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

In his 2026 annual report (S/2026/357) on children and armed conflict (CAAC), the Secretary-General (SG) newly listed Gran Grif for the recruitment and use, killing and maiming, and abduction of children, Kraze Barye for the recruitment and use and killing and maiming of children, and 400 Mawozo for the recruitment and use of children. The Viv Ansam coalition continued to be listed for the recruitment and use and killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, and attacks on schools and hospitals. The UN verified 2,088 grave violations against 1,661 children. The UN verified the recruitment and use of 892 children, most of whom were used in combat and support roles, with girls disproportionately exposed to sexual violence. The UN also verified the killing and maiming of 620 children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against 166 children, including 47 cases of gang and repetitive rape, attacks on 99 schools and hospitals, the military use of 136 schools, the abduction of 277 children, and 34 incidents of denial of humanitarian access. The SG warned that the Haitian National Police and the Special Security Task Force should be listed if high numbers of violations against children persist in 2026 without meaningful improvement. The Security Council should:

• Call on all parties to immediately cease hostilities anduphold their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL);
• Urge all listed parties to engage with the UN to develop, sign, and implement an action plan to prevent and end grave violations against children;
• Urge all armed groups to immediately release all children under 18 from their ranks and end and prevent all child recruitment and use; 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 Haiti to fully and consistently implement its 2024 handover protocol, including through sufficient child protection capacities;
• Call on Member States participating in the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) toestablish 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;
• 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;
• 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. 

In the annexes of his 2026 annual report on CAAC, the SG continued to list Israeli armed and security forces for killing and maiming and 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 and abduction. For the third consecutive year, Israel and OPT was the situation with the highest number of verified grave violations in the SG’s annual CAAC report. The UN verified 12,445 grave violations against 5,663 children (3,549 boys, 2,114 girls). Violations were verified in Israel (9) and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (12,436). The UN verified the killing of 57 Palestinian children in the West Bank and 2,668 Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip, with the process of attribution of 2,518 verified killing incidents ongoing. The UN also verified the maiming of 2,921 Palestinian children, the detention of 981 Palestinian children, the use of two Palestinian children as human shields by Israeli armed and security forces, conflict-related sexual violence against 10 children, 828 attacks on schools and hospitals, nine military uses of schools and health facilities, the abduction of one Palestinian boy, and 5,946 incidents of denial of humanitarian access. The SG expressed concern at the substantial increase in grave violations attributed to Israeli settlers and warned that, should violations against children continue in 2026 without meaningful improvement, Israeli settlers should be listed. The Security Council should:

• Unequivocally condemn all violations and abuses committed against civilians, in particular the unprecedented number of grave violations against children; call on all parties to immediately end such violations andto cease all indiscriminate attacksand attacks on objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, including children, notably through the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA);
• Demand that all parties fully comply with their obligations under IHL and IHRL;including the special protections afforded to children; call for an end to impunity; and call for implementation of the Comprehensive Plan to end the Gaza Conflict, in line with 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 the immediate, safe, and unimpeded access of humanitarian actors for the delivery of humanitarian aid, including medical services, to children and other civiliansin need, and for the facilitation of medical evacuations of critically sick and injured children with caregivers; and condemn attacks against humanitarian operations, premises and workers, including the killing of humanitarian personnel;
• 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 plansto end and prevent grave violations against children;
• Urge Israel to uphold international juvenile justice standards, to end all administrative and arbitrary detention of children and to prevent attempted use of children as informants.

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

In the annexes of his 2026 annual report on CAAC, the SG listed the Somalia National Army and the Somali Police Force for killing and maiming and rape and other forms of sexual violence as well as Al-Shabaab for all listable grave violations. The UN verified 2,195 grave violations against 1,703 children (1,286 boys, 417 girls). The UN verified the recruitment and use of 701 children, 560 attributed to Al-Shabaab, the killing and maiming of 473 children, sexual violence against 201 girls, 32 attacks on schools and hospitals, the abduction of 785 children, and three incidents of denial of humanitarian access. Majority of grave violations were attributed to Al-Shabaab, including a notable rise in 2025 in abductions and threats against teachers. The UN also verified the detention of 91 children for alleged association with armed groups, all of whom were released. The Security Council should:

• Welcome the signing and full implementation of the 2025 Roadmap, the rollout of the age assessment guidelines and standardized checklist, and the implementation of the 2014 Standard Operating Procedure for the handover of children allegedly associated with armed groups;
• Considering UNTMIS drawdown in October 2026 and the handover of children and armed conflict tasks to UNICEF and the UN Country Team, urge donors to ensure resourcing for continued monitoring and reporting coverage, especially in areas under non-State actor influence, in implementation of the Security Council’s children and armed conflict mandate;
• In light of the constitutional progress and reported changes made to the age of the child in Somalia, as well as the ongoing reviews of child rights laws, urge the Federal Government of Somalia to align measures with its international and regional human rights obligations and retain the definition of a child as any human being under 18 years of age as per the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

THE UNITED KINGDOM IS THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON SOMALIA.

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), Syria (S/2025/535), and Somalia (S/2025/735). For targeted recommendations, see Watchlist’s Monthly CAAC updates from March 2025, May 2025, June 2025, September 2025, December 2025, and February 2026, respectively.