About Children and Armed Conflict Report

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• About Children and Armed Conflict Report
• Major Highlights of the Children and Armed Conflict Report 2022
• News Summary

 

Why in News?

• Recently, the annual report of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on ‘Children and Armed Conflict’ was published.
• The report has dropped India’s name from the list in view of measures taken by the Government, specifically in Jammu and Kashmir, to “better protect children”.

 

About Children and Armed Conflict Report

• The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict serves as the leading UN advocate for the protection and well-being of children affected by armed conflict.
• The annual report presents a comprehensive picture of child soldiers, highlights the disproportionate impact of war on children and identifies them as the primary victims of armed conflict.
• The first Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict was named in 1997 by the Secretary-General to help enhance the protection of children affected by armed conflict, and foster international cooperation to that end.
• The Special Representative must also raise awareness about the plight of these children, and promote the monitoring and reporting of abuses.
• In accordance with the mandate, the Special Representative reports annually to the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council.

 

Major Highlights of the Children and Armed Conflict Report 2022

• The report includes trends regarding the impact of armed conflict on children and information on violations committed.
• In 2022, children continued to be disproportionately affected by armed conflict, and the number of children verified as affected by grave violations increased compared with 2021.
• Violations affected 18,890 children (13,469 boys, 4,638 girls, 783 sex unknown) in 24 situations.
• The highest numbers of violations were the killing (2,985) and maiming (5,655) of 8,631 children, followed by the recruitment and use of 7,622 children and the abduction of 3,985 children.
• The highest numbers of grave violations were verified in the – 
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel and the State of Palestine, Somalia, the Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Yemen.
• Hostilities spreading into new areas contributed to an increase in grave violations of 140 per cent in Myanmar.

 

News Summary

• For the first time since 2010, India has not been named in the report alongside countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Lake Chad basin, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Philippines.
• The report said India has been “removed from the report in 2023” in view of measures taken by the Government, specifically in Jammu and Kashmir, to “better protect children”.
• Ministry of Women and Child Development said that this became possible due to the introduction of various policies and institutional changes since 2019.    
  • Earlier, India was used to be in the list due to the use of boys by armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir and detention of boys by security forces.
• An official statement said a road map for cooperation and collaboration on child protection issues was developed by the Ministry.
• Some of the measures taken by the Government –
  • Training of security forces in protection of children;
  • Suspension of use of pellet guns by security forces;
  • Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection of Children), 2015;
  • Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
• In view of the measures taken by the Government to better protect children, India has been removed from the report in 2023, the Ministry stated.

 

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Q1) What is the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015?

As per the JJA 2015, offences committed by juveniles are categorised as heinous offences, serious offences, and petty offences. Serious offences include offences with three to seven years of imprisonment.

 

Q2) Which country has the most refugee children?

Turkey hosts by far the largest total number of refugees. In 2022, one in ten refugees under UNHCR mandate lived in Turkey, most of them having arrived from Syria – making it the largest single host country of child refugees in the world.

 

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Source: After 12 years, UN drops India from its report on children & conflict | ToI