Open Session on Children Affected by Armed Conflicts
Open Session on Children Affected by Armed ConflictsDate | 20 November 2025
Tomorrow (21 November), the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) is expected to convene its 1314th session, which will be an open session on children affected by armed conflicts (CAAC).
Following the opening remarks from the Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the AU and Chairperson of the PSC for the month, Churchill Ewumbue-Monono, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security (PAPS), Bankole Adeoye is expected to deliver a statement. It is expected that Rebecca Amuge Otengo, Permanent Representative of Uganda to the AU and Co-Chair of the African Platform on Children Affected by Armed Conflicts (AP-CAAC), will deliver a statement. Robert Doya Nanima, Member of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) and Special Rapporteur on CAAC, is also expected to address the Council. Statements are also expected from representatives of the respective Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms (RECs/RMs), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Save the Children International.
In August 2025, the PSC convened its 1296th session, focusing on ‘Education in Conflict Situations,’ in which, among other decisions, it emphasised the need to ‘strengthen the protection of children in conflict situations and promote children’s rights in AU peace, security and development programmes.’ Council went further and tasked the AU Commission to ‘develop a comprehensive and dynamic matrix listing all AU legal frameworks, strategies and initiatives aimed at promoting inclusive education for all, particularly ensuring continuity of education in times of conflict in Africa and to develop an action plan on activities to be undertaken in this area from 2025 onwards.’
This meeting is being held just a day after the ‘World Children’s Day’ – also known as the Universal Children’s Day – which is observed annually every 20th of November. It was on 20 November 1959 that the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Exactly thirty years later, on 20 November 1989, the Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, often called the UNCRC. This year also marks the 35th anniversary of the adoption of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), which was adopted on 11 July 1990.
The session takes place as conflicts on the continent worsen and the humanitarian crises resulting from them deepen. Mirroring the depiction of the grim state of peace and security captured in the research report titled Africa in a new era of insecurity and instability, noting how civilians are bearing the brunt of the rising number and spread of conflicts on the continent, the UN reported that violence against children in armed conflict reached ‘unprecedented levels’ in 2024. In Africa, such incidents of violence were recorded both in situations on the agenda of the PSC and those that are not, namely, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Lake Chad basin, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Niger, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. Of these, the countries with the highest number of reported violence are the DRC with 4043, Somalia with 2568, and Nigeria with 2436 and those that experienced what the UN report called ‘sharpest percentage increases’ are Mozambique with a 525% increase and Ethiopia with a 235% increase.
With violence-driven displacement tripling from 11 million people in 2015 to 34 million in 2024 and with more than one in every five children globally now affected by war, the futures of an entire generation hang in the balance. The UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner also highlighted that ‘some 473 million children were affected by armed conflict globally in 2024, approximately one in six children, according to estimates by Save the Children.’ In Africa, it was reported that 218 million African children (32.6% of the continent’s entire child population) were living within 50 kilometres of armed violence, which is ‘an all-time high both in absolute numbers and global share.’
In the Central African Republic (CAR), UNICEF reported that from January to June 2025, the humanitarian situation in CAR showed some relative improvement, yet the overall context remains highly fragile. Civilians, including children, continue to face serious threats to their lives and well-being due to persistent insecurity, natural disasters (especially recurrent flooding) and new waves of displacement triggered primarily by armed violence. Although the total number of internally displaced people (IDPs) decreased from the previous year to 446,722, displacement surged again during the first half of 2025. The main drivers were renewed fighting between armed groups in the south-east, the sporadic violence in the north-west and widespread flooding.
The UN report noted that attacks on civilian objects, including schools and hospitals, dramatically increased the vulnerability of children. In Nigeria, recently, gunmen attacked the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State (Northwest Nigeria), killing the school’s Vice-Principal and abducting at least 25 students. This incident is part of a disturbing pattern of attacks on educational institutions in northern Nigeria, where hundreds of children (especially girls) have been kidnapped in recent years, seriously undermining the safety of children in schools and denying many their right to education.
In the Sahel, it has also been reported that ‘about four million people are now displaced across Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and neighbouring countries (around two-thirds more than five years ago) reflecting insecurity, limited access to services and livelihoods and the effects of climate change.’ Women and children account for 80% of all forcibly displaced people. The widespread insecurity across the region continues to endanger civilians, children in particular, exposing them to physical violence, forced recruitment into armed groups, severe restrictions on movement and arbitrary detention.
It is to be recalled that the war in Sudan has created the world’s largest child displacement. This pattern has continued with the escalation of violence in recent months. The latest, November 2025 UNICEF Humanitarian Flash Update in Sudan, with a specific focus on the North Darfur (Al Fasher) and Kordofan Crisis, highlighted that in North Darfur State, escalating violence since 26 October has displaced over 81,000 people from Al Fasher town, severely restricting humanitarian access and preventing the delivery of life-saving aid. Displaced families urgently require shelter, food, water and medical care, while protection risks, especially for women and children, are rising amid reports of widespread killings, sexual violence and looting of health facilities. In the Kordofan States, on the other hand, nearly 37,000 people have been displaced from various localities in North and South Kordofan due to recent conflict and shifting frontlines, with many seeking refuge in White Nile, Kassala and other states where host communities are absorbing large numbers of families, placing severe strain on already limited local resources and services.
The expected outcome of tomorrow’s session is a Communiqué. The Council is likely to express deep concern over the rise in armed conflicts in parts of the Continent and over the heightening, devastating impact conflicts are having on children in particular. In this regard, the Council is expected to urge all actors in conflict situations on the continent to fully respect international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) and to uphold children’s rights. Council may emphasise the importance of strengthening advocacy efforts to ensure the safety and security of children in conflict zones, such as by integrating AP-CAAC in PSC field missions. The PSC may also request the systematic monitoring, documentation, and annual reporting on the state of protection of children in armed conflict in Africa, as a critical vehicle for adopting relevant measures informed by such comprehensive data and analysis. It may also request that the protection of children be specifically highlighted in briefings and reports on specific conflict situations, to facilitate the adoption of tailored measures to enhance child protection. The PSC may also encourage those Member States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify, and to take concrete steps toward the full and effective implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, as well as other relevant international instruments. It may further appeal to all relevant stakeholders, including regional and international partners, to strengthen their support and assistance for children affected by conflicts in Africa.