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Latest post: Tue 24 Jun 2025

Insights on the work of the UN Security Council

Children and Armed Conflict: Annual Open Debate

Tomorrow (25 June), the Security Council will hold its annual open debate on children and armed conflict. Vindhya Persaud, Guyana’s Minister of Human Services and Social Security, is expected to chair the meeting. Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba will present the Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict, dated 17 June. Briefings are also expected from Director of Child Protection and Migration at UNICEF Sheema SenGupta, and a child civil society representative from Syria.

The Secretary-General’s annual report covers the period from January to December 2024 and provides information on the six grave violations against children in situations on the children and armed conflict agenda, which include 25 country situations and one regional monitoring arrangement covering the Lake Chad Basin region. The six grave violations, as determined by the Security Council, are child recruitment and use; killing and maiming; abductions; rape and other forms of sexual violence; attacks on schools and hospitals; and the denial of humanitarian access. With the exception of the denial of humanitarian access, committing any of the other five violations could lead to a party being listed in the annexes of the annual report.

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