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Mister President, distinguished members of the Council,
I thank you for inviting me to brief you today on the situation of children affected by armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic. As you know, I travelled to Syria and Lebanon in February. It was a very inspiring mission as I met national authorities in both countries who are very engaged and committed to the protection of children.
Sadly, the situation has been taken over by the events in the Middle East immediately upon my return and once again, children are caught in a spiral of deadly violence and destruction. I echo the Secretary-General in his call for this war to stop.
In Syria, the year 2025 witnessed dramatic changes with the profound transformation of the political and security landscape, new hopes for the Syrian people, and the beginning of a political transition. While confronting the immense challenges to rebuild the country and a nation after over a decade of war and dealing with the legacy of the former regime, the commitment of the Syrian Government to write a new chapter for the country and its children, that I witnessed, is encouraging.
In travelling to Syria, I intended to engage with the new Government authorities to explore renewed opportunities to collaborate on strengthening the protection of conflict-affected children. I was pleased that all my interlocutors signalled a strong openness and willingness to engage with the United Nations in this regard.
I was encouraged by their commitment to their international obligations, including with regards to the definition of a child as any human being under the age of 18, in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The efforts made by the new Syrian Government to integrate multiple armed groups under the unified command of the Ministry of Defense for the purpose of forming a new Syrian army, are commendable. In this regard, I was informed that protective frameworks, including a code of conduct and vetting procedures, were in place to prevent underage recruitment by the new Syrian government forces and that their implementation was a priority. Again, this is very encouraging. I want to assure the Syrian Government that the United Nations remain available to support all their efforts to prohibit child recruitment and use, as well as prevent other grave violations against children by the new Syrian Government forces.
In this spirit, I encouraged the Syrian Government to consider signing the Paris Principles, the Safe School Declaration, the Vancouver Principles, and the EWIPA Declaration in order to strengthen its existing national child protection frameworks. They expressed interest in endorsing these political instruments.
Despite this, challenges are also immense and I urge all of you to support the efforts of the Government to rebuild their country.
Indeed, my visit took place in the context of the developments in northeastern Syria between the Government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the deteriorating situation in Hawl and Rawj camps, and the transfer of detainees to Iraq. Hawl camp has since been closed by the Government. But these developments highlighted the dramatic situation of children stranded in these particular settings, and the challenges associated with their return and reintegration into the community. Many of these children do not have an identity. The absence of birth registration systems in those areas have compounded their vulnerabilities, leading in some extreme instances, to statelessness, and exposing them to risks of violations and abuses. Supporting their return and reintegration into the community, taking into account that most have known nothing but the closed camps, by providing the necessary services, particularly education, is essential to rebuilding the social contract between the Syrian people and their State. Relatedly, I was pleased to learn that work had started to address gaps in civil registration with the support of the United Nations.
Furthermore, I advocated for the release of children held for their or their family members’ alleged association with Da’esh. Many remain in detention across northeastern Syria. These children should be treated primarily as victims, released from detention and handed over to child protection actors for the purpose of family reunification and reintegration. I am extremely concerned that over 150 children as well as an undetermined number of children who have turned 18 while in detention, were transferred to Iraq from Syria among adult detainees between January and February 2026.
I am seizing the opportunity of this briefing to urge all Member States concerned to facilitate and expedite the voluntary repatriation of their children with suspected family ties to Da’esh.
Mister President, distinguished members of the Council,
The clearance from mines and explosive remnants of war of vast swathes of the country, a legacy of over a decade of war, was a recurrent issue raised throughout my visit. It emerged as an aspect key to the reconstruction of Syria and in the protection of its people. Indeed, the widespread contamination of explosive remnants of war represents an immense threat for children across Syria and is a leading cause of child casualties. It also prevents communities to return home and children to safely access basic services such as education and health, as for example, many schools are heavily contaminated. The needs are immense but the will from the Government to address this problem is strong. However, Syrian capacities do not match the magnitude of the problem, and the support currently provided by various organizations remains insufficient to meet the scale of contamination.
In fact, I met with children in a child friendly space run by a partner of UNICEF in a completely destroyed area in the outskirts of Damascus. These children, who had returned from Idlib told me about their dream, which was to be able to play on a playground, safely, and live among standing buildings surrounded by trees. While it is a normality for most of us, it is a dream for these children. I urge all of you and all donors to support and fund explosive ordnance clearance activities as well as explosive ordnance risk education for children and communities. This is an area in which together, we can make a positive, concrete and long-lasting impact for children in Syria.
Mister President, distinguished members of the Council,
In 2025, the level of grave violations against children in Syria remained elevated, slightly higher than the previous year. The killing and maiming of children which increased compared to 2024, was the main violation verified by the United Nations though the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism. The recruitment and use of children was the second most verified violation, although in a slight decrease compared to the previous year. These trends signify that collectively, we need to sustain and redouble our efforts to support the Government in addressing and preventing grave violations. We also need to encourage efforts for accountability.
In this vein, I wish to recall Security Council resolution 1539 (2004) and subsequent resolutions on children and armed conflict which call on parties to conflict listed in the annexes of the report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict to prepare and implement action plans to halt recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, as well as attacks on schools and hospitals and the abduction of children, with the support of the United Nations.
With the Government of Syria, we agreed on the importance to develop and adopt such a plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use, and the killing and maiming of children as well as to prevent other grave violations by its forces. I am pleased to report that work has started in Damascus in this regard.
Meanwhile, the implementation of the action plan which was signed between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the United Nations in 2019 to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children remains ongoing until the full integration of the SDF into the Syrian Government forces, in line with the January agreement. Progress has been made by the SDF in the implementation of their action plan in the last years and I urge them to expedite the remaining aspects of implementation. I also urge them to firmly put an end to, as well as to prevent, the recruitment and use of children.
Separately, the action plan signed between the opposition Syrian National Army and the United Nations in 2024 to end and prevent the recruitment and use, and killing and maiming of children, will serve as a solid basis to further addressing and preventing violations by the new Syrian Government forces, that the group has integrated in 2025.
To conclude, I started this statement by highlighting that my mission to Syria was inspiring. Despite the challenges, Syria is indeed a situation where I see potential and opportunities to instil positive and long-lasting change for children. If we join forces together in support of the Government’s efforts, we can make a true impact for children in Syria.
I thank you for your attention.