杏MAP导航

By Linda Bordoni

杏MAP导航 Francis has repeatedly warned that across the planet, 鈥渁 true world war is being fought piecemeal鈥� and repeatedly he has decried the fact that so many children continue to be victims of conflict.

This reality was confirmed by a report, released on Friday by the global children鈥檚 charity,  鈥�Save the Children鈥� that reveals that more children are living in areas affected by armed conflict than at any time in more than 20 years.

The report, entitled 鈥�Stop the War on Children: Protecting Children in 21^st Century Conflict鈥�, reveals that 420 million children 鈥� that鈥檚 nearly one in five 鈥� were living in conflict-affected areas in 2017, up 30 million from the previous year.

Save the Children鈥檚 Keyan Salarkia, one of the co-writers of the report, spoke to Vatican News about some of the report鈥檚 most salient findings.

Salarkia said the report sets out two core arguments, the first being that the scale of the problem regarding children in conflict is increasing, as is the scale of their suffering.

鈥淥ne fifth of children worldwide live in conflict, which is the highest point since the end of the Cold War鈥� he said.

Children increasingly at risk

What鈥檚 more, children in conflict zones are increasingly at risk.

One of the key findings that testifies the brutality of modern day conflicts, Salarkia explained, is that 鈥渉alf a million babies have died in the last five years alone in just ten countries鈥�.

Another sobering fact is that 870,000 children have died in conflict during the same period, 鈥渂efore they have even managed to turn five-years old鈥�.

鈥淪o, Selarkia noted, we are seeing both an increase in the number of children in conflict and increasing harm to those children鈥�.

Ten worst countries for children

Selarkia said the report looks at a number of things including the combination of the number of children in conflict and their exposure to violations.

He explained there are 鈥榬ed-lights鈥� defined by the United Nations and that include recruitment and use in armed groups, sexual violence, abductions.

鈥淐ombining the two, we came up with a list of the ten worst places in 2017 and they include Yemen and Syria, tragic icons of modern conflict,  but also places like South Sudan and Nigeria where in the last three or four years children have continued to be exposed to great risk.

Other countries pinpointed by the report are Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Mali and Somalia.

100 years of 鈥楽ave the Children鈥�

Selarkia said the report coincides with 100 years of Save the Children which means that for at least the past 100 years there have been organizations and charities dedicated to the promotion and protection of children鈥檚 rights that respond to the needs of children.

鈥淲hat we have seen particularly over the last 10 or 15 years, is less compliance with international rules and norms and the perpetration of  violations like sexual violence, killing and maiming of children,鈥� he said.

All this, coupled with the fact that those responsible are not being held to account.

鈥淭hose things combined, have led to environment where not only are children increasingly affected, but perpetrators of violence are not being held to account, and this recreates a pattern of violence against children鈥� he said.

Recommendations

Selarkia said the report is officially being launched at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, a meeting attended by world leaders and policy-makers.

It includes an appeal to take action in three ways:

- Upholding standards and norms: not bombing schools, not attacking health care centers, not denying access arbitrarily;

- Accountability: making sure that where violations are taking place, individuals are facing justice;

- Pursue new ways to support children鈥檚 recovery from the horrors of conflict and take practical steps to support and protect children in crisis zones.

What can we do?

What we can do, Selarkia concludes, is to make sure that the people responsible for making these changes 鈥� our  policy-makers and our government leaders 鈥� excert pressure so that those who are responsible for violence against children and for not protecting them be rendered accountable.

鈥淪o put pressure on your government, demanding protection for children in conflict and supporting the narrative that 鈥榗hildren are children鈥�: we need to re-establish the centrality of child protection鈥�.