According to the United Nations children’s agency, around 473 million people, or more than one in six children, live in conflict zones around the world.
The UNICEF statement comes Saturday as conflicts continue to rage around the world, including in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, among others.
In Israel’s devastating war on Gaza in particular, at least 17,492 children are believed to have been killed during nearly 15 months of conflict that reduced much of the enclave to rubble.
“By almost every measure, 2024 was one of the worst years on record for children in conflict in UNICEF history – both in terms of the number of children affected and the level of impact on their lives,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
According to Russell, a child growing up in a conflict zone is much more likely to be out of school, malnourished or forced to leave home than a child living in places without conflict.
“This doesn’t have to be the new normal. We cannot allow a generation of children to become collateral damage of uncontrolled wars around the world,” the director said.
The proportion of children living in conflict zones has doubled – from around 10 percent in the 1990s to almost 19 percent today, UNICEF said.
According to the report, 47.2 million children had been displaced due to conflict and violence by the end of 2023.
Trends for 2024 indicate a further increase in displacement due to the intensification of various conflicts, including in Haiti, Lebanon, Myanmar, the Palestinian territories and Sudan.
Additionally, in the latest available data, from 2023, the UN verified a record 32,990 grave violations against 22,557 children – the highest number since UN Security Council-mandated monitoring began. UN, UNICEF said.
There is an overall upward trend in the number of serious violations, with a further increase this year, as “thousands of children have been killed and injured in Gaza and Ukraine”, the agency said.
Sexual violence against children has increased, their education has been affected, child malnutrition rates have increased, and armed conflict is taking an even greater toll on children’s mental health, UNICEF also reported.
“The world is failing these children. As we look toward 2025, we must do more to turn the tide and save and improve children’s lives,” Russell said.
Gaza children ‘cold, sick and traumatized’
In Gaza – where the Israeli army has killed more women and children in the past year than in any recent conflict in a single year, Oxfam reported in September – the ongoing war is a “ nightmare” for children, said UNICEF communications specialist Rosalia Bollen. week during a press conference.
“The children of Gaza are cold, sick and traumatized,” Bollen said last Friday.
About 96 percent of Gaza’s women and children cannot meet their basic nutritional needs, she said, lamenting the lack of aid able to reach the Strip’s children.
“Gaza must be one of the most heartbreaking places in the world for humanitarians. Every small effort to save a child’s life is wiped out by fierce devastation,” Bollen said.
“For more than 14 months, children have been at the forefront of this nightmare. »
Bollen said many children in the besieged enclave do not have winter clothes, have to dig through garbage for supplies and are plagued by disease.
She urged using political capital and diplomatic influence to push for the evacuation of injured children and their parents so that they leave Gaza and seek medical care in East Jerusalem or elsewhere.
“This war should haunt each of us. The children of Gaza cannot wait,” she insisted.
