Women and children wait under the shade of an umbrella at a food distribution site in the town of Adi Mehameday, in the western Tigray region of Ethiopia, on May 28, 2022. (PHOTO / WFP VIA AP)
With violations against children hitting a record high in 2022, experts are calling for deescalation measures and enhanced reintegration programs to curb the worrying trend.
On July 5, the United Nations Security Council held its annual open debate on children and armed conflict. During the session, Virginia Gamba, the UN secretary-general’s special representative for children and armed conflict, appealed for “bold and resolute action” to protect boys and girls at risk of death, recruitment, rape and other horrors.
Omar Abdi, deputy executive director of the UN Children’s Fund, or UNICEF, noted that the highest numbers of grave violations against children were verified in longstanding protracted conflicts, including in places such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel and Palestine, and Somalia.
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Countries featured the first time were Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ukraine, while new situations in Haiti and Niger were also mentioned.
A UN report noted that the signing of a truce pact contributed to a 40 percent decrease in violations, underlining the importance of peace in achieving security for children
Muslim Imran, director at the Asia Middle East Center for Research and Dialogue, a think tank in Malaysia, told China Daily that the growing number of child casualties is “a reflection of the growing tensions around the world in the post-COVID era”.
“Economic uncertainty, food insecurity, and political instability are all fueling old conflicts and causing new ones. Children suffer in the process,” said Imran.
According to the UN’s latest “Children and Armed Conflict” report, in 2022, children continued to be disproportionately affected globally by armed conflict, with the number of kids verified as affected by grave violations rising compared with 2021.
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In the report, which was released last month, the UN said that it had verified 27,180 grave violations last year, of which 24,300 were committed in 2022 and 2,880 were committed earlier but verified only last year.
Violations affected 18,890 children in more than 20 situations.
The number of killings stood at 2,985, while 5,655 children suffered maiming. Meanwhile, recruitment and use of children amounted to 7,622 cases, while abductions amounted to 3,985.
A woman eats with her children as she speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at an internally displaced people camp on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia, on March 24, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
In the Middle East, the report noted that grave violations increased in Israel and the states of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. Others in that same category included Congo, Somalia, Ukraine and Afghanistan.
The UN verified 3,133 grave violations against 1,139 Palestinian children (1,057 boys, 82 girls) and 8 Israeli children in the occupied West Bank.
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Speaking about the recent raid of Israeli soldiers in Jenin to purportedly combat terrorism, Roy Yellin, director of public outreach at B’Tselem or The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, told China Daily that policymakers refused to distinguish between what is permitted and what is not, and what is legitimate and what is criminal.
He said thousands of civilians have been forced to flee their homes with some not knowing where they might go.
“Contrary to what policymakers in the military and the government say, such widespread intentional harm to civilians is unlawful and flies in the face of humanity’s basic moral norms. Some actions are out of bounds, even if it is a “war against terrorism,” and certainly when the agenda is advancing racist, violent political goals,” said Yellin.
The UN report stated that in Yemen 1,596 violations against 637 children were verified last year, including the recruitment of 105 children by various parties to the conflict. But it noted that the signing of a truce pact contributed to a 40 percent decrease in violations, underlining the importance of peace in achieving security for children.
In Syria, the UN verified 2,438 violations against 2,407 children of which 1,696 were recruited by armed groups across the country — with the majority, 637 — being recruited by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
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Manjari Singh, assistant professor at Amity Institute of International Studies, Amity University, India, told China Daily that in a protracted conflict, such as in the case of Syria, Yemen and Palestine, the recruitment of children in combat units is to show that the children in such a scenario, especially the minors, have lost their innocence.
And this is owing to continued missile attacks, bombardments and atrocities meted out to their communities.
As to the question whether these recruitments will stop or reduce, especially under the watch of the UN, Singh said there could be some reduction “but not significantly unless there are massive deradicalization exercises being carried out, followed by reintegration programs”.
“And it is possible only in a holistic manner; that is with the involvement of all the state stakeholders along with civil society organizations. Psychosocial support, education and/or training are important aspects of the reintegration programs.”
Imran from Malaysia noted that shifts in the regional order and the fragility of many Arab states invite new conflicts in which children and women suffer the most.
“However, there is a dim light of hope that regional conflicts will decline after the recent wave of regional reconciliations between Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as Turkiye and its Arab neighbors,” he said.
jan@chinadailyapac.com