A/76/231
I. Introduction
1.
In its resolution 74/133, the General Assembly requested the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to continue
to submit reports to it and the Human Rights Council on the activities undertaken in
the fulfilment of her mandate, including on progress achieved and challenges
remaining on the children and armed conflict agenda. The request stemmed from the
mandate given by the Assembly in its resolution 51/77, in which it recommended,
inter alia, that the Special Representative raise awareness and promote the collection
of information about the plight of children affected by armed conflict and foster
international cooperation to ensure respect for children rights.
2.
In line with that mandate, and as requested by the General Assembly in its
resolution 74/133, in the present report the Special Representative provides
information on current trends regarding children affected by armed conflict and gives
an overview of emerging issues and challenges. She also highlights the ongoing
engagement with parties to conflict to end and prevent grave violations, as well as
efforts undertaken with a broad range of actors to raise global awareness and catalyse
action on the issue. She further elaborates on the impact of the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) pandemic on her work and on ending and preventing grave violations
against children.
II. Global overview of trends, emerging issues and challenges
A.
Trends in grave violations
3.
In 2020, the United Nations verified an overall number of 26,425 grave
violations against children, including 2,479 that occurred prior to 2020 but were only
verified in 2020. A total of 19,379 children (14,097 boys, 4,993 girl s, 289 sex
unknown) were victims or survivors of at least one of the four grave violations
affecting individual children: recruitment and use; killing and maiming; rape and
other forms of sexual violence; and abduction.
4.
The recruitment and use and the killing and maiming of children, closely
followed by the denial of humanitarian access and the abduction of children,
continued to be among the highest verified violations in 2020. A total of 8,521
children were recruited and used by parties to conflict, with the highest numbers
verified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, the Syrian Arab Republic
and Myanmar. More than 8,400 children were killed or maimed, with Afghanistan,
the Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen and Somalia remaining the deadliest conflicts for
children. Children were particularly affected by explosive weapons and remnants of
war, including improvised explosive devices, landmines and bombs, with boys and
girls comprising one quarter of civilian casualties from these weapons. For ins tance,
in Iraq, in areas previously controlled by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL),
an unprecedented contamination by explosive remnants of war affected children. In
South Sudan, children were killed and maimed when picking up and playing with
explosives placed in grazing fields. Child survivors often experienced lifelong
impairments, such as amputation, paralysis and loss of vision or loss of hearing, and
were likely to face educational hurdles and social exclusion.
5.
The attribution of incidents of killing and maiming caused by explosive
weapons and remnants of war is particularly challenging. To end and prevent those
child casualties, it is important that Member States sign and fully implement
international legal instruments pertaining to th ose weapons, including anti-personnel
mines. Armed groups must also refrain from their use. The promotion of mine
2/18
21-10306