Somalia

In the SG’s 2025 annual report on CAAC, Al-Shabaab continues to be listed for all listable grave violations against children and Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jama’a (ASWJ) for recruitment and use of children. The Somali National Army (SNA) and the Somali Police Force (SPF) were delisted this year for recruitment and use (conditional upon continued implementation of the 2012 joint action plan with the UN and 2019 roadmap) but remain listed for killing and maiming and rape and other forms of sexual violence. Somalia had the third highest number of UN-verified grave violations against children, with 2,568 grave violations against 1,992 children (1,447 boys, 545 girls) in 2024 and 50 violations that occurred in previous years. Abduction was the most prominent violation, with 887 children affected, primarily by Al-Shabaab (850) for recruitment and use purposes and forced marriage. The UN also verified the killing and maiming of 601 children and 267 incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence against girls, noting a “fivefold increase in the number of gang rapes.” A total of 768 children were recruited and used, 291 children were detained on national security-related charges, 39 schools and hospitals were attacked, and humanitarian access was denied in 12 incidents. The Security Council should: 

• Demand that all parties fully uphold their obligations under IHL and IHRL, immediately cease all grave violations against children; and call on the Federal Government of Somalia to strengthen accountability for all grave violations committed against children; 
• Call on all parties to take immediate and specific steps to end and prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, including by ensuring perpetrators are held accountable and that survivors have access to comprehensive, gender-sensitive, and age-appropriate response and protection; 
• Call on the Federal Government and regional authorities to treat children allegedly associated with armed forces or groups primarily as victims, in line with the Paris Principles and Commitments; and end the prosecution of children in military courts; 
• Welcome the steps taken by the Federal Government of Somalia towards ending and preventing child recruitment and use by the SNA and SPF, and call on the Federal Government to continue to sustain gains made under the 2012 action plan and 2019 roadmap; including the integration of child protection into military training; the rollout of the age verification guidelines and its standardized checklist endorsed by the Federal Government in July 2023; 
• Call on the Federal Government to strengthen its commitments to end and prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence against children; and to consistently apply the 2014 Standard Operating Procedures for the reception and handover of children separated from armed groups to civilian child protection actors for reintegration purposes;  
• Emphasize the need to maintain resources to allow UNTMIS to fully deliver on its mandated responsibilities including those related to CAAC; underline the need to prioritize measures to address the impact of conflict on children during ongoing and future military operations in Somalia in light of the phased drawdown of ATMIS.

This information is based on Watchlist’s Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update – July 2025.

In May, the Secretary-General (SG) released his sixth report (S/2022/397) on children and armed conflict (CAAC) in Somalia, covering the period from October 2019 to September 2021. During this time, the Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) verified 8,042 grave violations against 6,501 children (5,108 boys, 1,393 girls). Al-Shabaab was found responsible for the majority (67 percent) of these violations. Government security forces, including the Somali National Army and the Somali Police Force, as well as regional forces, also continued to commit grave violations. Recruitment and use (2,852), abduction (2,502), and killing and maiming (1,857) accounted for 90 percent of the total verified violations. Rape and other forms of sexual violence continued to be reported at high levels and frequently occurred in internal displacement camps or in the context of abduction and forced marriage. Accountability remained low for such violations, and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the handover of children were implemented inconsistently. Little progress was made to strengthen legal protections for children; rather, attempts were made to weaken draft legislation pertaining to child protection, such as lowering the age of majority from 18 to 15 in the third draft of the revised Constitution, a pending bill weakening protections for children from sexual violence and child marriage, and no progress on adoption of the Child Rights Bill. The Working Group should:

• Strongly condemn the staggering numbers of violations and abuses committed against children in Somalia, and demand that all parties fully uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL), immediately cease all abductions and recruitment and use of children, and release all children within their ranks;
• Call on the Federal Government of Somalia to strengthen accountability for all grave violations committed against children, to enact the Child Rights Bill, to adopt the original 2018 Sexual Offences Bill, to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child’s Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, to treat children allegedly associated with armed forces or groups primarily as victims, in line with the Paris Principles and Commitments, and adopt age verification guidelines;
• Encourage the Federal Government to implement its commitments under the Safe Schools Declaration, developing comprehensive risk assessments and risk reduction strategies to prevent and respond to attacks, including child recruitment and sexual violence at, or on the way to or from, school;
• Urge the Federal Government to fully implement its 2012 action plans on recruitment and use and killing and maiming, as well as its 2019 roadmap; to swiftly engage with the UN to strengthen its commitments to end and prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence against children; and to consistently comply with its 2014 SOP on the handover of children to civilian child protection actors;
• Emphasize the need to allocate and swiftly deploy sufficient resources to allow UNSOM to fully deliver on its child protection mandate.

THE UNITED KINGDOM IS THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON SOMALIA.

This information is based on Watchlist’s Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update: July 2022.

Year listed: 2003
Action Plans signed: Somali National Army – recruitment and use of children (July 2012) and killing and maiming of children (August 2012); Roadmap to expedite the implementation of the two action plans adopted in October 2019. 
Sanctions Committee: Somalia Sanctions Committee (Current Chair: Belgium)
Secretary-General’s reports on CAAC in Somalia: 2022; 2020; 2016; 2010; 2008; 2007
Security Council Working Group conclusions on Somalia: 2020; 2017; 2011; 2008; 2007
Missions: UNSOM, AMISOM