(OSRSG-CAAC) – Leila Zerrougui, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, alerted the General Assembly that in the past few months, the intensity of fighting has reached unprecedented levels in many conflicts. “Children are the primary victims,” the Special Representative said during the presentation of her annual report. “They have been killed, maimed, used and recruited, targeted and brutalized by armed forces and groups.” She urged the international community to come together to protect children in the face of new waves of extremism sweeping across Iraq, Syria, Nigeria and northern Mali. In addition, protracted conflicts in Afghanistan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as large scale emergencies in Syria, Iraq, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Gaza continue to take a dramatic toll on children.
