Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Fifteen years have passed since the Security Council adopted resolution 1261 (1999), its first thematic resolution on the plight of children in armed conflict. By means of that resolution, the international community sent a clear signal: the suffering of children in armed conflict is unacceptable, whether they be child soldiers, sex slaves, victims in schools and hospitals or affected in any way.

The regime's security and military forces do not spare children from arrest, arbitrary detention, ill treatment and fatal torture. The violations perpertrated by the regime include the use of children as human shields, sexual and physical violence, and massacres of civilians, including babies.

Yet we find millions of children trapped in wars and conflicts around the world. As noted in the concept paper (S/2014/144, annex), tens of thousands of children continue to be recruited, killed or maimed, sexually abused or deprived of their right to education and health care when schools or hospitals are attacked. In situations of armed conflict, children are often coerced into taking part in active hostilities.

Other resolutions — including 1882 (2009) on sexual violence and children, 1998 (2011) on attacks against schools and hospitals, and 2068 (2012) on criminal liability for persistent perpetrators — are among those initiatives aimed at bolstering existing legal frameworks in terms of child protection.

Thousands of boys and girls around the world are still being recruited into Government forces and armed opposition groups to serve as combatants, cooks, porters or messengers, or in other roles. Girls, and sometimes boys, are also recruited for sexual purposes.

Despite undeniable progress in recent years on the agenda of children and armed conflict made as a result of the cooperation among the Organization, Governments and civil society, thousands of children continue to be recruited as soldiers, sexually abused and excluded from the right to education and other basic services.

My delegation is perturbed at the thousands of children who are recruited, killed, maimed, abducted, subjected to sexual violence, indoctrinated, forced to commit atrocities, denied humanitarian access and deprived of health care. Despite the progress made thus far, more needs to be done in the area of the protection of the child in armed conflict.

Strengthened efforts are necessary to fully implement the children and armed conflict agenda. We must build upon the shared conviction that children should not be recruited as soldiers, or killed or maimed, or sexually abused or abducted. Their right to humanitarian assistance, education and health care must guaranteed, as our goal will never be truly realized until we have ended all violence against children.

Recruitment is not the only danger to which children are exposed. Violations and abuses committed against children in armed conflict can take many forms. But whether they become victims of bombings or crossfire, are subjected to sexual violence or are recruited to serve in the ranks of armed forces or groups as combatants, or are held as sex slaves, each fate tells the story of a life shattered.

Liechtenstein was shocked by the findings of the Secretary General's recent report on Children and Armed Conflict in Syria, which listed a number of horrendous violations and abuses against children, including arbitrary detention, sexual violence, torture, recruitment and use of child soldiers, maiming and killing, just to name a few.