ACT TO PROTECT children affected by conflict

In response to a rise in grave violations committed against children in recent years, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict is launching ACT to Protect Children Affected by Conflict, a global campaign to generate greater awareness and action to protect children affected by war.

“With more children suffering horrific abuses in war zones across the globe, we desperately need to reinvigorate our efforts to raise awareness about the core of the mandate I represent – the six great violations, and to redouble our common advocacy to ensure action by parties to conflict to give children the protection they deserve,” said Virginia Gamba.

Over the next three years, the campaign will seek to strengthen collaboration between the United Nations, civil society and the international community to support actions designed to end and prevent grave violations committed against children in times of conflict.

Join Forest Whitaker and ACT to Protect Children

See who else is supporting # ACT to Protect.

ACT to Protect: What Can You Do?

See how YOU can ACT to Protect Children.

 

Together, we can ACT to Protect children affected by armed conflict!

  • Stay informed and share news about what is happening to children growing up in countries affected by conflict
  • Remind warring parties the world has long agreed that all children must be protected;
  • Support organizations that provide services for child victims of grave violations;
  • Promote a culture of peace and support initiatives that help create communities that are more secure for children;
  • Encourage the international community to give attention and resources for the protection of children;

Add your voice, use the hashtag #ACTtoProtect

 

On 7 February 2018 in Yambio, South Sudan, children associated with an armed group wait to be released from the group. On 7 February 2018, more than 300 children, 87 of them girls, were released by armed groups in South Sudan, beginning a process that is expected to see at least 700 children freed in the coming weeks. “It is the largest release of children in nearly three years and it is vital that negotiations continue so there are many more days like this,” said UNICEF Representative in South Sudan Mahimbo Mdoe. During the release ceremony, the children were formally disarmed and provided with civilian clothes. Medical screenings will be carried out, and children will receive counselling and psychosocial support as part of the reintegration programme, which is implemented by UNICEF and partners. An estimated 19,000 children continue to serve in the ranks of armed forces and groups more than four years after conflict erupted in December 2013. UNICEF will continue to work with all parties to the conflict, as well as UNMISS, to secure the future release and reintegration of all children associated with armed groups through a meticulous process of negotiation, verification and registration.
On 1 October 2018 at the Junaina makeshift camp in northern rural Idlib, in the Syrian Arab Republic, girls wearing UNICEF backpacks stand outside a tent school where a total of 350 children between the ages of 7 and 14 are able to go back to learning. With education supplies provided by UNICEF, a volunteer teacher has turned six tents into the most basic of classrooms. Most of the children have to sit on the ground and whiteboards are propped up against tent poles. Idlib is home to almost 1 million children, many of them internally displaced, having lost out on years of education. Recent fears of a flare-up in fighting has caused even more internal displacement in Idlib, just as the school year was starting. As of 1 October 2018, in Idlib, restricted humanitarian access means that many children cannot receive the regular humanitarian assistance they need. But through the provision of education and other supplies to its partner on the ground, UNICEF is able to ensure that some basic services are provided to children in Idlib’s IDP camps. Overall in Syria, more than 4 million children started formal education in September this year, but almost 2 million children remain out of school.

ACT to Protect News

Recent posts