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Silueta de un oso de peluche y bloques de juguete junto a un gran ventanal con luz de amanecer en una habitación vacía
Un oso de peluche y bloques de juguete, en silueta junto a un ventanal al amanecer, en una habitación vacía. · Imagen generada por EPM

Children and war: Security Council faces record violations against children

The Security Council marks 30 years of its children and armed conflict mandate as the Secretary-General's annual report records an unprecedented 38,558…

--- The context --- The Security Council is devoting a live session to children caught in armed conflict, in the year when violations against minors reached an unprecedented level. The Council is also marking 30 years since it took on the mandate to protect young people caught up in war. --- The facts --- According to the Secretary-General's latest annual report, violations against children in armed conflict reached unprecedented levels in 2025, with 38,558 cases affecting 24,174 children. The highest numbers of violations were verified in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with 12,445 cases, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with 4,114, Nigeria, with 2,560, Myanmar, with 2,203, and Somalia, with 2,195. The mechanism established in 2005 tracks six grave violations, from child recruitment into armed groups to targeting schools and hospitals. --- The positions --- The Council is marking 30 years since it took on the mandate. The Secretary-General's report, for its part, presents the highest verified numbers by territory: the 2025 record turns the commemoration into an uncomfortable review. --- What remains unknown --- The source does not detail what concrete measures will come out of this session or how the 38,558 cases are distributed among the six grave violations tracked by the monitoring mechanism. --- Unanswered questions --- What concrete decisions will the Council adopt after confirming the 2025 record? What explains the 2025 record despite the mechanism created in 2005? Will there be verifiable consequences for those who recruit children or target schools and hospitals? --- EPM analysis --- The session combines institutional memory with recent evidence: 30 years of mandate set against the 2025 record. A monitoring mechanism has existed since 2005 to track the six grave violations. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the central fact is not the anniversary but the record: 38,558 cases recorded in the report in a single year show that child protection remains the Council's unfinished business. Three decades after 1996, the 2025 record was concentrated in the five settings listed: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Myanmar and Somalia.
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