25.06.2025 Statement by Denmark at UNSC Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict

Checked Against Delivery

Thank you, Madam President,

Denmark commends Guyana for organising this critical debate and you, Minister, for your presence and commitment to shining a light on this darkest, most insidious aspect of conflict.

Let me also thank Special Representative Gamba and UNICEF Director Gupta, for their briefings.

But most of all, I wish to thank Sila for her powerful and courageous testimony. Her unfiltered messages are what this Council needs to hear, and to heed.

Madam President,

The Secretary-General’s report is brutally clear. Grave violations against children are rampant, they are going unpunished and they are destroying lives.

Behind every figure is a child whose childhood has been robbed, whose future has been derailed. And Sila gave us some very concrete and shocking examples of this.

Sila talked about her childhood in Syria, but across the globe, children continue to bear the brunt of conflicts not of their making.

From the unlawful deportations of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation to the continued recruitment and use of children by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.

From attacks on schools and hospitals in Myanmar and Sudan; to sexual violence in Nigeria and Haiti.

No war and no region have been spared from this scourge.

The plight of children in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, who continue to suffer the highest number of grave violations, is deeply troubling. Most notably in Gaza which UNICEF has called “the most dangerous place in the world to be a child.”

Ms. President, against this dire backdrop, allow me to focus on three critical areas for action.

First, upholding accountability and international law is non-negotiable.

The protection of children depends on the clear and consistent enforcement of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

States and non-state actors alike must be held responsible for violations. Impunity must end.

Only through credible investigations and justice can we break the cycle of abuse and send a strong message that violations against children will not be tolerated.

We call on all Member States to uphold their obligations under international law and to ratify and implement all relevant instruments. This includes the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.

Second, Madam President,

To protect children in times of conflict, we need to use every tool at our disposal.

The Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism as well as the Working Group on Children in Armed Conflict of this Council can and should play a crucial role.

Denmark was honoured to play our part in establishing these bodies in 2005. We remain just as committed to their effective functioning today.

The Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism in particular remains the cornerstone of efforts to document abuses, identify perpetrators, and facilitate timely responses. But it requires resources, access, and political support. This is our shared responsibility.

Third, Madam President,

Addressing the gendered impact of grave violations is essential.

Violations against children in armed conflict have distinct and profound effects on girls and boys. Sexual and gender-based violence, disproportionately inflicted upon girls, leaves long-lasting trauma, while boys face recruitment and targeted killings.

These children have experienced horrors and harm that no child should ever suffer.

Denmark urges that all monitoring, prevention, and response efforts be designed through a lens that takes these gendered patterns into account.

Madam President, in closing,

We must never accept that grave violations against children are somehow an inevitable outcome of conflict. This is not the case.

Children neither create nor control conflict. They are victims and they deserve protection.

Children must never pay the price of war.

I thank you.