One in six children globally living in areas impacted by conflict

Save the Children calls for greater protection for children and accountability for perpetrators ahead of Munich Security Conference

More children than ever before—at least 357 million globally—are now living in areas affected by conflict, a new report by Save the Children reveals. The War on Children: Time to End Violations Against Children in Armed Conflict shows this number has increased by 75 per cent since the early 1990s, with one in six children globally now living in impacted areas.

Nearly half of these children are in areas affected by high-intensity conflict where they could be vulnerable to the UN’s six grave violations—killing and maiming, recruitment and use of children, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian assistance.[i] The report shows there are significant gaps in child and gender-specific data in conflicts that need to be addressed by improved monitoring and reporting mechanisms. Despite this, some trends are clear—and deeply worrying.

Since 2010, the number of UN-verified cases of children being killed and maimed has gone up by almost 300 per cent, while incidents of denial of humanitarian access have skyrocketed by more than 1,500 per cent. The widespread stigma around rape and sexual assault means it is an especially under-reported aspect of conflict, but it is clear that this issue remains prevalent and that both girls and boys are at risk.

This has been fuelled by a growing disregard for the rules of war, and indiscriminate violence in countries like Syria, South Sudan, Yemen and Afghanistan.

The research—carried out by Save the Children and the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)—is being launched ahead of the influential Munich Security Conference from 16th-18th February, which is an opportunity for global political, military, and security leaders to agree on measures to protect children in conflict.

The War on Children attributes the worsening situation to the increasing urbanisation of war, the growing use of explosive weapons in populated areas, as well as the protracted and more complex nature of modern conflict that has put children and civilians on the front lines.

It also reveals that:

Brutal tactics are increasingly used to target children in warfare—including the use of children as suicide bombers, direct targeting of schools and hospitals and the widespread use of indiscriminate weapons like cluster munitions, barrel bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia were the most dangerous conflict-affected countries to be a child in 2016[ii];

Children in the Middle East are most likely to be living in a conflict zone, with two in five children in that region living in a conflict-affected area—the highest rate globally. Africa is second, with 1 in 5 children affected by conflict. Asia has the highest overall number of children affected by conflict.

Save the Children International CEO, Helle Thorning Schmidt, said:

“We are seeing a shocking increase in the number of children growing up in areas affected by conflict, and being exposed to the most serious forms of violence imaginable. Children are suffering things that no child ever should; from sexual violence to being used as suicide bombers. Their homes, schools and playgrounds have become battlefields.”

 

Save the Children is calling on states, militaries, and all actors with influence over the lives of children in conflict to commit to practical actions on four key themes:

• Preventing children being put at risk: Investments need to be made in conflict-prevention initiatives and peacekeeping, and training for military forces on child protection.
• Upholding international laws and standards: All states and actors should abide by their commitments under international law, and should endorse the Safe Schools Declaration and Paris Commitments & Paris Principles.[iii] States and armed groups must commit to avoiding the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
• Holding violators to account: We urgently need stronger monitoring and reporting mechanisms to properly track civilian harm and child casualties, and stronger justice systems that address violations of children’s rights in conflict.
• Rebuilding shattered lives: We must put children at the centre of reconstruction efforts and invest in support for children affected by conflict, including providing appropriate mental health care for children, training local mental health and social workers and assisting children with disabilities. Funding for the rebuilding of children’s lives wrecked by conflict must also be made available.

Original source: Save the Children
Published on 14 February 2018