

In Syria, thousands of children have been killed during over five years of war. State-allied armed groups and militia have also increasingly been used to fight in support of Government forces, in some cases recruiting and using children,” said Leila Zerrougui, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. “In several situations of conflict, aerial operations contributed to creating complex environments in which large numbers of children were killed and maimed. The armed group spread its activities from northeastern Nigeria to neighboring countries, causing a significant number of casualties among civilians and large-scale displacements. In Nigeria, Boko Haram increased suicide attacks, including by using 21 girls as suicide bombers in crowded public spaces. Violations committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) continued to have a devastating impact on children, including persistent child recruitment and use and boys featured as child soldiers in social media and in some cases as executioners.

The situation in Yemen was particularly worrisome with a five-fold increase in the number of children recruited and six times more children killed and maimed compared to 2014.

New York – In his Annual report on children and armed conflict covering the year 2015, the UN Secretary-General expressed his shock at the scale of grave violations committed against children in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.Įmerging and escalating crises had a horrific impact on boys and girls. Shock at the Scale of Grave Violations Committed Against Children in 2015
