UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Violence against children caught up in the multiplication and escalation of conflicts reached “extreme levels” in 2023, with an unprecedented number of murders and injuries in crises since Israel and the Palestinian territories to Sudan, Myanmar and Ukraine, according to a new UN report.
The annual Children in Armed Conflict report, obtained Tuesday by the Associated Press, reported “a shocking 21% increase in serious violations” against children under 18 in a series of conflicts, also citing Congo, Burkina Faso, Somalia and Syria.
For the first time, the UN report placed Israeli forces on its blacklist of countries that violate children’s rights, killing and maiming children and attacking schools and hospitals. It also listed for the first time militants from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad for killing, injuring and kidnapping children.
Hamas’ October 7th surprise attack in southern Israel Israel’s massive military retaliation in Gaza led to a 155% increase in serious violations against children, especially due to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas of Gaza, the report states.
The United Nations has kept the Russian military and affiliated armed groups on its blacklist for a second year due to the murder and maiming of children and attacks on schools and hospitals in Ukraine.
Sudan, where a war between rival generals vying for power has been raging since 2023, has witnessed “a staggering 480% increase in serious violations against children, the report states.
O Sudanese Armed Forces and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces They were blacklisted for killing and injuring young people and attacking schools and hospitals — and paramilitaries were also blacklisted for recruiting and using children in military operations and for rape and sexual violence.
O growing civil war in Myanmar also recorded a 123% increase in serious violations against children and the Myanmar military and related militias and seven armed groups are also on this year’s blacklist.
The UN Secretary-General’s report António Guterres said the United Nations verified 30,705 rapes against children in 2023 and 2,285 committed previously, affecting more than 15,800 boys and more than 6,250 girls. Some were subjected to multiple violations.
The UN chief said the alarming increase in violations is due to “the changing nature, complexity, expansion and intensification of armed conflicts, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, deliberate or indiscriminate attacks against civilians” and infrastructure. and other essential buildings, as well as the emergence of new armed groups, acute humanitarian emergencies and “blatant disregard” for international law.
