Thank you, dear Inger.

Dear Excellencies, dear Virginia, dear Makhtoum,

I am very encouraged to see such a high-level political presence here, as we collectively put the topic on children and armed conflict prominently on the UNGA agenda, where it belongs.

Violent conflicts have increased to their highest levels in three decades, and more than 450 million children worldwide – or one in six children – are living in a conflict zone.

The EU is deeply dismayed at the intolerable abuses targeting children in armed conflicts around the world, with grave violations that are being suffered at an unacceptably high level.

We have made the prevention and elimination of grave violations against children affected by armed conflict, as well as their effective reintegration a key priority.

To end and prevent child recruitment and to reintegrate victims, we are actively supporting family and community-focussed programmes that are conflict, gender and age-sensitive, as well as disability-inclusive.

Applying a Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus approach, effective programmes must not only address children’s most urgent humanitarian needs.

They must see to their long-term and sustainable access to health care, mental health and psycho-social support, and education.

The children and armed conflict agenda needs to be fully integrated into all peace and security-related actions and throughout the full conflict cycle.

Understanding the perspective of children and youth and their meaningful participation is key to sustainable outcomes and solutions.

Children and young people need to be part of the solution and an integral part of peace and reconciliation processes They are indispensable to achieving sustainable peace and to breaking cycles of violence.

I am therefore delighted to see Makhtoum here and I look forwards to listening to you.

The points I just mentioned will also guide the current review of our EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict.

Today’s discussion will also feed into this revision.

You have asked me about some concrete examples of EU support. Let me start with South Sudan, where Makhtoum is from.

In South Sudan for instance the EU is helping to provide psychosocial support and legal awareness-raising for girls who were abducted and sexually abused while detained at Sudan People's Liberation Army military bases.

Our key objective is to support their full reintegration into their communities and to empower them as agents of change.

In Ukraine, the EU is supporting efforts to ensure accountability for crimes committed against children, including the forced transfers of Ukrainian children by Russian forces.

This goes hand in hand with our support for all other aspects of children’s’ lives, with a special focus given to children from institutions, and children at risk of trafficking and other forms of abuse.

In Mozambique’s conflict-affected Cabo Delgado province, the EU is promoting together with UNICEF the protection of children, adolescents and young people and supporting “Education in Emergencies”.

Together, we are providing safe and protective learning environments for internally displaced persons and their host communities.

The EU’s financial commitments to Education in Emergencies as part of our humanitarian response are key.

However, we need to ensure that we link our humanitarian aid with longer-term development funding instruments to ensure a long-term support to conflict affected children.

To build resilient communities.

This is a concrete application of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.

Our Civilian and Military missions deployed in conflict areas can make a meaningful difference.

Combined with political will and diplomatic tools the EU can act along the whole prevention-protection-recovery-reintegration spectrum.

Here, the cooperation with all our key partners, including the United Nations, is crucial.

We need to end the climate of impunity.

We need action- oriented support to gather evidence, information, which are key to ensuring accountability.

Ladies and gentlemen,

If we fail our children, we fail our societies, and this will ultimately lead to failed states.

Nelson Mandela once said: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

So let us collectively take care of our souls by protecting and empowering children and young people.

Let us leave no stone unturned to put an end to all grave violations against children.

This is a human and a moral imperative.

European Union