25/06/2026
"A school … a hospital ... a water point ... should never be a battlefield. And no child should have to wonder whether entering a classroom or health facility might cost her life.
Yet for millions of children living through conflict, that is precisely the reality they face every single day.
The Secretary-General's latest report on Children and Armed Conflict documents 38,558 verified grave violations against children in 2025. Behind that number are children killed and maimed … recruited and used by armed forces and armed groups … abducted … subjected to sexual violence … denied humanitarian assistance … and deprived of education, health, and protection.
These alarming figures tell only part of the story.
Many more violations go unreported because of insecurity, access constraints, fear of reprisals, and the immense challenges of documenting abuses in active war zones.” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell's remarks at the United Nations Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict.
"Children do not start wars, and they are powerless to stop them. They die, they suffer, and they bear the scars of war for decades.
We owe them more than that. We owe them a world where war is left to combatants, and children are free to grow and learn and dream in peace.”
Read the full remarks at https://unicef.link/4wcaHlK
