UN Security Council members decry rise in violence against children in 2024 and call for accountability

Representatives of Algeria, China, Denmark, France, Greece, Pakistan, Panama, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and Guyana told the United Nations Security Council that they were alarmed by the secretary-general's report documenting unprecedented levels of violence against children in armed conflict in 2024 and a 25% increase in six grave violations.

"We deplore the continued disregard for the rights of children, particularly their inherent right to life," the Representative of Guyana said on behalf of the group. "We strongly condemn all violations and abuses committed against children and express deep concern that children's rights continue to be violated with impunity."

The representatives urged accountability for perpetrators as essential to preventing recurrence and called on all parties to comply with obligations under international law, specifically citing the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and the Geneva Conventions of 1949. They also invoked the United Nations Charter and highlighted the roles of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, UNICEF and the United Nations monitoring and reporting mechanism in documenting violations.

The group told the council that denial of humanitarian access had left children without lifesaving aid, health care, education and protection. They singled out a surge in recruitment and use of children by parties to conflict, abductions for recruitment and slavery, and a sharp rise in attacks on schools and hospitals.

"Parties to conflict must not recruit or use children as combatants or other support roles and must prevent children from participating in hostilities," the Representative of Guyana said. "Children associated with armed forces or armed groups should be treated primarily as victims and the importance of supporting the release and reintegration of children affected by armed conflict in their communities cannot be overstated."

During the same exchange, an Ambassador (unnamed in the transcript) interjected with a separate claim about Gaza: "A study suggests that half of the 400,000 people in Gaza that disappeared are children. People are asking where is the Security Council? What concrete step concrete step can the Security Council do to deal with that? And by the way, where is the representative from The United States here?" That remark appeared as a call for more concrete action but did not correspond to a formal council decision recorded in the transcript.

No vote, resolution or formal Security Council decision on these remarks or on measures addressing the report's findings is recorded in the transcript. The speakers urged implementation of protections through national capacities and international child-protection mechanisms and requested safe, unhindered humanitarian access and security for humanitarian personnel.

The discussion in the provided transcript excerpt was limited to statements and appeals; the council did not take an action, adopt a resolution or record a vote in the material provided.