HRC 49 - EU Intervention: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict

Mr. President,

The European Union expresses its full support for the mandate of the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict and its continued support to the fulfilment of her mandate. We thank her for her update and remain dismayed by the scale and severity of grave violations committed against children in conflict situations worldwide.

As Russian artillery and rockets are laying Ukrainian villages and cities to waste, indiscriminately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure, and even humanitarian corridors for fleeing civilians, children in Ukraine are facing unbearable suffering, trauma and threat to their life. Schools, medical facilities, water, sanitation and civilian supply lines, are being targeted in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and disregard for the UN Charter. Unexploded ordnance in populated areas constitute another immediate and long-term threat to civilians, including children. 

More than one million children have already fled Ukraine. Many are unaccompanied or have been separated from their parents or family members. The situation of children in institutional care and children with disabilities is particularly worrying. The European Union and its member states stand ready to support all those children and we are ensuring emergency care, education and health, family reunification mechanisms, as well as other critical services for the protection of children, including those addressing sexual and gender-based violence.

Unaccompanied and separated children are particularly vulnerable and their immediate needs and safety are and will be prioritized in the EU in the short term, while medium to long term solutions are being identified, based on their best interests.

The EU condemns Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. We urge the Russian Federation to immediately cease its military actions, unconditionally withdraw all forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine and fully respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. We demand that human rights violations, including violations of rights of children in Ukraine, be immediately stopped.

International law, including international humanitarian law must be fully upheld. Those responsible for these violations must and will be held accountable for their actions.

We welcome the decision of the ICC to open an investigation into the situation in Ukraine, including Russia’s ruthless attack on the Ukrainian people and its children. We also welcome the establishment of an Independent International Commission of Inquiry to investigate all alleged violations of human rights in the context of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine by the Human Rights Council and call for its immediate operationalisation.

The protection of children in armed conflict remains a central concern for the EU. In accordance with the Strategy on the Rights of the Child, the EU is committed to intensifying efforts to prevent and end grave violations against children affected by armed conflict, including with advocacy activities promoting compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and to support demobilisation, long-term rehabilitation and reintegration needs. Recent Council conclusions on taking the UN-EU strategic partnership on peace operations and crisis management in the 2022-24 period moreover welcome the inclusion of children and armed conflict as a cross-cutting priority.

The EU and the UN stand together to make sure that all children, wherever they are, experience a childhood free from violence and with inclusive and equitable access to education and healthcare. Children have a key role to play in building a present and a future where peace must prevail. It is our responsibility to enable them to be such agents of change.

Thank you.