UN reports “shocking” rise in violations against children in Sudan
July 25, 2024 (NEW YORK) – The number of children killed, injured or facing other grave violations in Sudan increased to a record high in 2023 as a devastating conflict paralyzed the country, the United Nations Secretary General said in a report calling for urgent global action to tackle the escalating crisis.
The report, submitted to Security Council on the situation of children and armed conflict in the Sudan covers the period from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023.
It mainly documents the effects of conflict on children in the Sudan, highlighting trends and patterns of grave violations such as recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, attacks on schools, hospitals and protected persons in relation to schools and/or hospitals, abduction of children and the denial of humanitarian access.
According to the UN report, at least 1,721 grave violations against occurred against children in 2023, a significant rise from the 306 cases recorded in 2022.
Also documented in the annual report on children and armed conflict, included over 480 children killed, 764 maimed, and over 200 recruited into the conflict.
At least 114 girls, the report noted, were also raped or subject to sexual violence.
These numbers contained in the latest UN report are reportedly the highest ever recorded in the country since 2006, when the UN began systematically gathering information on the six grave violations committed against children in conflict.
The report further highlights trends in and patterns of grave violations committed against children by parties to the conflict in the Sudan and provides details of the progress made to end and prevent such violations since the previous report.
It also contains information on progress and challenges in the engagement with parties to the conflict and the implementation of action plans and road maps.
It, however, stressed that while it is the responsibility of the UN to verify all reported grave violations, the ongoing violence and lack of access for monitors in Sudan mean that the numbers, likely only represent a fraction of the true number of grave violations against children that have taken place in Sudan in the past year.
Since the outbreak of conflict in Sudan in mid-April 2023, children and their families have suffered increasing violence, hunger and displacement, the report stated.
Over 4 million children have been forced to flee their homes and increasing food scarcity has left an estimated 5 million people, mostly children, malnourished
The Secretary General expressed concerns over the shocking increase in grave violations since the outbreak of the conflict, especially recruitment and use, killing and maiming, sexual violence and attacks on schools and hospitals.
“I urge all parties, particularly the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, to end and prevent grave violations and to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” he said, calling upon all parties to immediately commit to a durable ceasefire.
The report calls on parties to immediately take all preventive and mitigating actions necessary to avoid and minimize harm and better protect children during military operations, including by refraining from the use of explosive devices that cause death or injury to children and from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.
Expressing concerns over the increase in incidents of recruitment and use of children, the Secretary General’s report urged all parties to immediately release, without preconditions, all children from their ranks and hand them over to civilian child protection actors in line with the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
Sudanese authorities must ensure accountability for grave violations against children by bringing perpetrators to justice and providing remedies to the victims, it stated.
(ST)