EU Statement - UN General Assembly 3rd Committee: Interactive Dialogue Item 66: Rights of the Child
Chair,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
We thank the five briefers for their presentations today.
Madam Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict,
We reiterate our full support for your mandate, as we mark its 30th anniversary, and our appreciation for the tireless work of your Office. The EU continues to attach the greatest possible importance to the promotion and protection of the rights of children to live free from all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation, including in situations of armed conflict, where they have unique vulnerabilities.
We are deeply concerned by the record number of children affected by verified grave violations, committed with near-total impunity, and by the fact that, for the first time, government forces were responsible for the majority of verified violations. We are equally alarmed by the sharp increase in the killing and maiming of children, the scale of harm caused by the rapid evolution of new technologies used in warfare, including in populated areas, and the unacceptable denial of humanitarian access, which prevents countless children from receiving basic and life-saving services.
Madam Special Representative, how can Member States effectively uphold their obligations under international law to ensure that the special protections afforded to children are upheld at all times, particularly in armed conflict?
Madam Special Representative on Violence against Children,
The EU and its Member States remain deeply committed to the protection and promotion of the rights of every child, and to ending all forms of violence against children. We strongly support your mandate and thank you for your work on advancing prevention, protection, participation and accountability.
Twenty years after the UN Study on Violence against Children, the report offers an important opportunity to take stock of progress while recognising persistent and emerging risks, including in the digital environment and amid humanitarian, climate and economic crises. We welcome the growing mobilisation of States and other stakeholders, including children and young people, and the report’s emphasis on translating commitments into sustained action and stronger national child protection systems.
Madam Special Representative,we welcome your emphasis on the rapidly evolving digital environment and the need to address online violence and its links to offline abuse and exploitation. Can you share any positive examples or case studies of measures that have been successful in ensuring effective safeguards in this regard?
Mister Deputy Executive Director,
We commend UNICEF’s leadership in protecting and promoting the rights of children and welcome you highlighting the need for particular attention to those in humanitarian and crisis settings, facing the greatest barriers and left the furthest behind, including children with disabilities.
Despite some hard-won gains for children, progress remains fragmented and uneven. We are concerned by the increasing normative threat against established child-rights standards, as well as regressions in some areas, such as an increasing number for seven years in a row of children being out of school, and reduced funding impacting the Global Programme to End Child Marriage, which reached approximately four million fewer girls at risk in 2025 than in 2024.
In this context, the EU reaffirms the need for sustained, predictable and flexible investment in children.
Mister Deputy Executive Director, drawing on UNICEF's global experience, what positive examples can you share of measures to ensure that children with disabilities are systematically included in child protection, education and social protection systems, particularly in humanitarian and crisis settings?
Madam Chair,
We thank you for your work as Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and reiterate our full support to the work of treaty-based bodies.
The report on the Status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child presents a wide-ranging set of recommendations to advance early childhood development through a child rights-based approach. These recommendations address key issues such as financing for early childhood development, inclusion of marginalised children and families, protection of children in the digital environment, and the integration of child-focused strategies into emergency response, peacebuilding efforts and national development planning. We underline the importance of ensuring equitable access to early childhood intervention and inclusive early childhood education and care, including for children with disabilities and developmental difficulties, through coordinated support for children and their families.
Madam Chair, could you share how the Committee incorporates these recommendations into its review processes and engagement with State Parties?
Madam Special Rapporteur,
We welcome your appointment and strategic vision, and reiterate our full support for your mandate to prevent and eliminate the sale, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children.
The EU underscores the importance of strengthening the entire child protection continuum, from prevention and early intervention to justice, reparation and reintegration. We welcome your emphasis on the meaningful, informed and safe participation of children, including victims and survivors. Such participation must be voluntary, age-appropriate, accessible to children with disabilities, supported by communication adapted to their individual needs, and guided by the principle of "do no harm". Effective responses also require strong cooperation among States, civil society, national human rights institutions, academia, the private sector, families and communities.
The EU also welcomes your focus on emerging forms of exploitation linked to evolving technological developments and intersecting global crises, as well as your emphasis on evidence-based approaches and capacity-building for frontline professionals, including those working in early childhood education and care.
Madam Rapporteur, how can Member States ensure that the voices and lived experiences of child victims and survivors meaningfully inform child protection policies, while safeguarding them from retraumatisation? Are there any concrete best practices you would wish to highlight?
Thank you.