UNICEF chief: Children in war 'cannot wait another 30 years'

Record violations in 2025

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell warned the UN Security Council on Monday that children in contemporary conflicts "cannot wait another 30 years for the protection they have been promised," noting that verified grave violations reached unprecedented levels in 2025. The briefing marked three decades since Mozambican advocate Graca Machel's landmark report on the impact of armed conflict on children, during which time the UN has verified more than 430,000 grave violations against children since 2005, including over 38,000 in 2025 alone.

The highest numbers of violations last year were verified in the state of Palestine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria, Russell said, adding that more than 44,000 incidents of denial of humanitarian access have been recorded since 2005, including over 8,000 this year. "And these are only the violations the United Nations was able to verify," she noted, stressing that at the moment children most need protection, "our ability to reach them is being undermined."

Explosive weapons scourge

Pointing to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, Russell emphasized: "More than 70% of verified child casualties in 2025 were caused by explosive weapons." She said such weapons destroy schools, hospitals and water systems essential to children's survival, with consequences lasting long after fighting stops.

Government forces 'deeply troubling'

Vanessa Frazier, the secretary-general's special representative for children and armed conflict, told the council that the UN verified 38,558 grave violations affecting 24,174 children in 2025, noting that government forces were responsible for the majority of verified grave violations for the first time in the mandate's history. "This is deeply troubling. I condemn all grave violations against children, in every situation and every conflict, irrespective of who commits them," Frazier said.

Despite current trends, she noted that more than 40 action plans signed with conflict parties have contributed to the release of over 220,000 children from armed forces and groups since monitoring began.