UN officials will investigate killing of children in armed conflict in Ukraine, Ethiopia and Mozambique News
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UN officials will investigate killing of children in armed conflict in Ukraine, Ethiopia and Mozambique

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres Monday announced that the UN will investigate the killing and wounding of children in Ukraine, Ethiopia, and Mozambique over the coming year.

The UN Secretary General Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict is released each year and details the amount of children affected by violent global conflicts. According to the report, over 7,000 children were killed or maimed in global conflicts in 2021.

Guterres wrote that conflict escalation, improved weaponry, intensified humanitarian crises and human rights violations were some of the most frequent causes of human rights abuses regarding children. Guterres outlined Ukraine, Ethiopia and Mozambique as significant sources of violations which needed to be investigated further:

In view of the gravity and number of violations reported..in Mozambique.. between Ethiopian National Defence and Federal Police Forces, and…in view of the ongoing war in Ukraine, including violations against civilians, including children, because of the high intensity of this conflict, [these] situation[s] will be added as a situation of concern with immediate effect and will be included in my next report.

Guterres also highlighted countries such as Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia as having the highest number of violations against children.

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