UN recorded almost 12,000 children killed or mutilated in armed conflicts in the world; serious violations grew 25%
Violence against children in armed conflicts broke record in 2024, with 25% increase in the number of serious violations compared to 2023. 
The data are from the UN Annual Report (United Nations) on children and armed conflicts, released on the last Thursday (19.Jun.2025) by the entity’s general secretary, António Guterres. Here’s (PDF – 919 KB).
4,676 murders and 7,291 mutilations in the year were registered, victimizing 11,967 children. In addition, there were 7,900 incidents for denial of humanitarian access, 7,402 cases of recruitment and use of children and 4,573 kidnappings of minors.
“Children have been killed and mutilated, often resulting in permanent disabilities, alarming numbers, the use of explosive ammunition, including explosive war waste, makeshifts and makeshift explosive devices, and the crossfire between conflict parts. Attacks on civil facilities, including schools and hospitals, increased the vulnerability of children dramatically.”says the report.
Although non -state armed groups were responsible for almost 50% of violations, government forces were the main causes of death and mutilation of children, as well as attacks on schools and hospitals and the denial of humanitarian access.
The largest numbers of serious violations were verified in the occupied Palestinian territory (8,554), especially in the Gaza Strip; in the Democratic Republic of Congo (4,043); in Somalia (2,568); in Nigeria (2,436); and in Haiti (2,269).
The largest percentage increases in the number of violations were verified in Lebanon (545%), Mozambique (525%), Haiti (490%), Ethiopia (235%) and Ukraine (105%).
Sexual violence
The number of cases of sexual violence grew 35%, with record of a “Drastic increase” From cases of collective rape, which highlights the systematic use of sexual violence as a deliberate tactic of war, while children were associated with conflict parts or to increase territorial control, move populations and attack the ethnicity or specific gender of children, among other goals, says the report.
The document reports that girls were kidnapped for recruitment and sexual slavery. “Sexual violence is still widely underreported due to stigmatization, fear of reprisals, harmful social rules, absence or lack of access to services, impunity and concerns about security, as reported in my report on conflict -related sexual violence.”says the text.
Humanitarian negation
The denial of humanitarian access has reached “Alarming scale”according to the UN, with record of dead humanitarian workers, including many officials from the organization itself.
“Conflict parties attacked humanitarian aid trains and personnel, arbitrarily detained humanitarian personal, restricted humanitarian activities and movements, adopted bureaucratic and administrative barriers, and interfered with humanitarian operations, resulting in children without access to health care, education, protection and vital needs.”says the report.
Palestine and Israel
The UN found 8,554 serious violations against 2,959 children in Israel, with an overwhelming majority of Palestinians and 15 of Israeli nationality.
In occupied Palestinian territories, including West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, there were 8,544 violations, 4,856 in Gaza, which suffers a siege of the military forces of Israel.
“In addition, the United Nations received reports of the murder of 4,470 children in the Gaza Strip in 2024, which await verification. Severe violations were attributed to the Israeli Armed and Security Forces (7,188), Unidentified perpetrators (43), Israeli settlers (42), individual Palestinian perpetrators (11), Palestinian Authority Security Forces (7), Hezbollah (3) and Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran (1) ”adds the report.
The UN also verified the detention of 951 Palestinian children (940 boys and 11 girls) for alleged security infractions committed by the Israeli Armed Forces in West Bank (602), East Jerusalem (259) and in the Gaza Strip (90), including the arrest of a Palestinian girl whose whereabouts remains unknown.
A total of 1,561 Palestinian children (1,131 boys and 430 girls) were confirmed as mutilated in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (620) and Gaza Strip (941).
Democratic Republic of Congo
In Congo, the UN checked 4,043 serious violations against 3,418 children (2,217 boys and 1.201 girls) and confirmed 453 other violations in previous years.
Raia militia and other non -state armed groups recruited and used 2,365 children in the African country. The east region of the country has been the scene of conflicts for decades, with several armed groups, which have intensified its actions since 2022. The region has been rich in minerals, which has attracted armed groups and foreign powers, leading to disputes for control of areas and resources.
The conflict has led to mass movement of civilians, with thousands of people seeking refuge in internal displaced fields, facing precarious conditions and safety risks, including sexual violence and forced recruitment. The casualties mainly resulted from the direct impact of military operations (250).
Somalia
In Somalia, which is experiencing a situation of permanent instability, caused by a civil war and the strong presence of insurgent armed groups, such as Al-Shabaab, the United Nations found 2,568 serious violations against 1,992 children and 50 violations in previous years.
In all, 595 children were killed (141) or mutilated (454), mostly by unidentified authors (296), but also by Al-Shabaab (119) and government security forces (70). Sexual violence and recruitment of children to armed groups were also recorded.
Nigeria
In the most populous country in Africa, with about 200 million, chronic social inequality, social violence and acting of armed groups led to 2,436 serious violations against 1,037 children (386 boys and 651 girls) and 269 serious violations in previous years.
About 974 children were recruited and used, especially after being kidnapped by armed groups and Nigerian security forces.
A total of 732 children were arrested by Nigerian security forces by alleged association or their parents with armed groups. All were released. Death (29) and mutilation (20) of 49 children were attributed to JAS (19), ISWAP (19), unidentified perpetrators (10) and Nigerian security forces (1), including cases caused by explosive ammunition (33).
There were cases of sexual violence, all involving forced marriage, against 419 children (7 boys and 412 girls).
Haiti
In Haiti, the island country of the Caribbean who has been experiencing political and social instability for decades, with armed gang actions, the UN last year checked 2,269 serious violations against 1,373 children. In previous years, 24 violations were recorded.
The murder (213) and the mutilation (138) of 351 children were attributed to several gangs and also to the Haitian National Police. Cases of sexual violence victimized 566 children (523 girls and 43 boys). Detention of dozens of children by security and recruitment forces of minors by armed groups were also recorded in the report.
With information from.
