UN envoy: Conflicts now pose new threats to kids

UNITED NATIONS — The changing nature of armed conflict has created "unprecedented threats" for children, a U.N. envoy said Monday.

Leila Zerrougui, the special representative for children and armed conflict, told the Security Council that "the absence of clear front lines and identifiable opponents, and the increasing use of terror tactics have made children more vulnerable."

She urged nations and armed groups involved in conflicts to address these issues, along with the military use of schools, the detention of children for alleged association with armed groups and the impact of drones on children.

Yoka Brandt, deputy executive director of UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency, highlighted two "alarming trends" — the use of schools in military operations and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas which kill or injure large numbers of children.

Brandt urged other countries to follow the example of the Philippines, which has restricted the use of schools by its armed forces.

Zerrougui noted that 46 of the 55 perpetrators on the U.N.'s recently announced "list of shame" for recruiting children are armed groups and militias — and that half the parties listed are so-called "persistent perpetrators" who have been on the list for at least five years.

"The evolving nature and tactics of armed conflict have created unprecedented threats for children," she said, citing as examples Syria and Mali, which appeared on the "list of shame" for the first time, and the Central African Republic.

In Syria, she said, grave violations against children continue to be committed on "a massive scale," with scores killed, injured, detained, tortured and forced to witness or to commit atrocities.

In a plea to the council, which is deeply divided over Syria's civil war, Zerrougui asked: "If not for these children, then for whom will this council act?"

Zerrougui said children in Mali were recruited by all armed groups in the north and that children were also associated with pro-government militias, performing various tasks including participating in combat. She said her office also received worrying information that children were being detained by Malian security forces for alleged association with armed groups.

In the Central African Republic, Zerrougui said, it is "particularly alarming to see that two-thirds of the children separated from armed groups in 2012 were re-recruited by the Seleka coalition in the beginning of 2013." The rebel alliance, known as Seleka, overthrew the president of Central African Republic in December. Zerrougui said many children were killed and injured in the capital, Bangui, during clashes in April.

The Security Council unanimously adopted a presidential statement reiterating its strong condemnation of the recruitment and use of children by any party to armed conflict, sexual violence and abductions of children and attacks on schools or hospitals. It reiterated its readiness to adopt "targeted and graduated measures" — diplomatic language for sanctions — against persistent perpetrators of violations and abuses against children, but it did not single out any country.