For a printable version of Watchlist’s January 2026 Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update, click here.

In his 2025 annual report (S/2025/247) on children and armed conflict (CAAC), the Secretary-General (SG) listed the Viv Ansanm coalition for the recruitment and use and the killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, and attacks on schools and hospitals. The SG’s latest report on Haiti (S/2025/641), highlighted escalating child protection concerns linked to widespread gang violence with 60 cases of killing and maiming and the abduction of at least 12 children, while gangs continued to subject children to sexual violence, including rape and sexual slavery. In September 2025, the Security Council authorized the transition of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission to a Gang Suppression Force (GSF), alongside the establishment of a United Nations Support Office to provide logistical and operational assistance. The mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) was extended through January 2026. The Security Council should:

• Ensure that the GSF prioritizes and mainstreams the protection of children throughout its mandate in all the planning and conduct of its operations, including through capacity-building; supports the release and recovery of children from armed gangs and their immediate handover to civilian child protection actors, and provides protection to and facilitates access for child protection actors to affected children;
• Call on Member States participating in the GSF to establish an oversight mechanism to prevent human rights violations or abuses, in particular sexual exploitation and abuse, to deploy dedicated child and Women’s Protection Advisers;
• 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;
• Urge all armed gangs to immediately release all children under 18 from their ranks and end and prevent all child recruitment and use, the killing and maiming of children, their abductions; reiterate that children associated with armed forces and gangs should be treated primarily as victims, and their reintegration should be prioritized; encourage the Government of Haiti to fully and consistently implement its 2024 handover protocol on the transfer and reintegration of children allegedly associated with armed gangs and the release of detained children to civilian actors, including through sufficient child protection capacities;
• Call on the Viv Ansanm coalition to adopt action plans with the United Nations to end and prevent grave violations against children;
• Call on all parties to allow and facilitate the safe, timely, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations, especially children;
• Urge donors to swiftly mobilize additional flexible funds to support the humanitarian response in Haiti, including resources for child protection and reintegration programs.

PANAMA AND THE UNITED STATES ARE THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDERS ON HAITI. 

Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, including Ansar Eddine, Mouvement national de libération de l’Azawad, part of the Coordination des mouvements de l’Azawada, and Platform, including affiliated groups are each listed in the annex of the 2025 SG’s report for multiple grave violations against children. In 2024, the UN verified 892 grave violations against 778 children, as well as 87 violations that occurred in previous years. Recruitment and use remained a prevalent violation, with 285 children recruited and used. The UN verified the killing and maiming of 387 children. The UN also verified the rape of 32 girls, 22 attacks on schools and hospitals, the abduction of 119 children, and 47 incidents of denial of humanitarian access. In addition, the Malian Defence and Security Forces detained 12 boys for alleged association with armed groups, with 11 detained for extended periods in violation of the 2013 handover protocol. The Security Council should:

• Demand that all parties uphold their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL), and that all parties allow and facilitate the safe, timely, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations, especially children;
• Urge all armed groups to immediately release all children under 18 from their ranks and end and prevent all child recruitment and use, the killing and maiming of children, their abductions as well as take concrete steps to end rape and other forms of sexual violence against children; reiterate that children associated with armed forces and groups should be treated primarily as victims, and their reintegration should be prioritized;
• Encourage the Government of Mali to fully and consistently implement its 2013 handover protocol on the transfer and reintegration of children allegedly associated with armed groups and the release of detained children to civilian actors;
• Call on all parties to immediately cease attacks on schools and education personnel and urge the Malian authorities to continue to uphold commitments under the Safe Schools Declaration, including by enacting the draft bill on protecting education from attack.

FRANCE IS THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON MALI.

In the SG’s 2025 annual report on CAAC, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and six additional armed groups are each listed in the annexes for multiple grave violations against children. The SG reported an alarming escalation in grave violations against children in Sudan amid intensified fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). During 2024, the UN verified 2,041 grave violations against 1,882 children, as well as 127 violations that occurred in previous years. Killing and maiming constituted the most prevalent grave violation, with 1,739 children affected, largely due to shelling. The UN also verified the recruitment and use of 25 boys, the detention of 14 children, 74 cases of sexual violence, 108 attacks on schools and hospitals, the military use of five schools and hospitals, the abduction of 57 children, and 38 incidents of denial of humanitarian access, mainly attributed to the RSF and the SAF. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG), Vanessa Frazier, expressed concern over recent escalations, including the Rapid Support Forces’ takeover of El Fasher in October 2025 following a prolonged siege, and their severe impact on children, including increased risks of killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, forced displacement, hunger, and the loss of access to education, health care, and other essential services. The Security Council should:

• Urge all listed parties to engage with the United Nations to develop, sign, and implement an action plan to prevent and end grave violations against children in Sudan;
• Unequivocally condemn all continuing violations and abuses committed against children in Sudan, express grave concern at the increase in verified grave violations against children, and demand that all parties uphold their obligations under IHL and IHRL;
• Demand that all parties to conflict immediately release all children under 18 from their ranks and prevent and end all child recruitment and use, the killing and maiming of children, their abductions, as well as take concrete steps to end rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, including in the context of recruitment and use;
• Reiterate calls for safe and unimpeded access for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to all civilians in need, including children.
• Call for an immediate cessation of attacks on schools, health facilities, and protected personnel, and urge parties to end all military use of such facilities;
• Urge the immediate release of all detained children, recalling that children should only be detained as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate time, per the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC);
• Urge donors to swiftly mobilize flexible funding to support the humanitarian response to Sudan, including resources for child protection programs.

THE UNITED KINGDOM IS THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON SUDAN. 

The Working Group has received the following reports of the SG on children and armed conflict and conclusions remain pending: Mali (S/2024/883), Burkina Faso (S/2025/101), Myanmar (S/2025/81), Yemen (S/2025/113), South Sudan (S/2025/317), and Syria (S/2025/535). For targeted recommendations, see Watchlist’s Monthly CAAC updates from March 2025, May 2025, June 2025, September 2025, and December 2025 respectively.