First Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Burkina Faso
Children in Burkina Faso experienced high levels of violence and grave violations perpetrated by all parties to conflict, a new report, the first one of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Burkina Faso, shows.
The report covering the period between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2024, highlights that 2,483 grave violations against 2,255 children were verified, including some children who were victims of multiple violations.
Deadly armed attacks against civilians have intensified and caused a serious deterioration of the humanitarian situation, with more than 2 million internally displaced persons, of which most are children. Furthermore, an estimated 6.3 million people, among them 3.4 million children, needed humanitarian support, notably nutrition, health, protection and education.
Continued armed conflict and overall insecurity deeply affected the education and health system, preventing hundreds of thousands of children from enjoying their fundamental rights to education and basic health care. “The continued deterioration of the security situation particularly impacted children’s access to education with more than 800,000 children affected by the closure of schools,” underlined the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba.
Most of the grave violations were attributed to armed groups. The killing and maiming of children was the most prominent grave violation, followed by abduction and recruitment and use. In addition, the last quarter of 2023 saw a sharp increase in the number of grave violations against children, notably child casualties. A total of 1,386 children, some as young as eight months, were killed and maimed, including due to explosive devices. “I am alarmed by the elevated number of children killed and maimed. I strongly urge all parties to conflict not to target civilians, including children, to take all necessary measures to avoid harm to children in the conduct of their operations and to adhere strictly to their obligations under international law,” said the Special Representative.
The United Nations verified the abduction of 592 children, mostly girls and 257 children were recruited and used, with a majority of boys affected. Humanitarian access was gravely hampered, particularly in the Centre-Nord, Sahel, and Boucle du Mouhoun regions, mostly due to armed groups’ attacks on villages and military counter-insurgency operations. Sexual violence continued to be vastly underreported, owing to, amongst others, stigmatization, the fear of reprisals, harmful social norms, as well as impunity and safety concerns. The United Nations verified that 20 girls were raped, one of whom died following collective rape. In many cases, sexual violence was preceded by abduction and survivors were targeted while on the way to or from collecting firewood or fetching water.
Limited Progress to Protect the Children of Burkina Faso
Some progress was observed, including the endorsement by the transitional government of a handover protocol with the United Nations to ensure that children allegedly associated with armed forces and armed groups, are transferred to civilian child protection services. The Special Representative calls for the full implementation of the handover protocol. The transitional government, with the support of the United Nations, further provided reintegration services to 397 children formerly associated with armed forces and groups and other vulnerable children at risk of recruitment and use.
The United Nations supported efforts with the training of over 700 officers of the Defense and Security Forces on the protection, promotion, and respect of human rights, with an emphasis on the protection of children during military operations. The Special Representative stressed that the United Nations stands ready to continue to support the Transitional Government with capacity building.
“Like any children in the world, the children of Burkina Faso deserve to play and go to school free of fear. I call on the transitional government to pursue its efforts to promote accountability so that all children victims of grave violations have access to justice and reparation. I also urge donors to fund reintegration programs for children associated with armed groups”, concluded the Special Representative.
