Demanding that children be protected in wars seems obvious. Say that your recruitment by armies and rebel groups is prohibited by international law seems unnecessary. Claim that take boys and girls hostage or forcibly transferring them from one country to another constitute war crimes should be something that no one questions. And point out that those who commit These acts must be brought to justice It should sound like common sense. In too many places in the world, however, these truths are not obvious, but ignored realities.
Contemporary armed conflicts, prolonged and without a clear end, have become scenarios that do not differentiate between those who participate in the conflict and those who do not, between adults and children, who suffer disproportionately from its consequences. Armies and rebel groups recruit and use minors for their activitiesare responsible for sexual violence, deliberate attacks on their schools and hospitalsto take them hostage and prevent humanitarian assistance from reaching them. These are not isolated or remote situations. They occur in nearby places, such as Colombiaand extend to Syria, Yemen, Israel and the Gaza Strip, Sudan, Myanmar, Mali and the Democratic Republic of the Congoamong others.
Just a few weeks ago, the Yale University Humanitarian Research Laboratory found at least 314 Ukrainian children, mainly from the region of Donbáswho were deported and appear in Russian adoption databases. In all of these contexts, children find themselves trapped in cycles of violence from which they cannot escapebeing victims of adult behavior. According to the NGO Save the ChildrenIn the mid-1990s, 10% of children of the world lived in conflict zones. This percentage has doubled, reaching 19% in 2023. Nowadays, 473 million children are directly affected by conflict situations. For them, wars are not new; They are the environment in which they live every day.
Faced with this reality, International law offers a clear legal framework to protect them from the effects of armed conflict. Los Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its Additional Protocols of 1977as well as other applicable rules, contain prohibitions that armies and rebel groups alike must follow. However, its implementation remains a challenge. In many places, those involved in conflicts are unaware of the existence of these norms. In others, international law, or some of its rules, are not in their interest and commanders deliberately decide to break it.
In 2025, Protecting children from the effects of war must be at the center of global agendas.
This can be done taking into account the following three priorities:
Firstit is essential that the individuals responsible for crimes against children in armed conflicts are brought to justice. States have a responsibility to ensure that these crimes do not go unpunished, whether through their own judicial systems, by supporting processes carried out in other Statesor collaborating with the International Criminal Court. It is essential, in this sense, to strengthen international cooperation mechanisms to investigate and prosecute crimes against children. Effective accountability can serve to prevent future violations.
Secondalthough no one can doubt that the protection of children in armed conflicts must be a priority, there are still numerous States that have not signed international legal and political instruments intended for this purpose. This lack of adherence reveals a worrying gap in the international commitment to children’s rights. An example is the Safe Schools Declarationresult of a process led by Norway y Argentinaand which will commemorate its ten years in 2025. Through the Declaration, signatory States commit to adopt measures for the protection and continuation of education in armed conflicts. To this day, only 120 States have signed said Declaration. It is essential that more States commit to protecting children through their accession to these instruments.
Finally, they must strengthen and reinforce programs that offer psychological support and reintegration for boys and girls who have suffered traumatic experiences arising from conflict situations. This must be done both politically and financially, and support must be sustained to ensure its effectiveness. Boys and girls who have been victims of forced recruitment or sexual violence, whose schools have been attacked and destroyed, who have been separated from their families in clear violation of international law, need safe spaces where they can process their trauma.
2025 must mark a turning point: we must be able to commit to children’s rights through concrete actions. The images we see in the media must mobilize us. We must not waste any more time.
Ezequiel Heffes is the Director of Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict in New York
