Protecting children is not an aspiration but an obligation
For the first time in three decades of United Nations monitoring, the world's governments—not its insurgencies—have become the leading perpetrators of grave violations against children in armed conflict. Last year's tally reached nearly 25,000 children harmed across 16 countries and territories, a fourth consecutive annual record that the UN calls both a humanitarian catastrophe and a crisis of accountability. The Israeli military alone accounts for nearly a third of all documented violations, while Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, and others follow in a grim procession. What the numbers ultimately measure is not only the scale of suffering, but the distance between the laws nations have written and the choices their forces make in war.
- The UN has verified 38,558 distinct violations against children in 2025—killings, sexual violence, forced recruitment, abduction, and attacks on schools and hospitals—the highest total ever recorded in three decades of monitoring.
- For the first time, government armed forces have surpassed rebel and militant groups as the primary perpetrators, a historic inversion that signals the erosion of accountability under international humanitarian law.
- The Israeli military tops the violators list with 12,445 documented violations, including the verified deaths of 2,668 Palestinian children in Gaza, while thousands more cases remain under active investigation.
- Modern warfare's migration into densely populated civilian areas—where drones, wide-area explosives, and unexploded ordnance strike children fleeing, foraging, or seeking care—has structurally amplified the harm done to the youngest and most vulnerable.
- Secretary-General Guterres has called on Israel to sign a concrete, time-bound plan with the UN to halt the killing of children and attacks on civilian infrastructure, while urging all 193 member states to treat child protection as a legal obligation, not a diplomatic aspiration.
The United Nations released a report this week documenting the highest number of grave violations against children in armed conflict ever recorded—nearly 25,000 children harmed in a single year, across a catalog of horrors that includes killings, sexual assault, forced recruitment, and abduction. The total of 38,558 verified violations marks the fourth consecutive annual increase, and carries with it a historic and troubling shift: for the first time in thirty years of UN monitoring, government forces have overtaken armed groups as the primary perpetrators.
The Israeli military and its security forces top the list with 12,445 documented violations. Congo follows with more than 4,000. Myanmar, Somalia, and armed factions in Nigeria each surpass 2,000. Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Russian forces in Ukraine also appear among the worst offenders. Government forces were responsible for 6,266 child killings—a 34 percent rise from the prior year—and 7,958 injuries. Among the dead: 2,668 Palestinian children verified killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, with thousands more cases still under review.
UN Special Representative Vanessa Frazier identified two forces driving the shift toward state perpetrators: the collapse of accountability for violations of international law, and the transformation of modern warfare into conflicts fought inside cities and towns, where drones and wide-area weapons strike indiscriminately. Children are killed or permanently disabled while fleeing, searching for food, or navigating areas littered with unexploded ordnance.
Beyond the dead and injured, the report documents 6,607 children forcibly recruited as combatants—concentrated in Congo, Nigeria, Haiti, Somalia, and Colombia—and 5,129 abductions, predominantly in Nigeria, Congo, Somalia, Myanmar, and Mozambique. Secretary-General António Guterres called the findings appalling and urged Israel specifically to develop a concrete, time-bound plan with the UN to end the killing of children and attacks on schools and hospitals. Frazier was equally direct: protecting children in conflict is not an aspiration, she said—it is a legal obligation. The report stands as a measure of how far the world has drifted from honoring it.
The United Nations released a report this week documenting a grim milestone: nearly 25,000 children caught in armed conflict experienced grave violations last year, marking the highest number on record. The violations span a brutal catalog—killings, sexual assault, forced recruitment into fighting forces, abduction, and attacks on schools and hospitals. What distinguishes this year's findings is a historic shift in who bears responsibility. For the first time in three decades of U.N. monitoring, government forces, not armed groups, emerged as the primary perpetrators of these crimes against children.
The scale is staggering. Across conflict zones worldwide, the U.N. verified 38,558 distinct violations, a figure that has climbed for four consecutive years. One-third of the 24,174 children affected were girls. Thousands endured multiple violations. The report names eight nations whose government forces appear on a blacklist alongside 67 armed groups operating across 16 countries and territories. The Israeli military and its security forces top the list with 12,445 documented violations. Congo follows with 4,114. Myanmar, Somalia, and armed groups in Nigeria each account for more than 2,000. Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Russian forces in Ukraine also appear among the worst offenders.
Government forces were responsible for 6,266 child killings—a 34 percent jump from the previous year—and 7,958 injuries. The U.N. verified the deaths of 2,668 Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, along with 55 in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The organization received reports of 4,588 additional child deaths in Gaza and 346 injured Israeli children that remain under verification. Secretary-General António Guterres responded with stark language, saying he was appalled by the magnitude of violations in Palestinian territories and Israel, and gravely alarmed by what he called the staggering increase in violations by Israeli forces and attacks by Israeli settlers, which he noted occur with no accountability.
Vanessa Frazier, the U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict, explained that several factors account for the shift toward government perpetrators. One is the erosion of accountability for violations of international law. Another is the transformation of modern warfare itself—conflicts have moved from discrete battlefields into densely populated civilian areas, where new weapons like drones and wide-area explosives inflict indiscriminate harm. Children are struck while fleeing fighting, searching for food and water, seeking medical care, or moving through areas contaminated by unexploded ordnance, often suffering permanent disabilities as a result.
Beyond killings and injuries, the report documents other forms of systematic abuse. The U.N. verified the forced recruitment and use of 6,607 children as combatants, with the highest concentrations in Congo, Nigeria, Haiti, Somalia, and Colombia. Another 5,129 children were abducted, predominantly in Nigeria, Congo, Somalia, Myanmar, and Mozambique. Sexual violence remains part of the pattern, though the report does not break down those numbers separately.
Frazier told reporters that these findings demand more than acknowledgment. She called on the 193 U.N. member nations to confront what the data reveals and to recognize that protecting children is not an aspiration but a legal obligation. Guterres urged Israel specifically to develop and sign a plan with the United Nations to end the killing and maiming of children and attacks on schools and hospitals, with concrete, time-bound commitments. The report stands as a stark measure of how far the world has fallen short of that obligation, and a record of what accountability—or the absence of it—looks like when governments themselves become the primary threat to children in war.
Notable Quotes
The scale and persistence of these violations demand more than acknowledgment—they demand resolve.— Vanessa Frazier, U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict
Appalled by the magnitude of grave violations against children in Palestinian territories and Israel, and gravely alarmed by the staggering increase in grave violations perpetrated by Israeli forces.— Secretary-General António Guterres
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that government forces are now the main perpetrators rather than armed groups?
It changes where accountability should flow. Armed groups operate outside state structures; governments are supposed to answer to international law and their own citizens. When a state's military becomes the primary violator, it suggests a breakdown in command, discipline, or will to prevent harm.
The numbers keep rising year after year. What does that tell us?
It suggests the problem is accelerating, not being contained. Four years of consecutive increases means the interventions being tried aren't working. Either conflicts are spreading, or the methods of warfare are becoming more indiscriminate, or both.
You mentioned drones and wide-area explosives. How does that change things for children specifically?
Precision becomes impossible in crowded neighborhoods. A child fetching water or walking to school becomes indistinguishable from a combatant when you're firing from above. The weapons don't discriminate; they just cover territory.
What does Guterres asking Israel to sign a plan actually mean in practice?
It's a formal mechanism—a commitment with deadlines and measurable targets. But it only works if there's enforcement. Without consequences for breaking it, it's a statement of intent, not a guarantee.
The report mentions children subjected to multiple violations. What does that look like?
A child might be abducted, forced to fight, then injured in combat. Or displaced, then assaulted while seeking shelter. The violations compound; the trauma multiplies. One violation is catastrophic. Multiple ones can be irreversible.