For a printable version of Watchlist’s November 2025 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. In 2024, the UN verified 733 violations against 479 children and 608 grave violations that occurred in previous years. Recruitment and use remained the most prevalent violation, with 331 children affected. The UN verified the killing and maiming of 103 children, primarily caused by explosive ordnance. The UN also verified 31 incidents of denial of humanitarian access, 13 attacks on schools and hospitals, nine on hospitals and four on schools, and 12 incidents of military use of such facilities. At least one school remained under use at the time of reporting. In November, the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic’s (MINUSCA) mandate is up for renewal. 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;
• Renew MINUSCA’s child protection mandate and ensure allocation of sufficient capacity to MINUSCA’s child protection unit to fully deliver on this mandate;
• 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. 

In the 2025 annual report on CAAC, the SG announced his decision to remove Iraq from future CAAC reports, “[i]n view of the continued decrease in grave violations in Iraq and the measures adopted by the Government to protect children.” Simultaneously, the SG delisted Da’esh from the annexes, previously listed for all five “trigger” grave violations in Iraq, without fulfilling the 2010 delisting criteria. In 2024, the UN verified 58 grave violations against 50 children and six violations that occurred in previous years. Seven children were recruited and used in combat roles. As of December 31, 2024, 531 children remained in detention on national security-related charges, including for their actual or alleged association with armed groups, primarily Da’esh. The UN also verified 42 children killed or maimed, mainly by explosive ordnance, one attack on a health facility, and the abduction of eight children , including for recruitment and use – seven of whom were released. Given the ongoing grave violations and the scale of the Government’s continued detention of children on national security-related charges, the delisting of Da’esh and the removal of Iraq from the report have raised concerns about future capacity to monitor, report, and respond to child protection needs in Iraq. The upcoming exit of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) in December 2025 could further reduce this capacity. In November, the SG reports on UNAMI per SCR 2732 (2024). The Security Council should:

• Recall that all children associated with armed forces and armed groups (CAAFAG) should be treated primarily as victims, including those allegedly associated with armed groups designated as terrorist by the UN and those who may have committed crimes, their reintegration should be prioritized, and detention should only be used as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate time;
• Encourage the Government to continue its efforts to repatriate children held in Northeast Syria, following a rights-based approach, in accordance with their duty under international law;
• Call on the Government to endorse the Paris Principles and Commitments and encourage the development and signing of a handover protocol to facilitate the release of children to child protection actors for reintegration; urge donors to provide long-term, predictable funding for reintegration;
• Call on the Government to implement international legal instruments on landmines and other explosive remnants of war, and to promote mine clearance and age-appropriate explosive ordnance risk education, conflict preparedness, and protection for affected communities;
• Call for all relevant UN entities remaining in Iraq to continue to monitor, report, and respond, as appropriate, to grave violations against children.

THE UNITED STATES IS THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON IRAQ.

In the SG’s 2025 annual report on CAAC, the Security Belt Forces have been delisted for the violation of recruitment and use of children for their commitment to the 2014 action plan and the Houthis have been delisted for the violation of attacks on schools and hospitals, due to a decrease in this grave violation. These delistings are conditional upon the continued implementation of their respective action plans and road maps and the continued decrease in such violations. The Houthis remain listed for killing and maiming and recruitment and use of children. Pro-government militias, including the Salafists, and popular committees, and Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, remain listed for recruitment and use. In 2024, the UN verified 583 grave violations against 504 children, in addition to 204 violations that occurred in previous years. The UN verified 182 cases of recruitment and use including 59 children serving in combat roles. The UN also verified the killing and maiming of 318 children, mainly attributed to explosive ordnance. The UN also verified 11 cases of sexual violence, 15 incidents of attacks on schools and hospitals, the military use of 54 schools and hospitals, the abduction of two boys, and 55 incidents of denial of humanitarian access. Dozens of UN and NGO staff remained arbitrarily detained by the end of the reporting period. In October 2025, 12 UN staff were released, while 53 UN personnel remain arbitrarily detained by the de facto authorities. The Security Council should:

• Urge all parties to coordinate with the UN to fund and promote mine clearance and age-appropriate explosive ordnance risk education, conflict preparedness, and protection for affected communities;
• Call on all parties to immediately cease attacks on schools, and prohibit the military use of schools;
• 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;
• Call on Yemen Armed Forces and affiliated armed forces and groups, 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 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;
• Call for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained personnel from UN, non-governmental and civil society organizations as well as from diplomatic missions, 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.

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: Syria (S/2023/805), the Democratic Republic of Congo (S/2024/705), Mali (S/2024/883), Burkina Faso (S/2025/101), Myanmar (S/2025/81), Yemen (S/2025/113), and South Sudan (S/2025/317). For targeted recommendations, see Watchlist’s Monthly CAAC updates from December 2023, December 2024, March 2025, May 2025, June 2025, and September 2025 respectively.