For a printable version of Watchlist’s June 2025 Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update, click here.

Local militias known as anti-balaka, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique (FPRC), Mouvement patriotique pour la Centrafrique (MPC), and Union pour la paix en Centrafrique (UPC) are each listed in the annex of the Secretary General’s (SG) 2024 annual report on children and armed conflict (CAAC) for multiple grave violations against children. According to the SG’s February 2025 report on Central African Republic (S/2025/97), between October 2024 and January 2025, the UN verified that parties to conflict committed 126 grave violations against children. The number of violations may be higher given MINUSCA’s limited access to remote areas due to difficult terrain, compounded by the limited availability of air assets and the presence of explosive ordnance. In June, the SG will report on the situation in CAR and MINUSCA per SCR 2759 (2024). The Security Council and other UN Member States should:

• Demand that all parties uphold their obligations under IHL and IHRL, and that all parties allow and facilitate the safe, timely, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations, especially children;
• Urge the MPC, FPRC, and UPC to fully and swiftly implement their respective action plans and release all children still in their ranks, and call for all parties to end and prevent grave violations against children, including by engaging with the UN to sign and implement action plans to end and prevent all six grave violations against children;
• Call on the Government to fully implement all aspects of the Child Protection Code and the national plan on the prevention of grave violations against children and to ensure perpetrators of grave violations are held accountable and that child survivors of sexual violence have access to comprehensive, gender-sensitive, and age-appropriate response systems and services, and strengthen preventive measures; urge the Government and pro-government forces to cease the military use of schools and to vacate all schools;
• Urge the Government and pro-government forces to operationalize the Handover Protocol signed in October 2024 on the protection and transfer of children associated with armed forces and groups to civilian authorities, in collaboration with the UN.

Sixteen non-State armed groups and the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) are listed in the annexes of the SG’s 2024 annual report on CAAC for committing grave violations against children. In April, UNICEF’s Executive Director briefed the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in the DRC, highlighting a 100 percent increase in verified grave violations in the first quarter of 2025, as compared to the first quarter of 2024. These include indiscriminate attacks, large-scale recruitment and use of children, collective abductions of children, as well as widespread sexual violence. Partners who have largely relied on MONUSCO’s maintenance of core infrastructure that facilitates humanitarian access are now experiencing challenges in reaching remote areas due to access restrictions imposed by parties to the conflict. The Security Council and other UN Member States should:

• Strongly condemn all continuing violations and abuses committed against children in the DRC, express grave concern at the increase in verified grave violations against children, and demand that all parties uphold their obligations under IHL and IHRL;
• Reiterate its call for an immediate ceasefire, per SCR 2773 (2025), with clearly articulated timeframes, coordination with relevant stakeholders at regional and subregional organizations and humanitarian actors to establish such a ceasefire, as well as to prevent further violations and abuses against civilians, including children;
• Urge all parties to take immediate steps to end and prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence against children and ensure that survivors have access to comprehensive, gender-sensitive, and age-appropriate response and protection, and call on the Government to accelerate efforts to implement its 2012 action plan to end and prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence and the Joint Communiqué signed with the UN to fight sexual violence in conflict;
• Call on all parties to allow and facilitate the safe, timely, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations, especially children;
• Demand that all parties immediately cease hostilities against peacekeepers, ensure their safety and security, guarantee their freedom of movement, and allow the full and unimpeded implementation of their mandates, including those related to CAAC, human rights, and the protection of civilians.

The Working Group has received the following reports of the SG on children and armed conflict and conclusions remain pending: Syria (S/2023/805), the Democratic Republic of Congo (S/2024/705), and Mali (S/2024/883), Burkina Faso (S/2025/101), and Myanmar (S/2025/81). For targeted recommendations, see Watchlist’s Monthly CAAC updates from December 2023, December 2024, March 2025, and May 2025, respectively.

In May, the SG released his fourth report on the situation of children and armed conflict in Yemen (S/2025/113), covering the period from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2023. During this time, the United Nations verified 5,539 grave violations against 2,422 children (1,997 boys, 425 girls), including 193 children who were victims of multiple violations. The most prevalent violation was the denial of humanitarian access (2,806 incidents), followed by killing and maiming (1,941) and recruitment and use (564). The UN also verified 118 attacks on schools and hospitals, 64 abductions, and 46 cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence. Explosive ordnance caused the majority of child casualties, accounting for 69 percent of children killed or maimed, while the military use of 158 schools and 13 hospitals was also documented. The report notes a significant decline in violations following the 2022 UN-mediated truce and subsequent action plan implementation, as well as an overall decline in the total number of verified grave violations as compared to the previous report which covered a shorter reporting period. However, access restrictions and fear of reprisals continued to limit verification. The Working Group Should:

• Strongly condemn all grave violations and abuses that continue to be committed against children in Yemen, and demand that all parties uphold their obligations under IHL and IHRL;
• Reiterate calls for safe, timely, and unimpeded access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations, including children;
• Urge all armed groups to immediately release all children under 18 from their ranks and end and prevent all child recruitment and use; reiterate that children associated with armed forces and groups should be treated primarily as victims, and their reintegration should be prioritized;
• Urge the Government of Yemen, the Security Belt Forces, the Amaliqah Brigades and all groups affiliated with the Presidential Leadership Council to fully and swiftly implement all relevant activities under the Government’s 2014 action plan and 2018 roadmap;
• Call on the Houthi’s to fully and swiftly implement the 2022 action plan and handover protocol, in close collaboration with the UN, notably to continue conducting age assessments in recruitment centers and training of officers on child protection and granting unimpeded access for the UN to all places of detention of children;
• Call on all parties to immediately cease attacks and threats of attack on educational and health facilities and personnel, as well as to refrain from the military use of schools.