For a printable version of Watchlist’s June 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) newly listed Azande Ani Kpi Gbe for recruitment and use of children in addition to the local militias known as anti-balaka, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique (FPRC), Mouvement patriotique pour la Centrafrique (MPC), and Union pour la paix en Centrafrique (UPC) which are each listed in the annex of the SG’s report for multiple grave violations against children. According to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) latest report, the UN verified 196 grave violations against children between 1 October 2025 and 1 February 2026, marking an increase compared to the previous reporting period. Violations included recruitment and use (48 percent), abduction (22 percent), rape and other forms of sexual violence (16 percent), denial of humanitarian access (six percent), attacks on schools and hospitals (four percent), killing (two percent), and maiming (two percent). In June, the SG will report on the situation in CAR and MINUSCA per SCR 2800 (2025). 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;
• Encourage the ongoing efforts made by parties to release children from their ranks; call for all parties to end and prevent grave violations against children, including by engaging with the UN to sign and implement action plans to end and prevent all six grave violations against children; urge the MPC, FPRC, and UPC to fully and swiftly implement their respective action plans and release all children still in their ranks;
• Welcome the signing of the October 2024 handover protocol, and call on the Government to swiftly and fully implement its provisions;
• Call on the Government to fully implement all aspects of the Child Protection Code and the national plan on the prevention of grave violations against children and to ensure perpetrators of grave violations are held accountable and that child survivors of sexual violence have access to comprehensive, gender-sensitive, and age-appropriate response systems and services, and strengthen preventive measures.

FRANCE IS THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON CAR. 

Seventeen non-state armed groups (NSAGs) and the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) are listed in the annexes of the SG’s 2025 annual report on CAAC for committing grave violations against children. The SG newly listed Mai-Mai Kashumba for recruitment and use and added this violation to the existing listings of CODECO and Mai-Mai Zaïre. According to the latest United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) report covering the period from December 2025 to March 2026, MONUSCO verified 212 grave violations affecting 185 children, including 44 girls and 141 boys. MONUSCO secured the release of 24 children who had been detained for their alleged association with NSAGs. During this reporting period, MONUSCO recorded 532 protection incidents that resulted in the killing of 62 children maiming of 94 children. In June, the SG will report on MONUSCO per SCR 2808 (2025). The Security Council should:

• Strongly condemn all continuing violations and abuses committed against children in the DRC, and demand that all parties uphold their obligations under IHL and IHRL;
• Call on all parties to engage with the UN to develop and implement concrete commitments to end and prevent grave violations against children; including action plans where relevant;
• Urge all parties to take immediate steps to end and prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence against children and ensure that survivors have access to timely, comprehensive, gender-sensitive, and age-appropriate response and protection, and call on the Government to accelerate efforts to implement its 2012 action plan to end and prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence and the Joint Communiqué signed with the UN to fight sexual violence in conflict;
• Call on all parties to allow and facilitate the safe, timely, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations, especially children impacted by the ongoing Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC;
• Reiterate the crucial role of Child Protection Advisers in MONUSCO and demand that the Mission continues to ensure the effectiveness of the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM).

FRANCE IS THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON DRC.

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. According to UNICEF’s report, between January and March 2026, at least 160 children have been reportedly killed and 85 maimed, representing a 50 percent increase compared to the same period in 2025. 78 percent of reported child casualties resulted from drone attacks. Large parts of Sudan remain cut off from humanitarian assistance due to insecurity, damaged infrastructure and administrative constraints. In June, the SG will report on UN efforts to support Sudan per SCR 2715 (2023). The Security Council should:

• Urge all listed parties to develop, sign, and implement an action plan to prevent and end grave violations against children in collaboration with the UNin 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 abduction, 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 in 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), 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.