(United Nations Meetings Coverage and Press Releases) – Urgent action would be required of Member States, the United Nations system and all stakeholders in order to avoid losing future generations and to address the devastating impact of conflict and other crises on children, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today. As the Committee began its consideration of the promotion and protection of the rights of young people, Special Representative Leila Zerrougui said the international community could make greater collective efforts to protect children. Emphasizing the daunting nature of reducing the impact of conflict on children, she said the means and methods of warfare exacerbated the challenges of protecting them. The situations in South Sudan and Syria were of grave concern, she noted while citing the progress made in the release of child soldiers by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
