According to the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) released by the United Nations (UN) on Monday, over 19,300 children, both boys and girls, were victims of one or more incidents of grave violations against them in 2020. Last year, there were 26,425 grave violations committed against children, including attacks on schools and hospitals, according to the report.
“More than 19,300 children affected by war last year were victims of grave violations such as killing, maiming or rape. Girls and boys have a right to life and health, free from violence and despair. We must protect them at all costs,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a tweet on Tuesday.
The UNICEF also stated in its report that child recruitment and use, as well as killing and maiming, were the most common grave violations against children, followed by denial of humanitarian access and kidnapping. The report also stated that while abduction crimes increased by 90% in 2020, rape and other forms of sexual violence increased by 70%.
“The wars of adults have taken away the childhood of millions of boys and girls again in 2020. This is completely devastating for them, but also for the entire communities they live in, and destroys chances for a sustainable peace,” CAAC special representative Virginia Gamba said. “We can’t erase the past, but we can collectively work at re-building the future of these children, our own future; by putting the willpower, the efforts and the resources to end and prevent grave violations against children, and by supporting their sustainable reintegration and building a future free from conflict for all,” Gamba further added.
According to the report, one in four children affected by grave violations were girls, the report said. Girls were most affected by rape and other forms of sexual violence with 98% of incidents of sexual violence perpetrated against girls. “If boys and girls experience conflict differently and require interventions to better address their specific needs, what the data also showed is that conflict doesn’t differentiate based on gender,” Gamba said.
The report also noted that the Covid-19 pandemic further complicated the UN’s efforts to reach out to children in situations of armed conflict. “The pandemic increased the vulnerability of children to abduction, recruitment and use, sexual violence and attacks on schools and hospitals, while isolation and measures put in place to combat the pandemic also complicated the work of United Nations child protection monitors and experts,” the report noted.
