Children

A report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan finds increasing reports of torture in that country’s detention facilities.  Almost a third of those detained for security or terrorism-related offences reported torture or other ill-treatment.  

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the European Union have launched a programme to protect migrant children in Central America and Southern Africa.  It will work with Governments and civil society groups to provide care alternatives to immigration detention.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, raised concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic’s adverse impact on children in conflict zones.  In her annual report to the Human Rights Council, she urged States to incorporate child rights in virus containment plans and ensure that protection services continue to operate.

Pramila Patten, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, today expressed great concern about serious allegations of sexual violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, including a high number of alleged rapes in the capital. She called for zero tolerance of sexual violence among all warring parties.

Violence in the Central African Republic is disrupting critical supply routes, according to the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Bangui.  Following recent attacks on aid convoys and peacekeepers, more than 1,600 trucks carrying food and medicine are blocked at the border with Cameroon, as food prices spike.

Despite a significant drop in violations against children since the 2018 peace agreement was signed in South Sudan, continuing grave violations are mostly attributed to opposition and Government troops, including the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces, the latest report on children and armed conflict says.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that 250,000 children have been displaced by the crisis in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.  UNICEF is concerned that safe water, sanitation and hygiene services are insufficient to meet the growing needs in overcrowded temporary accommodation centres and host communities.

The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, in connection with the examination of the seventh report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (S/2020/1030), agreed to convey the following messages through a public statement by the Chair of the Working Group:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports it is providing supplies such as mosquito nets, solar lamps, and blankets for 36,000 people in Somalia’s Puntland region who have been affected by Cyclone Gati, the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the country, which made landfall in November.

The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan told the Security Council that Afghanistan and the Taliban made genuine progress in peace talks, agreeing to rules and procedures; forming a working committee to discuss the agenda; and presenting each other initial lists of topics for negotiations.