020. The report outlines a series of recommendations by the Secretary-General, which I encourage all members to consult in depth. Allow me to highlight a few of them today. First, it is vital that United Nations operations on the ground be adequately mandated, staffed and funded to continue carrying out monitoring and reporting, engaging with parties, developing joint action plans, providing technical assistance to signatories for implementation purposes and undertaking many other often life-saving interventions, including securing the release of children from conflict.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“Last year, we also researched and published studies on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on grave violations against children in armed conflict, as well as a report consolidating the results of the four regional consultations, which were conducted with United Nations country task forces on monitoring and reporting, their equivalents in non-Monitor and Reporting Mechanism situations and regional offices of United Nations entities, as well as UNICEF, to identify challenges and collect lessons learned to better strengthen the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism of grave violations against children and engagement with parties to conflict. Our efforts during 2021 also continued to ensure that child protection remain central to peace processes.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“We have also increased our cooperation with regional organizations, including the African Union, the League of Arab States and the European Union. Regarding the pursuit of a better understanding of the problems children face, we also identified the need to further examine the gender dimensions of violations against children, leading to the publication of a study by my Office in May, The Gender Dimensions of Grave Violations against Children in Armed Conflict, which I invite the Council to consult. Yesterday, for example, I also launched a guidance note on the violation of abduction, which is particularly relevant, considering the increase in the number of those violations and the need expressed by monitors to better understand how to implement their monitoring and reporting obligations.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“I attended the event in Juba and was able to engage with Government partners and a diverse group of partners who all committed to launching a push to improve the protection of children. The release and reintegration of children is one of the most concrete outcomes of our shared work. More than 12,200 children were released from armed groups and forces last year, often in the wake of United Nations advocacy. That number has remained steady over the past five years, which is a great accomplishment. In addition, progress has been made regarding analysis, policy development and partnerships, as well as on prevention mechanisms, as highlighted in resolution 2427 (2018). In India, for example, prevention has led to a deepening of our already fruitful cooperation with the Government on enhancing child-protection systems.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“Altogether, 40 new commitments and agreed measures were put in place by parties to conflicts last year alone. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, six commanders signed unilateral commitments to protecting children following United Nations advocacy. In Syria, accountability measures against Syrian Democratic Forces personnel for violating commitments under their action plan were adopted. In the Philippines, the armed forces signed a strategic plan to prevent and respond to grave violations of children’s rights. Iraq has facilitated the repatriation of some 223 children to their countries of origin at their request. In South Sudan, a national conference on children and armed conflict was held in May.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“They do it because they know that sometimes they are the only champions whom children have on the ground. We should also recognize those parties to conflict that have paused to reflect on ways in which children can be better protected by working closely with the United Nations to that end. They too are recognized in this year’s report. Hope came in many forms during 2021, and I will highlight only some of those positive actions. For example, 17 joint action plans with parties to conflict are currently being implemented, including three that were signed in 2021, two in Mali with platform groups and one in Yemen with the Houthis. Together, my Office and the child-protection teams on the ground are also successfully engaging with other listed parties to adopt action plans in situations such as Iraq and Syria.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“Additionally, the severity of the armed violence, conflict and war in places such as Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ukraine has led the Secretary-General to include those situations on the agenda for children and armed conflict, prompting the immediate commencement of monitoring to report on those situations by 2023. Although the tragic circumstances for children that I have just described are very serious, we should not be discouraged. Hand in hand with tragedy, we also witnessed signs of hope and recovery in 2021. In that regard, I hope Council members will join me in saluting the unwavering dedication of the child-protection actors and partners on the ground, who often work in extremely challenging and dangerous circumstances and whose numbers are constantly being depleted.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“Those challenges include everything from escalating humanitarian crises and disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law to the climate emergency, and from a series of coups to the continued negative impact of the coronavirus disease pandemic on conflict-affected children. We must not forget that the pandemic is still ongoing and that the United Nations continues to see challenges to and delays in its monitoring and reporting of grave violations. Compared to previous years, that has resulted in higher numbers than usual of late-verified violations in this year’s report. It has also slowed the implementation of agreed joint action plans and other measures put in place in a number of situations to improve the protection of children.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“The high numbers of children deprived of their liberty for alleged association with parties to a conflict continued to be a matter of concern last year, when we saw 2,864 children detained or deprived of their liberty and thereby doubly punished by conflicts that I must stress they were and are not responsible for. We also verified an increase in the military use of schools, denying children the safe spaces they need to learn, receive life-saving assistance and develop. As a result, thousands of children have experienced long-term negative consequences for their development and well-being. Various peace and security challenges put children at risk during 2021, from the devastating impact of violent extremism in the central Sahel and Lake Chad basin regions to the dire security situation in the Horn of Africa.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“The recruitment and use of children for, in and by parties to armed conflict, with more than 6,300 verified as recruited and used, was the second most prevalent violation, followed by the denial of humanitarian access to children, with more than 3,900 incidents. Worryingly, both abduction, rape and other forms of sexual violence increased by 20 per cent last year in the various situations covered by the report. We also saw a general rise in attacks on schools and hospitals. Of particular concern is the steady increase in violations against girls, especially through killing and maiming and sexual violence and abduction. Last year, one in three child victims was a girl — barely a year earlier, the proportions were one in four — while 98 per cent of all survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence were girls.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“Of those children, 1,600 were victims of two or more violations, illustrating how such violations are often interlinked. To put it in perspective, that represents an average of 65 grave violations committed against children every single day of every week of every month of the year. During 2021, 8,000 children were either killed or maimed, making these the most prevalent of all grave violations. The use of explosive remnants of war, improvised explosive devices and landmines had a particularly devastating impact and caused a quarter of those child casualties. The use of explosive weapons in populated areas also critically endangered children.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“On the way they were stopped by Al-Shabaab, accused of association with Government forces and abducted. In Afghanistan, as girls’ classes were dismissed, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated outside a Kabul high school. Three boys and 42 girls died that day. Another 20 boys and 106 girls were injured in the blast. In Burkina Faso, two girls were abducted and each raped by two armed men. One of the survivors was too scared to accept medical or psychosocial support out of fear of being stigmatized. The examples are endless. In 2021, in the 21 country situations and one regional monitoring arrangement covered by my mandate, the United Nations verified a total of 23,982 grave violations, with more than 19,165 child victims.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“Finally, this open debate is an opportunity to think forward while reaffirming our commitment to the protection of children used and abused by, in and for armed conflict. The abuses that children were subjected to last year were as grievous as they were many. In South Sudan, for example, children played with what they thought was a toy but that turned out to be a piece of unexploded ordnance. The device detonated, killing three children and wounding another three. In the Philippines, an 11-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl were recruited and used by the New People’s Army. During a military operation, both were arrested together with other members of the group, but due to a lack of available facilities, they could not be immediately reintegrated. In Somalia, four children travelled to visit family.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“Mrs. Gamba de Potgieter: I thank His Excellency the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Ambassador Fernando Simas Magalhães, for convening this debate on the Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict (S/2022/493), which covers grave violations suffered by children during 2021. This open debate is an important opportunity for all of us to remind ourselves of the reality faced by children in conflict and of our responsibility to stand by them. The debate also permits us to act on behalf of conflict-affected children by publicly highlighting the current trends and patterns of grave violations against them and allowing Security Council members to hear about existing and emerging challenges, as well as successful measures taken to better protect children.”
2022-07-19 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9096 (2022) · source
“Even at times of war and pandemic, we must do our utmost to ensure that all children, including those undergoing reintegration processes, receive quality education. Education is not a choice, but a right. Attacks against schools and their military use is an attack on education, producing negative effects on children and societies in multiple ways. I therefore urge all parties to conflict to better protect students and education personnel and to respect the civilian nature of school infrastructure. And I remind Governments that they have a duty to protect education, even at times of war and pandemics. It is to be hoped that these measures and initiatives, including this open debate, will increase the momentum for action to improve the protection of schools and end attacks on education. Let us act now”
2020-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8756 (2020) · source
“Closed schools and crumbling economies generate push-and-pull factors that favour the recruitment, use, sexual exploitation and child marriage. Lockdowns have restrained and diminished children’s access to essential services. Empty schools may be an incentive for parties to conflict to loot or use schools for military purposes. Cycles of violence against schools affect students, teachers, parents and communities alike. Parents are fearful of sending children to school, teachers leave schools due to insecurity and children are denied an education, which is the single-most important tool they need to overcome despair and build a future. This must stop. Schools must remain safe havens where girls and boys can obtain education, without discrimination and without fear.”
2020-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8756 (2020) · source
“Similarly, the past 12 months have seen a rise in attacks against schools and protected personnel in Burkina Faso, including the burning of schools and the kidnapping of teachers, forcing 2,500 schools to shut down, depriving hundreds of thousands of children of education. In other parts of the world, such as Asia and Latin America, we are also seeing an increase in attacks on education in indigenous communities. While some conflict-affected States, such as the Philippines, Myanmar and the Central African Republic, have adopted legislation that protects schools from attack and criminalizes the six grave violations, they are still at the early stages of implementation and more needs to be done to speed delivery. The present pandemic has made things worse.”
2020-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8756 (2020) · source
“Some Member States took up that challenge and launched the Safe Schools Declaration in 2015, which today boasts 105 signatories, demonstrating that where there is a will, there is a way. Such progress is welcome but, unfortunately, it is not enough. I am concerned that this violation does not decrease over the years. On the contrary, there seems to be an emerging tactic of war, particularly in the Sahel, where schools are targeted precisely because they are schools, and even more if they cater to girls. In the past two years in Mali, for example, teachers were threatened and killed, education facilities demolished and learning material burned, leading to the closure of over 1,260 schools, even before the coronavirus disease.”
2020-09-10 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8756 (2020) · source