New York - Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The United Nations Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict, released on Tuesday, records more than 27,000 verified grave violations affecting nearly 19,000 boys and girls around the world. According to the United Nations news bulletin, a copy of which we received on Wednesday morning
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, said - in a briefing to reporters Tuesday in New York - after the publication of the report that the occurrence of this number of violations "reinforces the importance of working to prevent grave violations and provide comprehensive reintegration support for all children affected by conflict."
Gamba reported that when adding the number of incidents of attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access, which are the two most serious violations against children, the number of grave violations exceeds 27,000 in 2022.
Russia and Ukraine
The UN official said that the Secretary-General of the United Nations decided to include the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups in Section B of Annex II of the report due to attacks on schools and hospitals and the killing of children, especially with the use of explosive weapons with wide area effect, including artillery shelling, multiple launch rocket systems and rockets. Air strikes in populated areas lead to a large number of casualties and the destruction of infrastructure.
It is noteworthy that the second annex of the annual report includes the parties involved in grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict that are not included in the agenda of the Security Council. Section B lists Parties that have taken measures to improve the protection of children during the reporting period.
Gamba added that the Secretary-General decided to issue a warning to the Armed Forces of Ukraine within the Fifth Section because of the large number of children killed and maimed in the attacks attributed to them on schools and hospitals.
"While we are aware that the actions of Ukrainian forces are a response to Russian aggression, the mandate of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict applies to all parties to the conflict, whether the grave violations were committed in offensive or defensive operations," Gamba said.
Not including Israel and Palestine
The report touched on the situation in Israel and the State of Palestine. In this regard, Gamba said that the Secretary-General did not include any of the parties to the conflict in the lists of parties involved in grave violations against children.
She added that the Secretary-General said in his report last year that "if the raids and missile attacks resulting from the escalation of hostilities that occurred in 2021 are repeated in 2022, the parties to the conflict should be included."
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict said that the Secretary-General called on the parties to the conflict to communicate with them to identify practical measures to protect children and end grave violations against them. It also indicated that the report monitored a significant decrease in Israeli air raids, from 598 raids in 2021 to 52 in 2022.
Gamba stressed that the purpose of the mandate of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, as presented by the Security Council, is to "work with all parties to effect change in their behavior and to strengthen the protection of children."
According to the report, the largest number of verified grave violations occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel and the State of Palestine, Somalia, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Yemen. The countries that witnessed the worst deterioration were Myanmar, South Sudan and Burkina Faso.
Gamba also warned that the situation in both Haiti and Niger "is of growing concern."