Serious violations against children in conflict zones increased by 13% in 2022, warns the NGO Save the Children.
The NGO Save the Children is sounding the alarm.
Grave violations against children in zones of armed conflict increased by 13% in 2022, its annual report reveals.
These abuses are expected to increase further in 2023, particularly because of the conflict in Sudan and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, warns the NGO.
468 million children – or one in six children – lived in conflict zones in 2022.
This trend has increased significantly over the past decade.
Save the Children lists 6 serious violations against children in conflict zones: killings and mutilations, recruitment of child soldiers, sexual violence, kidnappings, attacks on schools and hospitals as well as denial of humanitarian access to children.
Also, 27,638 serious violations perpetrated against children were recorded in 2022, or 76 per day on average.
Among them, more than 8,600 cases of murder and mutilation of children.
Thus, more than 1,300 children were killed or mutilated in Ukraine, nearly 900 in Afghanistan and more than 700 in Somalia and Syria.
In 2022, the worst conflict zones for children were the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Myanmar, according to the report.
These figures are, however, underestimated because many cases are not reported, warns the NGO.