Children and Armed Conflict 

Worldwide, one in six children – or about 449 million – live in conflict zones. Their rights are often affected by the activities of State and non-State parties to armed conflicts. UN verified data recorded that 30,705 grave violations against children took place in 2023 – including killing and maiming, sexual violence, use and recruitment, abductions, destruction of schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian relief. 

In 2023, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict and the Generating Respect Hub at the University of York’s Centre for Applied Human Rights (CAHR) launched a strategic knowledge-exchange partnership, including the joint “Children and Armed Conflict Publications Series”. The series addresses topical issues relevant for the international community working on the protection of children in armed conflict. The first of such documents provides a glossary of legal terms relevant to abduction and deportation of children in armed conflict. This glossary seeks to enhance legal understanding on child protection in armed conflict among international and domestic policymakers, field practitioners, civil society organizations and the media.

The Generating Respect Hub also provided research support for Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict's annual flagship report in 2024: "A Credible List: Recommendations for the Secretary-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict". The report collates information evidencing the five grave violations against children in armed conflict that “trigger” listing of armed actors: recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, and abduction. The listing process encourages accountability for non-compliance with international humanitarian and human rights law violations against children in war. The report was launched on 16 April 2024 in New York, where Generating Respect Hub Coordinator and CAHR Research Associate Samantha Holmes, who led the research for the report, presented its methodology and key findings. She was joined by panellists from Human Rights Watch and Save the Children who spoke on the impact of conflicts on children in Sudan, Haiti and Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.