Council updates EU guidelines and approves conclusions

The Council adopted updated EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict, which were first adopted in 2003 and then updated in 2008, and approved conclusions on the matter.

The Council is gravely concerned about the rise of violations of children’s rights in the context of armed conflict, exacerbated by the proliferation of wars, including Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its unlawful deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children.

Children are strongly affected by armed conflicts. In nearly all the world’s conflict zones, from the Sahel, Central and Eastern Africa to the Middle East and Asia, children represent as much as half of the affected population. They face violence, injury and death, recruitment, displacement and uprooting, interrupted education, lack of health care and long-lasting physical and mental trauma. Moreover, the changing nature of conflicts, tactics, and weaponry has multiplied the risks for children, and civilians in general.

The UN Secretary General’s latest annual report on children and armed conflict, points to a 21% increase of grave violations against children in conflict situations in 2023, with the highest numbers being recorded in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, Nigeria, and Sudan.

With adequate and timely support, children can recover from extreme situations and thrive. Their protection, recovery, and reintegration are essential to long-term peace and security, as well as sustainable development.

The updated EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict approved by the Council today are intended to strengthen the EU’s contribution to the respect, protection, and fulfilment of rights of children in armed conflict and other situations of armed violence by terrorist organisations or organised criminal groups, globally. They adopt a robust, comprehensive, and holistic approach and will serve as an operational framework for all member states and EU institutions working in this area.

The updated EU guidelines are intended to take new developments into account – e.g. increased threats not least from the use of new technologies and the indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas - and fully align the EU’s approach with the framework established by the United Nations Security Council through successive resolutions, notably 'the six grave violations against children during times of armed conflict'. They also reinforce the EU’s alignment and cooperation with the mandate of the UN Secretary-General and the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict.

In parallel, the EU updated and published its Checklist for the Integration of Protection of Children Affected by Armed Conflict into the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) Missions and Operations. The CSDP checklist is an operational and hands-on tool providing guidance for the planning and conduct of operational activities for more than twenty crisis management missions and operations.

The protection of children affected by armed conflict must continue to be a central pillar of the human rights, peace and security, conflict prevention, peacebuilding, development, and humanitarian agendas.