In a report to the Security Council, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Reuters that more than 8,500 children were used as soldiers around the world last year and that another 2700 children were killed.
According to the British News Agency, the United Nations announced on Monday that last year, more than 8,500 children were used as soldiers in various conflicts around the world last year, and nearly 2700 other children were killed.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s annual report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict, killing, disability and sexual abuse of children, kidnapping or recruitment, lack of access to assistance, and targeting of schools and hospitals.
The report confirmed that 19,379 children had been abused in 21 clashes. Most violations took place in 2020 in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen.
The study also shows that 8,521 children were used as soldiers last year, 2,674 children were killed in various conflicts and 5,748 children were injured.
In addition, the UN Secretary-General’s report contains a blacklist aimed at embarrassing the parties to the conflict in the hope of motivating them to take child protection measures. Saudi Arabia and Israel have long been said to have been trying to block the release of the list.
Israel has never been on the list, and Saudi Arabia was removed immediately after it was first included in the list in 2020 for killing and injuring Yemeni children.
