UN decries violence against children in Nigeria, others

The United Nations has decried the violence against children by non-state armed groups in Nigeria and other countries recording conflict. The UN said 2014 was the worst year for children in the affected countries.

In a statement by the Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, said this in New York when the Security Council of the world body opened debate on children and armed conflict.

The UN said groups like the Lord’s Resistance Army had kidnapped children “for many years.”  It, however, noted that the scale and nature of the violation of children was changing.

According to the global body, abduction is now being used as a tactic to terrorise or target particular ethnic groups or religious communities, and children have been a particular focus.

“The large number of abductions by Da’esh and Boko Haram has shocked us repeatedly in recent months,” Ki-moon stated.

The UN scribe stressed the need to also recognise that the act was prevalent in many other situations and was perpetrated by a great range of other non-state armed groups.

The statement read, “Last year was one of the worst in recent memory for children in countries affected by conflict.  My report before you outlines the enormous challenges we face in upholding the fundamental rights of tens of millions of children.  We have seen crises multiply and intensify, making protection more and more difficult.

“Grave violations against children have been an affront to our common humanity in the Central African Republic, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria.

“I am also deeply alarmed at the suffering of so many children as a result of Israeli military operations in Gaza last year.  I urge Israel to take concrete and immediate steps, including by reviewing existing policies and practices, to protect and prevent the killing and maiming of children, and to respect the special protections afforded to schools and hospitals.

“Around the world, many thousands of children have experienced acts that no child should suffer. 

They have been killed, maimed, forcibly recruited, tortured and sexually abused.  Their schools have been destroyed.  And, in a worrying trend, abductions have increased rapidly.”

Ki-moon disclosed that the 10-year anniversary of the council’s resolution 1612 (2005), which established the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on the recruitment and use of child soldiers, would be marked in July.

My Special Representative and her predecessors have made great strides in protecting children from recruitment.  The “Children, Not Soldiers” campaign is based on many years of work to change attitudes.

He noted that while further progress had been witnessed in 2015, the world was moving closer towards a world in which no child wears a government uniform and engages in combat.
 
“I encourage those concerned governments here today to redouble their efforts to implement the goals of the campaign and to work with my Special Representative,” he added.