UN calls for immediate action as violence against children escalates in DRC
The experts warned that children are increasingly becoming victims of indiscriminate attacks, sexual violence, and recruitment by armed groups amid the worsening conflict.
As violence escalates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), United Nations human rights experts have called for immediate action to address grave violations against children in North and South Kivu provinces.
The experts warned that children are increasingly becoming victims of indiscriminate attacks, sexual violence, and recruitment by armed groups amid the worsening conflict.
More To Read
"The recent surge in violence has led to indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations, massacres and conflict-related sexual violence, in violation of international human rights and humanitarian law," the experts said.
Health facilities have recorded a worrying rise in rape cases, with children making up 30 percent of those treated. Humanitarian agencies have identified more than 1,100 unaccompanied and separated children in the two provinces.
Attacks on hospitals, humanitarian facilities, and civilian infrastructure have worsened the crisis, while schools have also been targeted, occupied by armed groups, or repurposed as shelters for displaced people.
The intensifying conflict has displaced more than 700,000 people, 41 percent of whom are school-aged children. The number of casualties, including children, is rapidly increasing, with many cases going unreported.
"A majority of cases remain unreported, and this may only be a tip of the iceberg," the experts warned.
Recruitment and use of children in armed conflict continue to be a major concern, with children facing serious risks such as injury, abduction, death, and sexual violence.
The experts expressed alarm over reports of children disappearing, being abducted, or trafficked and recruited for combat by all parties to the conflict.
"We are particularly concerned by reports of children disappearing, being abducted or trafficked and recruited for use in combat by all parties to the conflict," they said.
The UN experts have called for the immediate implementation of child-sensitive measures to protect children from these violations.
These include strengthening early warning systems, improving child protection risk alerts, developing robust age verification methods to prevent child recruitment, and allowing child protection agencies to visit military sites to ensure children are not unlawfully recruited.
They also stressed the importance of demobilising children who have been recruited and ensuring they receive full assistance for physical and psychological recovery and safe reintegration into society.
"We call on all parties to the conflict, including those directly engaged in hostilities and persons in command roles in armed groups, to halt these atrocities and to uphold their legal obligations to protect civilians, particularly children," the experts said.
With children bearing the brunt of the ongoing conflict, the urgency to implement these protective measures cannot be overstated.
Top Stories Today
