For a printable version of Watchlist’s July 2024 Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update, click here.

In his 2023 annual report on children and armed conflict (CAAC), the Secretary-General (SG) added Haiti as a situation of concern. According to the SG’s latest annual CAAC report (S/2024/384), the UN verified 383 grave violations against 307 children (160 boys, 117 girls, 30 of unknown sex) in 2023. Grave violations included the recruitment and use of 23 children, the killing and maiming of 206 children, rape and other forms of sexual violence committed against 41 girls, the abduction of 71 children, 37 attacks on schools and hospitals, and five incidents of the denial of humanitarian access. In January 2024, the UN and the Haitian Ministries of Social Affairs, Education, and Justice signed a handover protocol for the transfer of children allegedly associated with armed groups to civilian child protection actors. In July, the mandate of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) is up for renewal, per SCR 2692 (2023). As the UN-backed Multinational Security Support mission (MSS), authorized by SCR 2699 (2023), prepares to deploy, NGOs have raised concerns that children face significant risks being caught in the crossfire. According to the UN, “30 to 50 percent of armed group members are children who are subject to coercion, abuse and exploitation.” The Security Council should:

• Strongly condemn all human rights violations and abuses committed against civilians in Haiti, including grave violations against children, and urge an immediate end to all such violations and abuses;
• Ensure that the MSS prioritizes and mainstreams the protection of children during all operations and in its operational planning; 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;
• Ensure that all troop- and/or police-contributing countries to the MSS are adequately equipped and trained regarding their responsibilities under international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL), including the protection of civilians, respect for human rights, and addressing gender-based violence and violations and abuses against children;
• Welcome the January 2024 handover protocol and encourage its full and consistent implementation, including through sufficient child protection capacities;
• Call for the safe and unhindered 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 AND ECUADOR ARE THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDERS ON HAITI. 

In his 2024 annual report on CAAC, the SG newly listed in the annexes Israeli armed and security forces for killing and maiming children and for attacks on schools and hospitals, as well as Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and affiliated factions and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades for killing and maiming children and for abduction. This is the first time any parties in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory have been listed in the annexes of the annual CAAC report for grave violations. In 2023, the UN verified a staggering 8,009 grave violations against children in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In addition, the UN indicated that reports of an additional 23,000 grave violations were pending verification. The report describes the “dramatic increase and unprecedented scale and intensity of grave violations.” In July, the Council is expected to receive its next report on accelerating aid to Gaza, pursuant to SCR 2720 (2023). The Security Council should:

• Unequivocally condemn all violations and abuses committed against civilians, in particular the unprecedented number of grave violations against children as verified by the UN in 2023 and ongoing; call on all parties to immediately end such abuses and violations, and call for accountability for all perpetrators, including at the domestic level and before the International Criminal Court;
• Demand that all parties fully comply with their obligations under IHL and IHRL; and call on all parties to immediately and fully implement all relevant Security Council Resolutions, in particular, 2712 (2023), 2720 (2023), 2728 (2024), and 2735 (2024), as well as resolutions on the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel and on CAAC;
• Call for an immediate end to all attacks on objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, as well as schools, health facilities, and protected personnel, and ensure that such actions are investigated and the perpetrators are duly prosecuted;
• Call for the immediate, safe, and unimpeded access of humanitarian actors for the delivery of humanitarian aid, including medical services, to children and other civilians in need in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem;
• Urge the Israeli armed and security forces, Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and affiliated factions, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades to immediately cease all grave violations against children and to urgently engage with the UN to develop, sign, and implement time-bound, concrete action plans to end and prevent grave violations against children.

THERE IS NO DESIGNATED SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY.

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, Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, and pro-government militias, including the Salafists and popular committees are also each listed for recruitment and use. In 2023, the UN verified 809 grave violations against 666 children (546 boys, 120 girls), including the recruitment and use of 173 children, killing and maiming of 479 children, sexual violence against 24 children, 37 attacks on schools and hospitals, the abduction of 4 children, and 92 incidents of the denial of humanitarian access. In July, the SG is expected to report to the Council on Yemen, pursuant to SCRs 2201 (2015) and 2722 (2024). The SG, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and others have all called for the immediate and unconditional release of all UN staff and civil society workers detained in Yemen by the de facto Houthi authorities, including in June. The targeting of humanitarian, human rights, and development workers impedes efforts to reach civilians, including nearly 10 million children, in need of humanitarian aid. 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 all parties to fully and swiftly implement their respective action plans and other concrete commitments to end and prevent grave violations against children, including the Government of Yemen’s 2014 action plan to end and prevent recruitment and use and the 2018 roadmap and the Houthi’s 2022 action plan and handover protocol; call on the Security Belt Forces and the Amaliqah Brigades to continue to participate in activities under the 2014 action plan and 2018 road map and for the full commitment of groups affiliated with the Presidential Leadership Council to the action plan and road map;
• Call on all parties to swiftly and fully implement the recommendations of the SCWG-CAAC, as elaborated in its third conclusions on Yemen; support efforts to ensure sustainable financial resources for child protection activities and programs in Yemen, including for the implementation of warring parties’ commitments and of the SCWG-CAAC conclusions and for explosive ordnance removal and risk education.

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), Somalia (S/2022/397), Syria (S/2023/805), Central African Republic (S/2024/93), Colombia (S/2024/161), and Iraq (S/2024/247). For targeted recommendations, see Watchlist’s Monthly CAAC updates from February 2021, July 2022, December 2023, April 2024, and May 2024, respectively.