un secretary general children and armed conflict

The Special Representative said that children should be considered primarily as victims, “and depriving them of their liberty should only be used as a last resort and for the shortest period, in accordance with international juvenile justice standards”, the report added. The deprivation of liberty of some 111 children, held for alleged association with opposing parties to the conflict, is also a major concern. Rhe COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions further exacerbated these existing access challenges. The verification of information for all grave violations recorded on the ground was difficult, the report notes, and the intensity of the conflict and hostilities also hindered the ability to document and verify violations. Parties to conflict must protect them from use and abuse and start treating children as the precious asset they are”, “It is urgent for all parties to actively work towards a political solution of the conflict if they hope to save children from further harm”, she said. “Boys and girls are the future of Yemen.

Issuing the findings, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, said that “the atrocities and immense suffering” would likely leave a generation of Yemeni children “scarred for life”.

Un secretary general children and armed conflict