For the first time, India has been excluded from the 'Report on Children and Armed Conflict 2023' for the work done to protect children.
For the first time since 2010, the United Nations Secretary-General has kept India out of the Report on Children and Armed Conflict 2023, keeping in mind the steps taken by the Government of India to protect children.
The report calls for strengthening mechanisms to protect children affected by armed conflict, raising awareness, promoting information collection about the plight of children affected by war, and promoting international cooperation to improve their protection. The report also mentions the detention, killing etc. of children by various security forces.
Key facts
Globally in 2022, children continued to be disproportionately affected by armed conflict, and the number of children verified to be affected by serious violations increased compared to 2021.
The United Nations verified 27,180 serious violations. According to this report, 2,985 children were reported killed and 5,655 children maimed/injured, the highest number of children affected in total (8,631).
After this, the recruitment and use of 7,622 children and the kidnapping of 3,985 children have also been reported. In addition, 2,496 children were arrested for reasons related to national security or alleged links with terrorist organizations.
The most disputed countries were the Democratic Republic of Congo, Israel, Palestine, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Yemen.
India
India has organized training programs for security forces to protect children and has suspended the use of pellet guns. In addition, the POCSO Act, 2012 is being actively implemented.
Improved access to child protection services in Chhattisgarh, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Jammu and Kashmir was also appreciated by the UNGA. Apart from this, the progress in the establishment of the Jammu and Kashmir Commission for the Protection of child rights was acknowledged.
Report on Children and Armed Conflict
In December 1996, the United Nations General Assembly took an unprecedented decision to create a mandate to protect children from exploitation and abuse and created the Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) with the help of resolution 51/77.
