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UN report shows devastating impact various forms of conflict have on children.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., Feb. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins humanitarian organizations and the international community in honoring Feb. 12 as Red Hand Day, also known as the International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers.
The day was started when the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict entered into force on Feb. 12, 2002.
This protocol was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations (U.N.) in May 2000 and has been ratified by 168 U.N. member states.
In 2001, the U.N. Security Council sent a powerful message to the world that the recruitment of child soldiers would no longer be tolerated. Resolution 1379 requested the U.N. secretary-general attach an annex to his report on children and armed conflict, in which he would list parties to conflict who recruit and use children in situations on the U.N. Security Council’s agenda. Subsequent resolutions added four additional triggers for listing: sexual violence, killing and maiming, attacks on schools and hospitals, and abduction of children.
In July 2022, the United Nations released a report on Children and Armed Conflict that detailed the devastating impact that various forms of conflict had on children around the world in 2021. The report highlighted nearly 24,000 verified grave violations against children. The killing and maiming of children was the most verified grave violation followed by the recruitment and use of children and the denial of humanitarian access.
Poverty and lack of opportunities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have created more situations of children at risk for recruitment by armed forces and armed groups, or for sexual violence or abduction. Education opportunities that have already been disrupted by war and displacement are further vanishing, leaving…
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