Report: 415 Million Children Grow Up In War Zones

415 million children are living in a conflict zone according to a new report by Save the Children@AFP graphic shows key figures pic.twitter.com/1fIcDI4qsU

— AFPgraphics (@AFPgraphics) February 13, 2020

DW: 415 million children grow up in war zones, Save the Children reports

Children face a greater risk than ever before of growing up surrounded by war, sexual abuse and recruitment into armed groups, a study by the charity Save the Children reported. Children in Africa are the most affected.

Nearly one in six children around the world — 415 million children in all — were living in a conflict zone in 2018, more than double the figure recorded in 1995, according to a report released Thursday by Save the Children.

"It's staggering that the world stands by while children are targeted with impunity," the charity's chief executive Inger Ashing said in a statement. "Since 2005, at least 95,000 children were recorded to have been killed or maimed, tens of thousands of children abducted, and millions of children denied access to education or health services after their hospitals were attacked."

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WNU Editor: The 'Save The Children" report is here .... Stop The War On Children (Save The Children).

More News On The 'Save The Children" Report That 415 Million Children Are Growing Up In War Zones

‘We must all do more’ to protect children in armed conflict: UN chief -- UN News
More than 400 million children living in war zones: report -- Sydney Morning Herald
UN chief says there’s 250 million children living in conflict-affected nations -- NYPost/AP
Stop the war on children 2020: Gender matters -- Relief Web

A Deadly Year For Children In Conflict Zones

A boy holds a rifle as he attends a rally of Houthi movement supporters to mark the Ashura in Sanaa, Yemen, on Sept. 10. (Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

DW: UNICEF: 2019 ends 'deadly decade' for children in conflict zones

The United Nations has documented 170,000 grave violations against children over the past decade. Millions more have lost their childhood and future through conflict.

Millions of children across the world are entering a new decade facing the devastating consequences of violence in conflict zones, UNICEF said on Monday.

The United Nations' children's agency has documented 170,000 grave violations against minors since 2010, including killing, maiming, abduction, sexual violence and recruitment into armed groups.

Read more: Children at risk of 'new threats' like climate change, warns UNICEF

From Afghanistan and Mali to Syria and Yemen, conflicts are costing millions of children their health, education, future and lives, UNICEF said.

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More News On UNICEF's Report On Children In Conflict Zones

2019 concludes a ‘deadly decade’ for children in conflict, with more than 170,000 grave violations verified since 2010 -- UNICEF
Deadly decade: UNICEF reports three-fold rise in verified attacks on children since 2010 -- UN News
UNICEF: More than 10,000 children suffered war zone violence first half of 2019 -- UPI
Children suffering as number of countries in conflict is highest in 30 years, UNICEF says -- CNN
Three-fold rise in attacks on children in war areas since 2010 -- Al Jazeera

Human Rights Watch: Thousands Of Children Are Detained In War Zones

Human Rights Watch: Children Detained in War Zones

Thousands Held Without Charge, Tortured

(New York) – Thousands of children in conflict-affected countries have been detained without charge for months or even years as national security threats, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Untold numbers have been tortured or have died in custody. Governments should immediately stop detaining children without charge and appropriately punish those who mistreat them.

The 35-page report, “Extreme Measures: Abuses against Children Detained as National Security Threats,” documents the arrest and detention of children for alleged association with non-state armed groups or involvement in conflict-related offenses. Overbroad and vague counterterrorism legislation adopted in response to extremist armed groups such as the Islamic State and Boko Haram has increased the detention of children perceived to be security threats. Human Rights Watch specifically examined the detention and treatment of children in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Israel/Palestine, Nigeria, and Syria.

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Human Rights Watch: Thousands Of Children Are Detained in War Zones

Report: Thousands of children arrested in war zones (Al Jazeera)
Thousands of children detained, subjected to severe beatings, burns with cigarettes in security crackdowns: HRW (AFP)
Thousands of Children Detained, Tortured in Conflict Zones: Report (Newsweek)
Rights group: Some kids detained in conflict tortured, die (AP)
Thousands of Children Detained in Conflict Zones Without Charge - Watchdog (Sputnik)

Saving The Children

Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters

Cathy Otten, Daily Beast: Can the Children Who Survive the Wars in Syria and Iraq Be Saved?

Psychologists and therapists are struggling to rescue the minds of children from the horrors they’ve experienced in the war zones.

ZAKHO, Iraq — For a long time now, children have been the most pitiful and helpless victims of the savage wars raging in Iraq and Syria. They have been enlisted, indoctrinated, enslaved, raped, murdered, and turned into murderers by the so-called Islamic State; they have been killed by mortar shells and barrel bombs and chemical weapons by a Syrian regime that doesn’t care about “collateral damage.” And now, it appears, they are being targeted directly by Russian airstrikes, although of course the Russians deny that.

On Monday, UNICEF said it had received reports of children being killed and “scores evacuated” from a child and maternal hospital, and two schools attacked in the town of Azaz, Syria, where six children reportedly died. Médecins Sans Frontières reported seven dead and eight missing in an attack on a hospital in Syria’s Idlib province.

Meanwhile, in Iraq nearly 2 million children are in areas under siege or controlled by armed groups, where they are vulnerable to sexual violence, abduction, and forced recruitment, UNICEF told The Daily Beast. In addition, one in five schools in the country are no longer functioning because they’ve been destroyed, damaged, are being used for military purposes, or to house displaced families.

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WNU Editor: These are scars that will truly last a lifetime.

Two Photos Show The Disturbing Change In A Child’s Face Before And After A Bombing

Bassam Khabieh/Reuters

Bassam Khabieh/Reuters

Business Insider: These two photos show the disturbing change in a child’s face before and after a bombing

Photographer Bassam Khabieh was recently in Damascus, Syria, to document the relief efforts of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.

When he arrived, the atmosphere around the relief convoy was one of joy and laughter. Children were gathered around, smiling as they obtained much-needed medical aid and supplies.

It took only a split second for everything to change.

WNU Editor: No comment necessary. The pictures say it all.

UN Report: Children Are Being Victimized In World Conflicts

UN: Children Victimized in World Conflicts -- Voice of America

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations says thousands of children have been killed, injured, tortured or recruited into militias and armies in the past year as a result of armed conflicts. In its annual report on the situation, the world body notes progress in some states, but a worsening situation in others, such as Mali, Syria and the Central African Republic.

The report chronicles violations in 21 countries during 2012 and includes Mali for the first time.

It focuses on six violations - recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, maiming and killing, abduction, sexual violence, denial of access for humanitarians, and attacks on schools and hospitals.

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More News On The UN Report That Children Are Being Victimized In The World's Conflicts

Conflicts in Syria, Mali pose unprecedented threats to children – UN report -- UN News Centre
Conflict creating unprecedented threats to children’s lives -- Unicef
UN details grave child abuses in Syria and 20 other countries -- RT
UN adds Syria, Mali groups to child recruiters list -- USA Today
Thousands of children killed in Syria, UN study says -- BBC
U.N. says Syrian government and rebels recruit children to fight -- Reuters

Update: This UN report omits the role that Hamas plays in recruiting child soldiers.

Are Children Being Used As Suicide Bombers By Pakistan's Taliban?

Are Pakistan's Taliban Using Children As Weapons? -- Christian Science Monitor

A 9-year-old girl says she was kidnapped in Pakistan by Taliban with the intent of forcing her to be a suicide bomber. She escaped, but her experience raises concerns about the use of children by militants.

A 9-year-old schoolgirl narrowly escaped a plot laid by her Taliban kidnappers this week in Pakistan’s northwest to use her as a suicide bomber at a military checkpoint, raising concerns about militants' intent to use children in their battles.

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More News On Pakistan's Taliban Using Children As Weapons


Pakistani schoolgirl 'kidnapped for suicide attack' -- BBC
9-year-old girl told to be suicide bomber, Pakistan police say -- CNN
Pakistani girl said she escaped kidnappers who tried to get her to bomb checkpoint -- New York Daily News
Taliban kidnaps child for suicide bombing -- UPI
Kidnap girl, 9, forced to wear suicide bomb vest -- Sydney Morning Herald
Targeting girls -- Express Tribune
Mystery continues to shroud arrest -- The International News

Report: Abuse Of Children Widespread In War Zones

From Yahoo News:

LONDON - A Save the Children UK report released Tuesday alleges rampant sexual abuse of children at the hands of peacekeepers and international aid workers in war zones and disaster areas.

The report said more than half the children interviewed knew of cases of coerced sex and improper sexual touching, and that in many instances children knew of 10 or more such incidents carried out by aid workers or peacekeepers.

In some cases, children as young as 6 years old were abused, the report said.

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Other Links:
Official Site -- Save The Children
Peacekeepers 'abusing children' -- BBC News
Child abuse by aidworkers, peacekeepers rife-study -- Reuters
United Nations Peacekeepers Abuse Children -- Express Yourself
UN Fails to protect -- The Acec

My Comment: This report follows claims that abuses by Indian and Pakistani soldiers were ‘watered down’ by the UN for fear of offending two of the biggest contributors to its peacekeeping missions (hat tip Talk Islam). The S. O. S. Blog states it bluntly -- Widespread child sex abuse by UN.

The unfortunate fact is that the U.N. has a long history of not dwelling too much on issues that would embarrass it. This will also be put under the rug.

Over time the abuse of children in religious schools, orphanages, and churches became known, I know that abuses by U.N. soldiers and Aid workers will also be known when these children are grown up. But the damage has already been done.