For a printable version of Watchlist’s September 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) continued to list Hizb-i Islami Gulbuddin, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-KP), and Taliban forces and affiliated groups, including the Haqqani network, for multiple grave violations against children. In 2024, the UN verified 1,647 grave violations against 559 children, including 434 boys and 125 girls, in addition to 244 violations that occurred in previous years. Killing and maiming of 543 children was the most prevalent violation, largely attributed to unidentified perpetrators, most casualties resulted from explosive ordnance. The UN verified six cases of sexual violence, 11 of recruitment and use, 135 attacks on schools and hospitals, and the military use of 31 schools, 14 of which were later vacated. Nearly all violations, including two abductions and over 900 incidents of denied humanitarian access, were attributed to the Taliban. The SG noted that engagement between the Taliban and the UN resulted in the release and reintegration of 58 children. In September, the SG will report on the situation in Afghanistan and the implementation of UNAMA mandate per SCR 2777 (2025). The Security Council should:

• Demand that all parties in Afghanistan fully uphold their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL);
• Call on the de facto authorities to abide by Afghanistan’s national and international commitments to protect children, including the definition of a child as any individual under 18 years, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, the Paris Principles and Commitments, and the Safe Schools Declaration;
• Call on all parties to immediately cease attacks on schools and education personnel, and prohibit the military use of schools through, inter alia, legislation or military doctrine, and ensuring full, inclusive and non-discriminatory access to education for girls, refugee and internally displaced children, and children with disabilities;
• Reiterate its demand that all parties allow rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access consistent with international law to humanitarian personnel, including women, to provide humanitarian assistance and protection services to civilians;
• Call on parties to ensure that civilians, including women and girls, are allowed unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance and basic services;
• Ensure allocation of sufficient resources to strengthen capacities to deliver on UNAMA’s child protection mandate, including for monitoring and engagement with parties to end and prevent grave violations, and to address threats posed by explosive ordnance.

At the time of writing, the Security Council penholder on Afghanistan remains pending.

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. In 2024, the UN verified 4,043 grave violations against 3,418 children, a 7 percent increase compared to 2023, in addition to 453 violations that occurred in previous years. Recruitment and use of 2,365 children by NSAGs was the most prevalent violation, representing over a 25 percent increase from the previous year, with nearly 800 children used in combat roles. The UN also verified the detention of 131 children for alleged association with armed groups, nearly doubling from 2023. Sexual violence rose sharply, with 358 cases verified against girls. The UN verified 438 cases of killing and maiming, 815 abductions, 54 attacks on schools and hospitals, 30 cases of military use of schools, and 13 incidents of the denial of humanitarian access. These violations occurred in the context of the transition and gradual withdrawal of MONUSCO. In September, the SG will report on MONUSCO per SCR 2765 (2024). The Security Council should:

• Strongly condemn all continuing violations and abuses committed against children in the DRC, express grave concern at the increase in verified grave violations against children, and demand that all parties uphold their obligations under IHL and IHRL;
• Call on all parties to immediately cease recruiting, using, killing and maiming and abducting children, release those within their ranks, and 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;
• Demand that all NSAGs immediately cease hostilities against peacekeepers, ensure their safety and security, guarantee their freedom of movement, and allow the full and unimpeded implementation of their mandates, including those related to human rights and the protection of civilians;
• Reiterate the crucial role of Child Protection Advisers in MONUSCO and demand that the Mission continues to ensure the effectiveness of the MRM, and call for responsible transfer of child protection responsibilities to the UN Country Team, including those related to the MRM, in the context of MONUSCO transition, consistent with SCR 2764 (2024).

France is the Security Council penholder on DRC.

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), and Mali (S/2024/883), Burkina Faso (S/2025/101), Myanmar (S/2025/81), and Yemen (S/2025/113). For targeted recommendations, see Watchlist’s Monthly CAAC updates from December 2023, December 2024, March 2025, May 2025, and June 2025 respectively.

In July, the SG released his fifth report on the situation of children and armed conflict in South Sudan (S/2025/317) covering the period from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024. During this time, the UN verified 630 grave violations against 469 children, including 42 children who suffered multiple violations, and 41 additional violations that occurred in previous years. The most prevalent violations were recruitment and use (249), abduction (130), and killing and maiming (85). The UN also verified 47 cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence, 87 attacks on schools and hospitals, 24 cases of military use of schools and hospitals, and 32 incidents of denial of humanitarian access. The Government signed an extension of the 2020 Comprehensive Action Plan through October 2025. The SG welcomed the release of 125 children from armed groups and government forces, and some accountability measures, including court martial convictions for sexual violence. He also noted positive steps such as continued UN access to barracks for screening and age verification exercises, and the vacation of schools (8) and hospitals (2) previously occupied by armed actors, following persistent advocacy by the CTFMR. However, he expressed concern over the overall increase in grave violations, persistent recruitment and use, rising attacks on schools and hospitals as well as abductions, sexual violence against children, and widespread impunity. The Working Group should:

• Condemn all continuing violations and abuses committed against children in South Sudan, and demand that all parties uphold their obligations under IHL and IHRL;
• Call on the Government to ensure its full and consistent implementation of the Comprehensive Action Plan to End and Prevent all 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 call on the Government to ensure children formerly associated with armed groups are handed over to civilian child protection actors;
• Call on all parties to take immediate and specific steps to end and prevent rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, including by ensuring perpetrators are held accountable and that survivors have access to comprehensive, gender-sensitive, and age-appropriate response and protection;
• Call on all parties to immediately cease attacks and threats of attack on educational and health facilities and personnel, as well as to refrain from the military use of schools.