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

Haiti is a situation of concern in the Secretary-General’s (SG) annual report (S/2024/384) on children and armed conflict (CAAC). According to UNICEF’s Humanitarian Situation Report, Haiti experienced a significant escalation in grave violations against children in 2024, with incidents surging twelvefold compared to the previous year due to increased violence from armed gangs and self-defense groups. These groups have increased their recruitment of children by 70 percent, with children now comprising up to 50 percent of their members. Armed groups frequently coerce or deceive children with false promises of safety and social recognition, placing them in the center of the conflict. Between May to October 2024 Amnesty International reported 18 cases of sexual violence including abductions and collective rape perpetrated by gang members. In April, the Security Council is expected to receive its regular report on the implementation of the Multinational Security Support mission (MSS) in Haiti, pursuant to SCR 2751 (2024). The Security Council should: 

• Ensure that the MSS prioritizes and mainstreams the protection of children during all operations; supports the release and recovery of children from armed groups and their immediate handover to civilian child protection actors; provides protection to and facilitates access for child protection actors to affected children; and shares with the UN Working Group on CAAC in Haiti information on grave violations against children, as appropriate;   
• Encourage the Government of Haiti to fully and consistently implement its January 2024 handover protocol, including through sufficient child protection capacities;    
• Call on all parties to take immediate and concrete steps to end and prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, ensure survivors have access to comprehensive, gender-sensitive, and age-appropriate response systems and services, and strengthen preventive measures;  
• Call for the safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations, including children;   
• Urge donors to swiftly mobilize additional flexible funds to support the humanitarian response in Haiti, including resources for child protection. 

THE UNITED STATES IS THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON HAITI. 

The South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) are listed in the annex of the SG’s latest annual report on CAAC for recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and abduction. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition – pro-Machar (SPLM/AIO – pro-Machar) is also listed for recruitment and use, killing and maiming, and abduction. The Secretary-General’s 90-day report on South Sudan (S/2024/776) covering 16 July to 15 October 2024, verified 26 grave violations against 19 children, including abductions, killings, maiming, recruitment, and rape and other forms of sexual violence. The report also documented two verified attacks on schools and four on hospitals, with the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces using one school and one hospital for military purposes. Various groups, including the National Salvation Army (NAS), the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces, and the SPLM/A-IO, carried out these violations across regions such as Central and Western Equatoria, Unity, and Upper Nile. In March 2025, Special Representative of the SG for CAAC (SRSG-CAAC), called on all parties in South Sudan to protect children and adhere to the Revitalized Peace Agreement and signed action plans amid recent escalations of violence. In April, UNMISS’ mandate is up for renewal, per SCR 2729 (2024). The Security Council Should: 

• Renew UNMISS’s child protection mandate, maintaining its child protection capacity, and, in subsequent budget negotiations, ensure distinct budget lines for child protection; 
• Urge the Government and parties that have endorsed the 2020 Comprehensive Action Plan to fully and swiftly implement their commitments, and urge all parties to immediately cease all grave violations against children, to facilitate humanitarian assistance and protect humanitarian personnel, and to release and hand over to child protection actors all children from their ranks; 
• Call on all parties to take immediate and specific steps to end and prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, ensure survivors have access to comprehensive, gender-sensitive, and age-appropriate response systems and services, and strengthen preventive measures; 
• Urge the Government to end impunity for grave violations against children through timely and impartial investigation and, where appropriate, prosecution; urge allocation of appropriate resources to ensure survivors of grave violations have access to justice, including for rape and other forms of sexual violence; and designate a focal point on CAAC in the Ministry of Justice. 

THE UNITED STATES IS THE DESIGNATED SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON SOUTH SUDAN.

The Houthis (who call themselves Ansar Allah) are listed in the annexes of the SG’s latest report on CAAC for recruitment and use, killing and maiming, and attacks on schools and hospitals. Security Belt Forces, pro-government militias, including the Salafists, and popular committees, and Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, are also each listed for recruitment and use. The Security Council receives a monthly briefing on Yemen, pursuant to SCR 2747 (2024). Since May 2024, the Houthis have detained over 50 United Nations, diplomatic, and NGO personnel. In late January, the group captured eight more UN staff members, among them a World Food Programme (WFP) staff member who died in detention on February 10, 2025. In addition, recent US military airstrikes in Yemen have resulted in the deaths of ten people, including four children, and injuries to over 20 in the northern Saada Governorate. The Security Council should: 

• Call for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained UN and civil society workers, and demand that all parties fully comply with obligations under IHL and IHRL, including allowing and facilitating the immediate, safe, and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to children and other civilians in need; 
• Reiterate support for continued dialogue towards a comprehensive and inclusive peace process that includes meaningful child participation and protection measures, pursuant to SCR 2427 (2018) and drawing on the Practical Guidance for Mediators; 
• Call on 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, including the adoption of a handover protocol on the release of children detained during military operations, further capacity-building for officers and a complaints mechanisms; 
• 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.

THE UNITED KINGDOM IS THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON YEMEN. 

The Working Group has received the following reports of the SG on children and armed conflict and conclusions remain pending: Myanmar (S/2020/1243), Syria (S/2023/805), the Democratic Republic of Congo (S/2024/705), and Mali (S/2024/883). For targeted recommendations, see Watchlist’s Monthly CAAC updates from February 2021, December 2023, December 2024, and March 2025, respectively.