Published on: 2026-10-26
Source: United Nations – Объединенные Нации –
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Vanessa Freire, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, who spoke at the meeting, informed the Security Council about the fulfillment of her mandate. She noted that the monitoring and reporting mechanism provides a “reliable, United Nations-verified picture of serious violations” and stated that “the scale of current violations remains horrific”: in 2025, the UN confirmed 38,558 serious violations affecting 24,174 children.
“This is the largest number of affected children since the establishment of this mandate,” she emphasized, pointing out that for the first time in thirty years, government forces are now responsible for the majority of confirmed serious violations. “This is deeply concerning,” she noted.
New technologies and the problem of financing
The Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Catherine Russell, during her speech highlighted the growing use of artificial intelligence for military purposes, the increasingly widespread deployment of drones on the battlefield, as well as digital technologies that open new opportunities for recruitment, exploitation, and violence.
She also recalled her visit to South Sudan in December last year and her conversations with women and girls who had survived violence. Russell emphasized that two women who had considered suicide before receiving help at a UNICEF-supported center “told how psychological assistance, peer support, and simply having a safe place to turn to became their salvation.”
Russell reported that more than one-third of safe centers for women and children in South Sudan supported by UNICEF have been closed this year due to funding cuts.
Assistance in education and psychosocial support
The Special Envoy of the African Union on Children Affected by Armed Conflict, Jainaba Jagne, emphasized the need for complementarity between the actions of the Union and the Security Council, as well as closer cooperation between the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict and the relevant mechanisms of the African Union.
Recalling her visit to a vocational-technical center in Nigeria, where children affected by conflict receive education, she stated that such measures should be complemented by ongoing support in mental health and psychosocial assistance. Emphasizing the importance of continuity in children’s education, she called for more active efforts “to remove obstacles in birth registration, loss of documents, and cross-border differences in languages and curricula.”
“We owe them something more than just words”
Bethany Ellis, head of the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict network, speaking before the Security Council, stated: “Impunity for serious violations thrives, and the political will to address these issues appears insufficient.”
She added that as children’s protection needs continue to grow, resources to meet them are shrinking due to “sharp, severe, and ongoing cuts in global funding.”
As a result, fewer and fewer children are receiving the necessary services: cuts have affected the mental health sector, psychosocial support, reintegration programs, and case management, while child protection specialists face a shortage of technical resources, excessive workload, and a reduction in specialized services.
“We must give them something more than just words,” Ellis said. “We must provide them protection, a childhood without fear, and the opportunity to realize their rights in a peaceful future.”
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