“ A moral failure ”: the Security Council intends to speak of serious violations against the children caught at war

“From this day, our house has become a travel bag and our path became that of travel … My childhood was filled with fear and anxiety and people with which I was private,” she said, speaking by videoconference of Syria.

Sila, now 17, described her experiences during the Syrian civil war at a UN meeting Security advice held Wednesday to discuss the secretary general’s conclusions Last report on Children and armed conflict.

The report documented a 25% increase in serious violations against children in 2024, the greatest number ever recorded during its 20 years of history.

“” The report of this year of the secretary general confirms once again what too many children already know – that the world did not protect them from war horrors“Said Sheema Sen Gupta, Director of Child Protection at the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

“Each violation against children in each country around the world represents a moral failure.”

The actual scale of damage

The report presented to the Security Council is published each year to document the serious violations against the children affected by the war. It is fully based on the data compiled and verified by the UN, which means that real numbers are probably much higher than those reported.

In 2024, the report documented A record of 41,370 violations of serious – including death and mutilation, rape, removal and targeting infrastructure such as schools supporting children.

“Each child struck by these attacks has a story, a stolen life, a interrupted dream, a future obscured by insane violence and prolonged conflicts”, ” said Virginia Gamba, the special representative of the Secretary General for children and armed conflicts, whose office has produced the report.

While many of these violations have occurred during the conflict – especially since the urban war is increasing – serious violations can persist even after the end of a conflict.

They persist in unplodced ordinances which still dot the soil.

“Each unploded shell remains in a field, a school courtyard or an alley is A death sentence waiting to be triggered“Said Ms. Sen Gupta.

They persist in the spaces that remain destroyed, preventing children from accessing health care and education.

And they persist in the trauma and injuries that never completely leave a child.

Scars that never heal

Children who survive serious violations do not escape unscathed – if they suffered from violence, wounds will remain with them a lifetime. And even if they were not injured, the trauma remains.

“The physical and psychological scars carried by the survivors last a lifetimeAffecting families, communities and the very fabric of societies, “said Ms. Gamba.

This is why UNICEF and its partners worked to provide reinstatement programs and psychosocial support to children victims of serious violations.

Sila said that the trauma of her childhood is still with her and pushed her to become children’s defender in conflicts.

“From this moment, nothing felt normal in my life. I developed a phobia of all sound that looks like an airplane, darkness and even silence, “she said.

‘It cannot be the new normal’

Ms. Gamba called for “an unshakable conviction and an urgent action” of the international community in order to overthrow the disturbing trends that the report details.

“” We cannot afford to return to the dark ages where children were invisible and victims of armed conflict speech… Please do not allow them to retreat in the shadow of despair, ”she said.

Current humanitarian aid financing reductions lead to the work of United Nations agencies and partners to document and respond to serious violations against children.

In light of this, the call of Ms. Sen Gupta to the Security Council was simple: “Fund this program”.

She said that the international community cannot allow this to become “a new standard” and reminded members of the Security Council that children are not and should never be “collateral damage”.

Despite the devastation that the report detailed, there were “glimmer of hope” according to Ms. Sen Gupta. For example, the Syrian national army has signed an action plan that will prevent the recruitment, death and mutilation of children.

Sila also spoke of hope – she hopes hers is the latest generation to undergo these serious violations.

“I come from a generation that has survived. Physically, “she said. “Our body has survived, but our hearts always live in fear. Please help us replace the word movement by return, the word rubble by the house, the word war by life. ”