Former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has called on Member States, including the Permanent Members of the Council, to build a better, safer future for the world’s children.

Mr Ban Ki-moon, deputy chair of The Elders, made the appeal while briefing the Security Council at UN headquarters in New York.

He spoke after the Security Council heard powerful and personal testimony from a former child soldier, who recounted harrowing experiences of being abducted and forced to join an armed group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

He stressed that there should be no impunity for those who commit crimes against children anywhere in the world.

Mr Ki-moon said, “I am speaking today in my capacity as deputy chair of The Elders, the group of independent former leaders founded by Nelson Mandela who work for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet.

“The protection of innocent lives lies at the heart of all of The Elders’ endeavours. Children in armed conflict are the most innocent victims of all, and it is a universal moral obligation to protect them from harm and exploitation.”

The former UN boss added, “I commend the work by the special representative of the secretary-general and the report presented today, which describes how acute the issue of children and armed conflict has been over the course of 2023.

“It should be a matter of shame to every state represented here today that innocent children continue to pay such a terrible price in the multiple conflicts being waged across our world.”

The former UN chief said he was shocked and outraged that grave violations against children rose 21 per cent in 2023, with a 35 per cent rise in the killing and maiming of children in the same period.

This, according to him, reflected a persistent and blatant disregard for international law by those perpetrating these violations, whether government forces or non-state armed actors, and a sense of impunity that they would not be held accountable for their actions.

“To give just one example, the UN has verified more than 8,000 grave violations against 4,247 Palestinian children and 113 Israeli children in 2023, reflecting the shocking scale and human cost of the current conflict.

“There should be no impunity for those who commit crimes against children anywhere in the world, whether they are states or armed groups, in autocracies or democracies.

“Such distinctions mean nothing to the parents of murdered children, nor should they to the institutions charged with upholding international justice. The statistics in the Secretary-General’s report tell their own story,” he explained.

He, however, recalled his own experience and that the trauma experienced by children in armed conflict cannot be captured in figures alone.

“As a young boy during the Korean War, I experienced the trauma and wrenching displacement of fleeing my home during the conflict, with death and destruction all around me,” Mr Ki-moon stressed. “The human suffering I witnessed as I fled my burning village with my parents continued to haunt me in the days and years to come.”

The former UN chief said one of the definitive reports on children and armed conflict was written 28 years ago by Grace Machel, the former freedom fighter and Education Minister of Mozambique who today serves as my fellow deputy chair of The Elders.

(NAN)