Conflicts. "A staggering increase": the UN denounces "unprecedented" violence against children in 2024

From Gaza to the Democratic Republic of Congo, violence against children in conflict zones reached "unprecedented" levels in 2024, a UN annual report said Thursday.

"In 2024, violence against children in armed conflict reached unprecedented levels, with a staggering 25 percent increase in grave violations compared to 2023," said the report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres .

“Forced to learn to survive the shots”

The UN verified 41,370 grave violations against children in 2024, including 36,221 committed in 2024 and 5,149 committed previously but confirmed in 2024. This is the highest number since the monitoring tool was established nearly 30 years ago. This record beats the one recorded in 2023, which itself represented a 21% increase compared to the previous year.

With more than 4,500 killed and over 7,000 injured, children continue to "bear the brunt of the ongoing hostilities" across the planet, the UN laments. Due to a significant increase in the number of children affected by multiple violations, the number of children affected by this violence has reached 22,495.

"The cries of these 22,495 innocent children who should have been learning to read or play football, but instead were forced to learn how to survive gunfire and bombing, should keep us all awake at night," Virginia Gamba, the UN's special representative on the issue, said in a statement. "This must serve as a wake-up call. We are at the point of no return."

"List of Shame"

Each year, the UN lists in this report violations of the rights of children (under 18) in around twenty conflict zones around the world and draws up in an appendix the "list of shame" of those responsible for these violations which include children killed and mutilated, recruitment, kidnappings, denial of humanitarian access or sexual violence.

The Israeli armed and security forces, which were included on the list last year, along with Hamas, remain on it. The Palestinian territories occupy the top spot in this dismal ranking, with more than 8,500 serious violations, the vast majority attributed to Israeli forces, including more than 4,800 in Gaza.

This includes 1,259 Palestinian children killed in Gaza, according to figures confirmed by the UN, which says it is verifying reports of an additional 4,470 children killed in 2024 in the war-torn Palestinian territory sparked by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The report also calls into question Israel's operations in Lebanon, where more than 500 children were killed or injured by the Israeli army last year.

Haiti, Somalia, Nigeria...

After the Palestinian Territories, the Democratic Republic of Congo (more than 4,000 grave violations), Somalia (more than 2,500), Nigeria (nearly 2,500) and Haiti (more than 2,200) recorded the most violence against children in 2024.

In Haiti, where these violations have increased by 490% in one year, the main gang coalition, "Viv Ansanm" (Living Together), has been added to the "list of shame" for child recruitment, murders, and gang rapes. This is the first time that targets "probably the most brutal" of the gangs ravaging the country, a UN official commented.

Also new on the list is the Colombian cartel Clan del Golfo, accused of recruiting children. Colombia has seen a significant increase in cases of forced recruitment, with 450 children in 2024 compared to 262 the previous year.

Also still on the "list of shame" are the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which have been fighting in Sudan for more than two years, as well as the Russian army for its actions in Ukraine , where the report records a 105% increase in serious violations between 2023 and 2024.