U.N. to monitor Ukraine war for violations against children

Secretary-General Guterres said that four new conflicts have been added to 21 conflicts that the U.N. already is monitoring for violations of the rights of children

The United Nations announced on Monday it will start monitoring the war in Ukraine and conflicts in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Africa’s central Sahel region for violations against children, including killings, injuries, recruitment, rape and other forms of sexual violence.

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Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his annual report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict that those four new conflicts have been added to 21 conflicts that the U.N. already is monitoring for violations of the rights of children. He said the latter conflicts saw “a high number of grave violations” in 2021.

The U.N. chief said the protection of children was severely affected by escalating conflicts, the multiplication of armed groups, land mines and improvised explosive devices, explosive weapons in populated areas, intensified humanitarian crises, and violations of humanitarian and human rights law.

Virginia Gamba, the U.N. special envoy for children and armed conflict, said at a news conference that “forays of extremely violent armed groups, military coups and instability, and violent electoral processes in fragile states, left 19,100 child victims of grave violations during 2021 in the 21 country and regional situations we monitored.”

The U.N. said it verified nearly 24,000 “grave violations” against children in 2021, including over 1,300 committed previously.

The highest numbers of violations last year were the 2,515 killings and 5,555 injuries involving children, followed by the recruitment and use of 6,310 youngsters in conflicts, the report said.