A/77/143
I. Introduction
1.
In its resolution 76/147, the General Assembly requested the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to continue
to submit reports to it and to the Human Rights Coun cil 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’s rights.
2.
In line with that mandate, and as requested by the General Assembly in its
resolution 76/147, 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 violat ions, as well as
efforts undertaken with a broad range of actors to raise global awareness and catalyse
action on the issue. She furthermore highlights the gendered impacts of armed conflict
on children and sets out ways to enhance efforts to prevent viola tions and abuses
against children.
II. Global overview of trends, emerging issues and challenges
A.
Trends in grave violations
3.
Cross-border conflicts, intercommunal violence, coups and takeovers, as well
as disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law, led to continued
challenges for the protection of children living in conflict zones. In 2021, the United
Nations verified an overall number of 23,982 grave violations against children,
including 1,337 that had occurred prior to 2021 but were only verified in 2021. A total
of 19,165 children (13,633 boys, 5,242 girls, 290 sex unknown) were victims or
survivors of at least one of the following 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 2021. More than 6,310
children (5,707 boys, 603 girls) were recruited and used by parties to conflict, with
the highest numbers verified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Syrian
Arab Republic, Somalia and Mali. A total of 8,070 children (5,499 boys, 2,303 girls,
268 sex unknown) were killed and maimed, with Afghanistan, Israel and the Occupied
Palestinian Territory, Somalia and Yemen having been the deadliest conflicts for
children. Children were particularly affected by explosive w eapons and remnants of
war, including improvised explosive devices, landmines and bombs. Child survivors
often experienced lifelong impairments, such as amputation, paralysis, loss of vision
or loss of hearing, or long-lasting trauma, and were likely to face educational hurdles
and social exclusion. The attribution of incidents of killing and maiming caused by
explosive weapons and remnants of war is particularly challenging.
5.
The violation with the greatest increase in 2021 was the abduction of children,
which increased by 20 per cent, with 3,459 children (2,399 boys, 1,038 girls, 22 sex
unknown) abducted. The abduction of girls alone has increased by 40 per cent. Almost
all abduction incidents were attributed to armed groups, with the highest numbers
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