Arria formula meeting: Safe Education to Prevent the Recruitment and Use of Children in Armed Conflict

Good morning. I see that my script says good afternoon. Excellencies, delegates, distinguished guests, we're pleased to welcome you to this ARIA Formula meeting. entitled Safe Education to Prevent the Recruitment and Use of Children in Armed Conflict. We'd like to thank Greece, Liberia, Austria, Japan, and Uruguay for their co-sponsorship of this event and for their commitment to this agenda. Panama and the co-sponsors have convened an ARIA Formula United Nations Security Council meeting on the Red Hand Day to specifically highlight that education is a right and that a safe, inclusive, and continuous education is a strategic tool to prevent the recruitment and the use of children in armed conflict. It's also a tool that serves as a pillar to reintegrate those affected by armed conflict. Excellencies, it's an honor for us to have our distinguished briefers with us today, and I will now proceed to give them the floor. Firstly, we are pleased to give the floor to Ms. Vanessa Fraser, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, with whom we were able to share our experience during her involvement on the Security Council when Panama was recently an observer on the Security Council in 2024. Vanessa, you have the floor.

Thank you, Thank you, Ambassador. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I thank the Permanent Mission of Panama and the co-sponsors Austria, Greece, Japan, Liberia for convening this important meeting at such a critical time. It is an honor to take part in this discussion to highlight a truth that children living through conflict remind us of every day: education is not a luxury. It is a lifeline. It protects, heals, inspires, and offers the promise of a different future. From country to country, the testimonies collected by my office are remarkably consistent. Children themselves say education is their number one priority when rebuilding their lives after grave violations. It offers structure, restores dignity, and reconnects them them with their communities. Yet, too many children are denied this fundamental right. Today, more than 250 million children are out of school globally, many because of conflict and insecurity. When education collapses, so do the protective systems that keep children safe— safe from recruitment, abduction, sexual violence, including forced marriage and other grave violations. When war breaks out, children lose far more than their classrooms. Schools are destroyed or occupied, teachers are displaced or attacked, and the simple act of walking to school becomes dangerous. In 2024 alone, 1,265 attacks on schools and related personnel were verified by the United Nations in 26 conflict situations. In 2025, based on preliminary data, such attacks were verified at a similarly high level. Schools were bombed, looted, and burned. Teachers were abducted or killed for trying to educate their students. Children were attacked on their way to school or in— or while in class. Notably, government forces were the main perpetrators of attacks schools and hospitals in 2024. Also of concern is the presence of explosive remnants of war near schools and in other places frequented by children, often with deadly consequences, which underline that mine action must urgently be prioritized to protect the most vulnerable. In countries such as Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, and Syria, hundreds of schools have been forced to close due to insecurity, depriving children of education and exposing them to further violence. In Afghanistan, girls remain particularly and systematically affected, including due to the suspension of girls' education by the Taliban. Across several contexts, armed groups have also attempted to control curricula or use schools as sites for indoctrination, further undermining the right to quality education. These attacks must stop. The military use of schools must end. Every child, everywhere, has the right to an education free from violence. I call on all Member States and all parties to conflict to take urgent measures to protect schools, students and teachers, including by endorsing the Safe School Schools Declaration and developing national action plans for its implementation. Education is not only a fundamental right, it is a cornerstone of peace, stability, and development. Excellencies, education is central to both preventing child recruitment and youth and ensuring sustainable reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces and groups. As stated in the 2007 Paris Principles, education is an essential component of reintegration programs. Returning to school is often the first step towards rebuilding a child's confidence and future prospects. It provides skills, restores normalcy, and helps communities accept and welcome children back. Education also contributes directly to sustainable peace. We must invest not only in ceasefires, but also in classrooms, in teachers, curricula, and inclusive systems that reach girls, displaced children, and those who have been most marginalized. Yet the scale of today's challenges is sobering. The Secretary-General's most recent report on children and armed conflict verified more than 41,000 grave violations against children in 2024 alone. These figures illustrate not just the magnitude of suffering, but also the obstacles standing between children and their right to education. Security Council Resolution 2601 recognizes the essential link between peace, security, and education. I welcome steps taken by several Member States to strengthen national protection frameworks, including countries that have criminalized attacks on schools and/or have domesticated the Safe Schools Declaration into national policy. But we must also strengthen implementation. Within the 2030 Agenda, the Education 2030 Framework for Action urges us to address education in emergencies and protracted crises. Supporting Member States in building inclusive, resilient and responsive educational systems is essential. Teachers are at the heart of these systems. In conflict and post-conflict settings, they are not only educators; they are frontline responders, protectors and sources of psychosocial support. Competent and empowered teachers are indispensable to reintegration efforts and to the long-term resilience of affected communities. My Office will continue to work with parties to conflict to prevent and end attacks on schools and education personnel through joint protection and prevention plans. I will continue advocating for an end to the military use of schools. We will also strengthen cooperation with partners such as UNICEF and UNESCO present today, including through initiatives that expand across to connectivity for students— that expand access, sorry, to connectivity for students and protect and support teachers working in conflict zones. As such, my Office recently developed with UNESCO the Guidance Toolkit for Teachers and Educators on Education for Children and Young People Formerly Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups. We launched it this month in New York. This is not merely a set of guidelines, it is a vital resource offering hope and healing to children whose lives have been shattered by war. I call on governments to prioritize education in their recovery efforts, and we, as an international community, must amplify the voices of children affected by armed conflict, ensuring they are heard, protected, and empowered. We must also support communities that remain crucial partners in embracing education and reintegration efforts with their sights set on the future. Every child affected by conflict deserves more than survival. They deserve a future. Protecting education is one of the most meaningful ways to offer them that future. By safeguarding schools today, we help build the foundations of sustainable peace tomorrow. I would like to close with the words of a child who participated in our #ProveItMatters campaign. He wrote, a school is the only place a child can walk in as the person they are and walk out as what they dream to be. Dear leaders, protect our schools today and we will protect the world tomorrow.

Thank you.

I thank Ms. Fraser for that briefing. I'm now pleased to be able to give the floor to Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF.

Thank you very much, Ambassador Alfaro de Alba, for convening today's ARIA Forum meeting, and to Greece, Austria, Japan, and Uruguay for co-hosting this really important discussion. It's a privilege to join you to reflect on the essential role education plays in preventing the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. Excellencies, today, hundreds of millions of children, nearly 1 in 5 globally, live in countries where there is a war or other violent conflict. Every year, tens of thousands of children are killed or injured in armed conflict, and that number is only increasing. In addition, many of these children are malnourished and unable to go to school. As a result, children's education is increasingly under direct attack. Since the Security Council adopted Resolution 1612 in 2005, the United Nations has verified more than 14,000 attacks on schools and over 3,000 instances of military use of schools— nearly 2 attacks a day for 2 decades. The rate of these attacks is rising, and more than half have occurred in just the past 10 years. The Gaza Strip alone has seen 97% of its schools damaged or destroyed since 2023. In countries such as the DRC, Myanmar, and Ukraine, hundreds of schools have been looted, burned, and attacked with explosive weapons such as shelling and airstrikes. These attacks are grave violations against children, frontal assaults on children's safety, dignity, and future. When schools are attacked or occupied, children lose far more than learning opportunities. They lose protective spaces, opportunities to develop socially with their peers, and access to essential services such as school feeding, healthcare, and mental health support. They may also miss out on life-saving information about the risks posed by explosive remnants of war. Children who are out of school face significantly heightened risks of exploitation, child labor, child marriage, trafficking, and recruitment into armed groups. Protecting education means keeping schools safe and ensuring that parties to conflict refrain from using them for military purposes. Excellencies, we all know that education is both life-saving and life-changing. It is a powerful tool to prevent recruitment. When children can access safe, inclusive, and quality learning environments, they gain structure, nutritious meals, psychosocial support, essential services, and a sense of normalcy. UNICEF's experience shows that an integrated approach to education, protection, and peacebuilding is especially effective in preventing the recruitment of children. This includes safe learning spaces, accelerated learning for children who have missed school, and equipping teachers to support children at risk. It also means combining education with mental health support and community engagement and pathways to further learning or skills. UNICEF promotes the protection of schools from attack and military use by advocating with parties to comply with international law and advocating for member states to endorse and implement the Safe Schools Declaration Act. We work to expand access to formal and non-formal learning for conflict-affected children. This includes children who are displaced or living as refugees. At the community level, UNICEF works with parents, youth networks, and local leaders to strengthen protective environments and identify children at risk. We support education-based reintegration for children formerly associated with armed groups, and we help strengthen education systems and teacher capacity to create safe, inclusive learning environments and refer children to appropriate services. Excellency, safe education can effectively prevent child recruitment and the use of children by armed groups. but this requires collective action. UNICEF is urging all member states to endorse and to implement the Safe Schools Declaration and to adopt policies that protect schools, students, and teachers while ensuring accountability for grave rights violations. Education should be systematically integrated into international action plans on children in armed conflict. Member states should also provide sustained and flexible financing to guarantee safe, inclusive, and quality education in conflict-affected affected settings. UNICEF continues to call on parties to end attacks on education, the military use of schools, and the recruitment and use of children. Those listed in the annexes of the Secretary-General's Report on Children in Armed Conflict should promptly engage with the United Nations to develop and implement action plans that protect children and prevent further violations. Excellencies, at UNICEF, we believe that education protects children today while helping build the foundations for peace tomorrow. With that in mind, I'd like to close with an urgent request to this Council. I urge you to unequivocally denounce grave violations against children, to reaffirm that such actions are never acceptable and must never be normalized, to consistently call for accountability, and to use the influence you hold with parties to armed conflict to help protect children. Safe education is more than a development investment. It's a vital protection measure and a cornerstone of sustainable peace. By ensuring that children can learn in safety and dignity, we can finally help break cycles of violence. Thank you very much.

I'd now like to give the floor to Mr. Elliot Mickenberg, Director of the UNESCO Liaison Office in New York.

You have the floor. Thank you, Mr. President, Excellencies, dear colleagues. Let me start by thanking the Permanent Mission of Panama and the co-sponsors for convening this important discussion today. I also wish to express appreciation to the SRSG for Children in Armed Conflict and the Executive Director of UNICEF, valued partners of UNESCO in advancing the right to education for all. In an interview here in New York City, Ismail Behah, a former child soldier from Sierra Leone, said, and I quote, if I hadn't gone to school, I wouldn't be here today, end quote. His words capture what education makes possible for a child rebuilding his life after demobilization. Our experience shows that education, when it functions, is one of the most powerful tools we have to prevent recruitment, protect children, and support their reintegration. I will focus my intervention on each of these 3 pillars. On prevention, children become associated with armed groups for many reasons. Some are abducted, others join to escape poverty. For these children, education is often the strongest alternative pathway. Expanding access to formal, non-formal, and informal education, especially technical and vocational training linked to real labor market needs, offers meaningful choices to children and young people. When they experience the dignity of learning and earning, and when hope and prospect for the future is restored, the pool of armed conflicts— of armed groups, sorry, weakens. They choose learning over violence. This reality is stark in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, the world's largest refugee settlement. Recent funding cuts have forced the closure of vocational programs once serving over 8,000 young people. These are not just program losses, they are protection failures. Adolescents leave the camp searching for opportunity, increasing their exposure to risk. Education is not only a right; in crisis settings, it is a shield. On protection: for the children and young people who are in schools, ensuring the continuity of education during conflict is essential to protect them from recruitment. As violence escalates, it is critical that schools remain safe, stable spaces that foster cohesion. In Haiti, with the EU's support, UNESCO has launched a program in the northeast to reinforce community schools serving tens of thousands of students. And within this context, as was mentioned by previous speakers, teachers play an essential role. They are often the first adults to recognize signs of trauma, vulnerability, or recruitment risks, making them a critical line of protection for children. With adequate training and support, teachers become stabilizing figures, anchors of trust and belonging. Yet teaching in crisis requires far more than— is not just about delivering lessons. It demands navigating trauma, insecurity, supporting students with widely different experiences, and creating spaces where healing and learning can happen together. And teachers themselves face insecurity, displacement, and the emotional weight of supporting traumatized learners. To support teachers on the front line, UNESCO and the Office of the SRSG for Children in Armed Conflict have developed a global guidance toolkit with concrete, context-sensitive strategies for creating safe, inclusive, trauma-informed learning. This guidance is now being adapted across emergency contexts worldwide. And we call on all Member States to ensure that these guidelines are effectively deployed where it is most needed, through endorsement in national education systems, support for training and dissemination, and integration in emergency and post-conflict recovery frameworks. Last but not least, when higher education students and young professionals are forcibly displaced, it is important to ensure that their education counts, that their credentials are valid, and that their prior learning is acknowledged, so the pull towards recruitment weakens. Recognition is not a bureaucratic formality, it is a protection mechanism. 2 UNESCO instruments provide exactly this foundation: the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications and the UNESCO Qualifications Passport. Ensuring displaced learners can re-enter education or employment quickly, even when documents of prior learning are missing. On reintegration: Reintegrating former child soldiers into civilian life is a profound process of healing and rebuilding. Many children have been forced to commit violent acts or have endured deep psychological harms. Mental health and psychological support must be at the centre of reintegration. And education is essential to this process. Classrooms must be spaces where peace and reconciliation are taught and lived. We must ask whether learning equips children with civic values, empathy, and the ability to engage across differences. They are not soft skills. They are the foundations of social cohesion and the strongest defense against hate-based narratives exploited by armed groups. The quality and relevance of education— what children learn, how they learn, and the values embedded in learning environments— is of utmost importance. In Sierra Leone, for example, we supported the development of the National Civic Education Strategy, the Cotton Tree Strategy, launched in 2024, which reinforces reconciliation and cohesion through education, youth engagement, and public awareness. To conclude, Excellencies, safe, inclusive, and continuous quality education is one of the most efficient preventative, protective, and reintegrative systems for children and youth. As violations rise, we must strengthen these pillars together. The Security Council has provided a solid foundation, especially through Resolutions 1998 and 2601, which protect schools, students, and teachers from attack. UNESCO stands ready to support Member States and work closely with the Office of the SRSG for Children in Armed Conflict and UNICEF to ensure that every child in conflict-affected regions has access to education that protects, empowers and restores hope. Because, as Ismail Beya reminds us, education can be the bridge between a child's past and a future once thought impossible. I thank you for your attention.

I'd like to thank Mr. Minkenberg for that statement, and I'm pleased now to be able to give the floor to Mr. Johnny César Étienne, Save the Children Haiti's Operations Director. You have the floor, sir.

Thank you, Excellencies, for convening this discussion. They cannot play outside without risking crossfire. They cannot move between neighborhoods. They cannot go to school. It is now a common sight to see children, some as young as 10, holding guns. An estimated 30 to 50% of armed group members in Haiti are children. Child recruitment skyrocketed by 200% in 2025. Behind each of these numbers is a child forced to fight, used as a porter or a spy, exploited and robbed of their future. Many are used as shields in clashes with the police. Excellencies, child recruitment like this does not happen in a vacuum. At Save the Children, we see consistently in Haiti and around the world that we could meet thrives where children are hungry, out of school, displaced, or separated from their caregivers. Haiti is one of the world's top 5 hunger hotspots. More than 1,600 schools closed due to violence, cutting 243,000 children off from education, and for many of them, the only meal they receive each day. Armed groups fill this void deliberately. Many are recruited with just the promise of a pair of sneakers or $100 and the certainty of a reliable meal. As one of our partners said in Port-au-Prince, displacement sites are an open floodgate for recruitment because an empty belly has no ears. I think of a 16-year-old Here, old boy, who I will call Pierre, who was recruited 3 years ago and after living on the streets. Pierre was forced to carry out robberies to prove himself before being promoted to a fighter. He recounted watching a friend even younger than him die during an operation. With our partner, we are supporting him with group therapy sessions. and attempting to locate his parents. I think of the mother who told us that her son joined an armed group because she could not feed him. I think of her shame, of her terror for his safety, her hope that he might return, and her dread that if he did, his own community would kill him in retaliation. Unfortunately, these stories are not unique. We cannot let them become the story of a generation. It has been more than 16 years since Haiti's 2010 earthquake. Many of the armed group leaders today and those in their ranks were children themselves in 2010. Their education disrupted, their communities destroyed, their futures never rebuilt. Now we are watching it happen again. and include dedicated child protection advisors. These safeguards must be swiftly and transparently implemented. Second, we need to cut off the stream of recruitment where we can. Fund local, integrated, child-focused programs that address the interconnected crises driving children toward armed groups. Children who have been recruited into armed groups need robust child protection support to get out, regain their future, and break the cycle of violence. Finally, education must be central. For children in crisis, a safe school provides normality, a reliable meal, and a consistent entry point through which we can deliver the full range of humanitarian support. It shields children from violence Exploitation, sexual abuse, and remains our most powerful counter-recruitment tool. If Haiti is to have a road to recovery, it must begin in the classroom. Thank you.

I thank Mr. Étienne for that briefing. Excellencies, We have a long list of speakers today and we're particularly pleased to see that. We want to make sure that everybody is able to take the floor. Therefore, we would encourage delegations to please respect the speaking time limit which is of 3 minutes. I'm now pleased to be able to give the floor to members of the Security Council. If you'll allow, I would like to begin with an opening statement in my capacity as National Representative. Excellencies, distinguished guests, allow me to begin with a simple but perhaps powerful image. In many places around the world today, a child walks to school carrying a notebook under their arm. But in other places, they walk carrying a weapon. The difference here isn't down to their talent, their will, or their worth. It depends to a large extent on whether or not they have had access to a safe school. Because when childhood is trapped between fear, hunger, and an absent state, education stops being a tangible right. And survival becomes a priority. And it is there, in that vacuum, that recruitment finds fertile ground. That's why Panama, together with Austria, Greece, Japan, Liberia, and Uruguay, have convened this ARIA Formula meeting. specifically on Red Hand Day, as a reminder that child recruitment doesn't start with a bullet. Rather, it starts when we fail to protect safe environments, real opportunities, and effective protection systems. The data sound this out. According to the United Nations, in 2024, there were more than 41,000 verified violations, serious violations against children in armed conflict, including 7,402 verified cases of recruitment and a 44% rise of attacks on schools. This isn't a distant reality. Indeed, in Latin America and the Caribbean, UNICEF has warned that there is persistent recruitment of children by armed groups and criminal networks fueled by illicit economies, including all forms of weapons trafficking, a lack of state presence, territorial control by gangs, and prolonged disruptions to schooling that all enhance children's vulnerability to coercion, displacement, and widespread violence. So the inevitable question is, what else can we do, each of us within our own realms of responsibility? Firstly, we can protect education as essential civil infrastructure— civilian infrastructure. And we can unambiguously condemn attacks on schools and the military use of schools. Initiatives such as the Safe Schools Declaration that has already been supported by 123 states provides a practical roadmap to curb risks and to protect both students and teachers. At the same time, investing in preventive measures in areas with a higher likelihood of recruitment is important. These include communities with extreme poverty, displacement, school closures, and chronic violence. This also includes providing psychosocial support, reintegration, and real opportunities for adolescents. Finally, it means demanding accountability. Impunity fuels and protects perpetrators. Victim-centred justice sends out another important message: that victims are not alone. The international community is not looking the other way. Panama is talking from its own history and its own experience. We chose to be a country without an army, with restrictions on the right to bear arms, and we firmly believe that no child should bear arms either. We want to use this voice to build bridges, to galvanize wills, and to support an inalienable objective, which is that every child should be able to choose to carry a notebook rather than a gun. Thank you. It's my pleasure now to be able to give the floor to members of the Security Council. The delegation of Greece, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. Greece supports Panama's initiative to convene this meeting on safe education as a strategic tool to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict and to support their reintegration. I would also like to thank the briefers for their valuable insights and reaffirm Greece's full support for the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children in armed conflict, as well as for the indispensable work of UNICEF and UNESCO. 24 years after its designation, the International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers remains relevant, reminding us of a painful truth. As we speak, thousands of children are recruited and used in armed conflicts. Reintegration is not only essential for the children themselves. It is also a core component of conflict prevention, peacebuilding, inclusive societies, social cohesion and development. In this context, safe education is not only a right; it is a strategic investment in peace and security. Yet, in situations of armed conflict, children are deprived of this right. When educational facilities are attacked, used for military purposes or destroyed, children lose not only access to learning but also a protective framework that offers stability and psychosocial support. Out-of-school children are exposed to many risks, including recruitment, abduction, sexual and gender-based violence. Prolonged exposure to violence and disruption of education at critical stages of development has long-term impact on mental health, cognitive development, and the overall well-being of children, especially for children associated with armed forces and armed groups. Safe education in conflict and post-conflict settings must go beyond access to schooling. Quality, inclusive education can play a transformative role in healing trauma, strengthening social bonds, restoring a sense of normalcy, and breaking further cycles of violence, stigma, and marginalization. In this regard, practical action is required. This includes endorsing and implementing the Safe Schools Declaration, integrating education into humanitarian and peacebuilding responses, developing of comprehensive strategies to prevent and and respond to attacks on education, strengthening of the monitoring and reporting on attacks on education, ensuring long-term gender and age-sensitive and disability-inclusive support and protection to victims and survivors of attacks on education, facilitating the reintegration of children who have been forced out of school, addressing the disproportionate impact of education disruption on girls, securing adequate funding to create welcoming, safe, and inclusive learning spaces. We wish to highlight also the role of the Country Task Forces on Monitoring and Reporting, which lead the formal monitoring and reporting mechanism in the collection of timely, accurate, objective, and reliable information on attacks against educational facilities. can foster protection even in a complex global landscape because education is prevention, education is protection, education is ultimately peace. I thank you.

I thank the delegation of Greece for that statement, and I now give the floor to the delegation of Liberia.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Excellencies, distinguished briefers, Liberia thanks the Permanent Mission of Panama and co-sponsors for convening this important Area Formula meeting in observance of Rare Hand Day, keeping the plight of children affected by armed conflict at the forefront of our shared priorities. For Liberia, the implications are neither hypothetical nor remote. They are part of our national memory. We have witnessed within our own borders the devastating consequences of the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. We have seen classrooms and schools destroyed and reduced to rubble. It is prevention. It is resilience. It is peacebuilding in its most practical form. Our conscience should be troubled by the alarming data before us of over 41,000 verified grave violations against children and a sharp rise in attacks on schools. When schools are attacked, occupied, or rendered inaccessible, children are pushed from structured environments into uncertainty and vulnerability. That vacuum is often filled by armed actors. The normative framework is clear: the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Geneva Conventions, and Security Council Resolution 1998 affirmed that schools are civilian objects and must be protected. In Liberia's own post-conflict recovery, we learned that the reintegration programs must be gender-sensitive, trauma-informed, and community-led. Girls who are survivors or victims of armed conflict face stigma. They require confidential, survivor-centered support and pathways back to education that respect dignity and prevent re-victimization. We must pursue accountability for all those who victimize— who commit violations against children during armed conflict. Liberia remains committed to advancing the children in armed conflict agenda and supports coherence between protection mandates and educational recovery efforts. We ask all parties to armed conflict to fully comply with the applicable international law, to respect and protect the civilian character of schools, and to take concrete and timely steps to ensure the continued provision of education for children in line with Security Council Resolution 2601. Ultimately, preventing the recruitment and use of children is not only a matter of compliance, it is a matter of political will. If we are serious about breaking the cycles of conflict, we must treat education not as an afterthought, to peace, but as its foundation. Let us ensure that every child in every town, village, and city, and even in the most fragile settings, can hold a book instead of a weapon, can be enlisted for an educational activity, not worried about being taken in captivity, can sit at a desk instead of standing at a checkpoint can imagine a future defined not by fear but by possibilities. Liberia stands ready to work with all partners to make safe education a reality for every child in conflict-affected settings, and I thank you.

I thank the delegation of Liberia for that statement, and I now give the floor to the delegation of Denmark.

Thank you, Chair.

Let me also thank the briefers and commend Panama and co-sponsors Greece, Liberia, Austria, Japan, and Uruguay for organizing today's meeting. Chair, every person who has benefited from an education knows its transformative power. This is true in Denmark, in Panama, here in New York, and across the world. But as we have heard today, it is especially true in conflict and post-conflict situations. The evidence is clear. The lived experience of children is clear. Education saves lives. It gives hope. It transforms nations. And it must be protected from attack. The international legal framework is clear on this. Yet attacks against schools are increasing whilst education and protection services are underfinanced. Against this backdrop, the international community, including the Security Council, must shoulder its responsibility. We should support the mandates and ensure the funding necessary to enable critical programming. We must collectively ensure that parties to conflict uphold international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Parties to conflict must commit to specific, structured steps to end and prevent grave violations against children and uphold accountability. Chair, we know that improvements in programming and increased evidence and data can help to reach these goals. But as long as international law is actively undermined and the plight of children ignored, attacks against schools will persist and children will continue to suffer unspeakable horrors. For our part, Denmark will continue to stand up for international law. We will work to uphold existing normative and legal standards designed to protect children and ensure their right to education. We will work to equip the UN and partners with the necessary instruments to provide universal child protection and education. In closing, Chair, as we mark the Red Hand Day, let us not only reflect but recommit. We commit to the children in Haiti, who should be able to enjoy a safe learning environment without fear of being recruited by gangs; to the children in Sudan, who are attacked, starved, and displaced; and to the children in Ukraine, who must be free from indoctrination and militarization by Russia in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion— an invasion that marks 4 long years to this date. Denmark stands ready to work with all partners to this end. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Denmark for that statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of the United Kingdom.

Chair, the United Kingdom thanks Panama and the co-sponsors for convening this important meeting, and we thank our distinguished briefers for their remarks. Education is not only a fundamental right, it is one of the most effective tools we have to safeguard children in conflict and prevent grave violations. Yet in the past year, attacks on schools rose sharply, putting millions of children at risk and robbing them of the futures they deserve. We must do more to ensure that education remains safe, accessible, and uninterrupted. I will make 3 points. First, we call on all parties to conflict to adhere to international humanitarian law and end deliberate or indiscriminate attacks on schools. We urge full implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration and of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas. Second, we must recognize that access to learning is indeed a shield. Without it, children are far more susceptible to recruitment, exploitation, sexual violence. The impacts on girls are particularly stark. We know that girls who cannot access education are at higher risk of sexual and gender-based violence, more likely to marry young, and less likely to be able to lead healthy, productive adult lives. Yet the scale of educational disruption due to conflict is staggering. In Sudan, around 90 million children are out of school. In Gaza, as we have heard, over 90% of education facilities have been damaged or destroyed. And in Ukraine today, on the 4th anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, too many children are unable to learn because their classrooms are dark and freezing. Working together to ensure educational access is critical to protecting children and building stability in these and other conflict settings. Third, the United Kingdom is proud to support global efforts to protect education in crisis settings, including through our work with Education Cannot Wait, which reached 8.8 million children with education and psychosocial support between 2023 and 2024, and through the Global Partnership for Education, supporting learning in Sudan, Palestine, Ukraine, and beyond. And in closing, Chair, we urge other member states to join us in supporting these vital efforts. I thank you.

I thank the representative of the United Kingdom for that statement, and I'm pleased now to give the floor to the representative of Colombia.

Thank you, Chair. Allow me to begin by expressing my thanks to Panama and the co-sponsors and the briefers. For Colombia, a country that has suffered the ravages of war in manifold forms and with firsthand experience of this issue, it is a duty to resolutely support all initiatives to address the scourge of child recruitment, all the more so as we are currently a Security Council member. Recruitment represents a grave violation of the rights of the child. It perpetuates cycles of violence, it weakens the social fabric, and it compromises prospects for a lasting peace. In this context, we recognize the central role of education, not only as a fundamental right but also as a tool for protection and prevention. Access to safe, inclusive, and quality education makes children less vulnerable to recruitment, and it provides real alternatives for development, dignity, and for their future. Schools should be safe spaces, never stages for violence or military objectives. Education can have a lasting impact on prevention and recruitment where we are able to address the structural conditions that make children and adolescents more vulnerable. Therefore, while guaranteeing In addition to safe education, we must also ensure the effective realization of collective rights to address multidimensional poverty, social exclusion, and the lack of opportunities so that children can grow up in caring and peaceful family and community environments. We reaffirm Colombia's commitment to the Safe Schools Declaration as a guiding framework for tangible steps to be taken to protect students, teachers, educational staff, and school infrastructure in risk-based contexts and in armed conflict with verifiable results on the ground. Such action is essential to protect schools as civilian and protective spaces and to prevent children and adolescents being exposed to violence, recruitment, or even re-recruitment. Speaking from our national experience, under the leadership of President Gustavo Petro, we have put children at the heart of our public policies with comprehensive programs for the protection and reintegration of children affected by armed conflict. These programmes recognise that education is an essential pillar for children's recovery, their social inclusion, and to prevent their re-recruitment. Furthermore, we are ready to share our experience in strengthening interagency work. Indeed, this has allowed us to implement tools to detect and monitor the likelihood of recruitment in high-risk areas and to address the needs of children in vulnerable situations with a holistic vision. At the same time, we should recognize how recruitment happens has changed. Armed groups are increasingly using digital technologies and social media to identify and co-opt minors. In light of this, this, we should work on prevention and early warning strategies. We should promote the safe use of technologies and increase cooperation with digital sector companies to prevent the misuse of their platforms. In addition, it's necessary to improve institutional coverage across the country to support community protection mechanisms and build investigation and action capacity against recruitment networks. We must respond in a timely, coordinated manner that focused on the protection of children, ensuring that monitoring and reporting, prevention and reintegration programs are adequately and sustainably resourced. Chairman, we reaffirm Colombia's steadfast commitment to the children in armed conflict agenda and to the full implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 1612 from 2005. In this context, we underscore the importance of strengthening and ensuring the full operation of the monitoring and reporting mechanism. This indeed is an essential tool to guide international action and to strengthen prevention while also guaranteeing accountability. Indeed, it effectively involves agencies and stakeholders that are involved in national working groups on follow-up and reporting. We call on the international community to step up its efforts to protect children, to safeguard their right to education, and to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her childhood as a result of war. Thank you.

I'd like to thank Colombia for that statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of the Russian Federation.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Please allow me to thank Panama and other organizers for the opportunity to exchange views on the issue of the involvement of children in armed conflicts, which is a topic that retains its urgency even almost a quarter of a century after the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We are We are grateful to the Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict, Ms. Fraser, to the Executive Director of UNICEF, Ms. Russell, and to the other briefers. We thank them for their contribution to the discussion. According to the latest report of the Secretary-General on Children in Armed Conflict, the recruitment and use of minors is amongst the 3 most frequent grave violations. It is telling that the highest figures here are recorded in countries with low and lower middle income levels. Under such conditions, many children join armed groups voluntarily, pursuing the goal of escaping poverty. Thus, it is obvious that one can only effectively combat this ugly phenomenon is by eliminating its root causes, by promoting the realization of the right to development, including combating poverty, by expanding opportunities for decent employment and access to quality education. At the same time, the very situation of armed conflict inevitably creates a vicious cycle undermining development and availability of schooling, which is so necessary for social progress. Mr. Chair, a serious obstacle to cooperation in assisting children in armed conflict is the instrumentalization of this agenda for political purposes. Many of you from Western mass media or even the UN documents hear accusations against Russia. However, these accusations usually are not supported by any kind of evidence, or they present tragic accidents as a deliberate policy. Yet you will not learn from these sources anything about how Russian schoolchildren live under the influence of hostilities. Let me cite only a few examples. As recently as last week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck 5 schools. The children in Belgorod regularly are being moved over to remote education because of the air shelling, for example, the one that took place 2 days ago. Yesterday, the kamikaze drones struck against a settlement in the Bryansk region. On the 21st of February, as recently as then, the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck a school in Vasylivka in the Zaporizhzhia region. On the 20th of February, a drone in Energodar in the Zaporizhzhia region deliberately attacked a school where 600 students and 100 staff members were present. On the 14th of February, as a result of a drone attack, a school was damaged in the settlement of Centralny in the Perevalsky district of the Lugansk People's Republic. On the 13th of February, a school in the village of Velikhe Znamenka in the Zaporizhzhia region. And such incidents occur weekly, endangering the lives of children and destroying educational institutions. But disregarding by the Ukrainian Armed Forces of the international humanitarian law when it comes to the protection of civilian objects is not news at all. Back in August 2022, the NGO Amnesty International was forced to acknowledge the practice of Ukrainian forces being quartered in schools and hospitals, as well as launching attacks from their grounds, thus turning them into military targets. This inconvenient truth continues to be silenced by those for whom the children's topic remains a tool for political manipulation. Mr. Chair, speaking about the impact of armed conflict on the situation of children, one cannot fail to recall the situation in the Gaza Strip, where, as we have heard today, more than 64,000 children were dead and wounded. The education system is essentially destroyed. According to UNRWA, 518 out of 564 school buildings need to be completely rebuilt, More than 800 teachers and staff have been killed. More than 4,200 are wounded. In northeastern Syria, the infamous Al-Hol and Rojava camps are being closed, and the fate of the thousands of children who were there and who for years were cut off from the outside world without humanitarian access, without the ability to receive education, and under the influence of terrorist narratives— their fate remains uncertain. Russia has been implementing a humanitarian mission for the repatriation of Russian children from the Middle East since 2018, on the instruction of the head of state and with the coordination of the Commissioner for Children's Rights. As a result, almost 600 children have returned home. However, this work does not end at the Russian border. When the children arrive, we provide their medical, social, and psychological rehabilitation and work with their families to ensure they have access to education. The European countries, which usually present themselves as defenders of children's rights, are in no hurry to take back their children from the area east of the Euphrates. According to the 22nd report of the Secretary-General on threats from ISIL. As of December 2025, more than 25,000 people, including approximately 15,000 Syrian nationals, 2,320 Iraqi nationals, 8,480 nationals of third countries from approximately 55— 59 different states remained in the al-Hol and Rojava camps in northeastern Syria. More than thousands others are in other detention centers. More than 60% of the camp population were Out of them, 71% were under 12 years of age and 7% under 5. Most of these children still cannot return to their countries of origin. It is telling that the authorities of many Western countries are not only failing to address the issue of returning their citizens, first and foremost children, but they are publicly refusing to take them back. In this regard, we have a clear illustration of how such states truly care about children's fate is the example of Australia. The Prime Minister of that country, in response to attempts by women and children to return to Australia from Syria, recently stated that the federal government would not repatriate Australian families connected to ISIS militants and would not provide them with any assistance. We consider depoliticized cooperation within the Agenda on Children and Armed Conflict to be extremely important, and our joint efforts must help every child wherever the child may be, including in ensuring the right to have access to education. Thank you for your attention.

I thank the Russian Federation for that statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of Latvia.

Mr.

Chair, I thank Panama, Austria, Greece, Japan, Liberia, and Uruguay for co-organizing a meeting on this important topic, and I wish to thank briefers for their valuable insights. Recruitment and use of children remain among the most widespread grave violations we face when it comes to crimes against children, and the erosion of education is deepening this risk. When schools close, children lose the structure and protection that often help keep them out of armed groups and away from exploitation. In that regard, I wish to highlight the following 3 points. First, the scale of educational disruption in conflict-affected areas shows how much this risk is growing. In 2024, 1 in 3 children living in conflict-affected or fragile contexts was out of school. In Haiti, around 1.5 million children were already out of school or at immediate risk of dropping out. In Ukraine, attacks on education facilities, including kindergartens, more than doubled in 2024. Last year alone, more than 340 schools in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed as a result of Russia's full-scale invasion. In Haiti, 1.5 million children were already out of school or at immediate risk of dropping out. In Sudan, the conflict has forced to close 90% of schools nationwide, and this data captures only a fraction of the reality. Second, children experience armed conflict in different ways, and our response must be careful— carefully tailored to those realities. Our support to children affected by armed conflict particularly children formerly recruited, should be trauma-informed and gender-sensitive. Girls are disproportionately affected by sexual and gender-based violence, including slavery and forced marriage. Therefore, their needs and perspectives are crucial. In this regard, Latvia welcomes the efforts of the Office of the SRSG on COG and UNESCO, particularly the guidelines for teachers working with children formerly associated with armed forces and groups, which provide a valuable practical resource. Third, while education is one of our most powerful tools to preventing the recruitment of children, its value is not limited to children and youth. Educating ourselves, our societies, and the international community is essential in understanding the experiences of children in conflict. Through joint advocacy, such as the Prove It Matters campaign, we can consistently defend the key international instruments for children's protection, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol, which underline that children should not be involved in hostilities. Dear colleagues, children should be holding books, not weapons. Our duty is to ensure they have the safety and education they need. To build the futures they choose themselves. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Latvia for their statement. I now give the floor to the representative of France.

Mr. Chair, I thank Panama and the co-organizer for having gathered us around a theme which is at the heart of our priorities. I thank the briefers for their statements and reaffirm the full support of France to the mandate of the Special Representative and to the role of UNICEF and UNESCO in protecting children and promoting education. France reaffirms its constant commitment to the protection of children in armed conflict and to the respect for their fundamental right to education. Education is a central operational lever for the prevention of recruitment and for the sustainable reintegration of children affected by conflict. conflicts, as was recalled by the Special Representative. The 24th of February is the 4th-year mark of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, where the armed forces by Russia target schools and kill and kidnap children. The respect of international law and Security Council resolutions is not a luxury. It's a duty for all member states, as We are recalled by the Charter. Mr. Chairman, given the alarming and persistent increase in grave violations committed against children throughout the world, the duty of the Security Council is to act. We therefore call on the Security Council to strengthen child protection capacities in peacekeeping operations and in special political missions with adequate political and operational support provided for that. To support the monitoring and reporting mechanism established by Resolution 1612, the collection of information on grave violations committed against children in armed conflict zones is crucial for combating impunity. Support the rapid adoption of conclusions by the dedicated working group of this Council, which is essential for implementing child protection actions in the field to make full use of the available tools, including targeted measures, when grave violations against children are committed with total impunity. To ensure strengthened coherence between the processes under the Children in Armed Conflict agenda and the DDR programs— disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs— by systematically integrating education into reintegrating pathways, as was recalled by a colleague from Liberia. Strengthen the implementation of national action plans concluded in conflict-affected countries, ensuring that they contain specific educational measures with indicators. France also calls on member states to become party to the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, to subscribe to complementary commitments, in particular the Paris Principles and Commitments, which was launched by France and UNICEF in 2007, whose 20th anniversary we will celebrate in 2027, and to the Declaration on Safe Schools, and to implement their provisions, and to provide increased support to operational actors in the field, particularly UNICEF, which places education in crisis and emergency situations at the core of its humanitarian action, and to support the resilience of educational systems through backing educational continuity in crisis situations. To conclude, Mr. Chair, to protect education in a situation of conflict is to prevent grave violations against children, but also to contribute to lasting peace. I thank you.

I'd like to thank the representative of France for that statement. I now give the floor to the representative of China. Thank you.

Chair, China welcomes Panama's initiative to convene this rare formula meeting in connection with Red Hand Day and thanks the briefers for their briefings. Children are the hope and future of a nation and are also the most innocent, vulnerable, and direct victims of armed conflict. In view of the current turbulent international landscape and the frequent outbreaks of conflict, which have severely undermined children's rights to life, health, and education, The international community should attach great importance to this issue, take active measures, and jointly create a favorable environment for the healthy growth of children and their access to education. I will make 3 points. First, it's essential to strengthen the protection of educational facilities. In recent years, attacks on schools in conflict zones have surged, depriving countless children of education and even their lives. Schools should be places for cultivating wisdom and shaping the pillars of society. Not battlegrounds of conflict. Refraining from attacking schools or using them for military purposes is the bottom line of international humanitarian law and a basic dictate of human conscience. Parties to conflict bear the responsibility to protect educational facilities and educators, to protect children from the harm of conflict, and to provide them with a safe educational environment. Deliberate attacks on schools and other educational facilities must be condemned and held accountable. The international community should strengthen monitoring and reporting of such attacks and keep stepping up accountability and deterrence. Second, it's essential to effectively prevent the recruitment and use of children. Across a growing number of conflict-affected regions, children are being recruited by armed groups. Deprived of education, subjected to violence and manipulation, and exploited as instruments and victims of conflict, resulting in irreparable harm. The international community should take ensuring the safety of children as a shared responsibility, urge parties to conflict to cease hostilities, respect the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, prevent the recruitment and use of children by armed groups and demand the early release of recruited children. All parties should uphold the principle of the best interests of the child, strengthen psychological support and social assistance for affected children, help them return to school and reintegrate into society and resume normal lives as soon as possible. Third, it's essential to improve the education environment from a development perspective. Conflict and underdevelopment are often intertwined Weak education systems, poor infrastructure, teacher shortages, and limited resources also increase the risk of children being drawn into armed conflict. The international community should, while respecting the sovereignty and leadership of the countries concerned, strengthen support for education in conflict-affected countries by helping rebuild educational facilities, providing more educational resources, making education more inclusive and accessible, accessible and ensuring access to formal education for all children. Every child who receives education brings greater hope for peace and prosperity and less risk of poverty and instability. Chair, for years, through South-South cooperation and development assistance, China has supported the developing countries in improving education conditions and strengthening capacity building. We have helped build schools, provided educational resources, dispatched teachers and experts, and carried out education cooperation projects with many countries, restoring hope to countless children in difficult circumstances. China stands ready to continue working with all parties to enhance child protection and education and make greater contributions to the well-being of children around the world. Thank you.

I thank the representative of China for that statement. And I now give the floor to the representative of Pakistan.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We thank the delegation of Panama and co-sponsors for convening this timely ARIA formula meeting on an issue that has required renewed urgency amid the proliferation of armed conflicts worldwide. We also thank SRS Steve and Isa Frazier and other briefers for their valuable insights. As the most vulnerable victims of armed conflict, children bear its deepest and most enduring scars. The recent surge in violence has exposed them to multiple grave violations, robbing them not only of safety but also of childhood itself. Pakistan echoes the concerns expressed in the Secretary-General's last report, which details more than 41,000 grave violations against children in 2024. Recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts is one of 6 grave violations affecting children. The ST's report references more than 7,000 such violations, which attest to the gravity of this crime. Children living under foreign occupations are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuse and violence. In occupied Palestinian territory, both in Gaza and the West Bank, countless children have been killed or scarred for life. Meanwhile, the plight of children in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, previously documented in ST's report, has been egregiously omitted despite worsening of their plight after India's illegal and unilateral May 5th, 2019. This selective omission risks obscuring the full scale of violations affecting children in situations of foreign occupation. In Indian unprovoked and unlawful aggression of 6th to 7th May 2025 last year, civilian areas were deliberately targeted, resulting in the martyrdom of 15 children among other civilian casualties. International legal framework, including international humanitarian law, human rights law, and customary international law, protects children in armed conflict, including their right to education and protection of schools. These protections are elaborated in Convention on the Rights of the Child and in UN resolutions, including UNSC Resolution 1998 on attacks against schools and UNGA Resolution 64/90 on right to education in emergency situations. As a state party, to Convention on the Rights of Child and Disruption Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, Pakistan is committed to implementing their provisions. We have undertaken extensive measures to protect children, including establishment of a National Commission for Rights of Children, the appointment of National Focal Person, and the endorsement of the Vancouver Principles. We've also signed a roadmap with the SRSD and are working diligently to implement it, further strengthening child protection in line with our national priorities and international commitments. Pakistan will continue to work constructively with members of the Council and the SRSG office to advance children's and child protection, which can be reinforced by intensifying our efforts to address root causes by preventing and resolving conflicts through peaceful means in accordance with international law and the UN Charter. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Pakistan for that statement. And I now give the floor to the representative of Somalia.

Thank you, Chair.

At the outset, we thank Panama and co-sponsors for convening this ARIA Formula meeting in connection with Red Hand Day. We also thank the briefers for their valuable insights and for bringing the voices and experiences of affected children and communities to this discussion.

Despite the promises made in the Optional Protocol and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, attacks on education persist in far too many places.

The Secretary-General's latest report documents a staggering increase in grave violations against children, including a sharp rise in attacks on schools and protected personnel. To address these challenges, I would like to make the following points. First, we must reaffirm the right to safe education in armed conflict. The protection of educational spaces is a fundamental obligation under international law. When schools are attacked, it is not just buildings that are destroyed, but the futures of entire communities.

In parts of the world, children now face prolonged interruption of learning, compounding trauma, displacement, and insecurity. This is simply unacceptable and demands urgent corrective action. Second, we must acknowledge the preventative and protective power of education. We have learned that determined action Such as endorsing the Safe Schools Declaration and strengthening national monitoring can help uphold children's right to learn and foster accountability for attacks on schools. In 2015, Somalia endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, and we have taken concrete steps to protect schools, strengthen coordination between security and education authorities, and expand community-based protection mechanisms. In addition to the Safe Schools Declaration, Somalia signed the 2012 Action Plan to End and Prevent the Recruitment and Use of Children and to End Killing and Maiming in Armed Conflict.

In 2019 and again in 2025, we adopted roadmaps to accelerate and strengthen this implementation.

We also established an Interministerial Committee on Children and Armed Conflict to guarantee coordinated whole-of-government action.

But prevention and reintegration efforts cannot succeed without accountability. Third, we reiterate that accountability is critical and is not optional.

The situation in Gaza underscores this imperative.

Attacks on schools and educational facilities have had devastating consequences for children in their communities. In Gaza, over 90 to 97% of school buildings have been damaged or destroyed, prompting grave concerns about the systemic destruction of the education system. The suspension and targeting of UNRWA, which provides essential educational services, has further compounded this crisis.

Approximately 625,000 school-aged children are without safe learning spaces or support.

We must also confront the troubling double standards that, that too often shape international responses to violations in Gaza, including actions by Israeli authorities that undermine humanitarian and educational access.

Independent investigations into these incidents must be prioritized, and those responsible for violations against children's right to education must be held to account, regardless of context or actor. Only through genuine accountability, consistently and fairly applied, can we deter future attacks and restore justice and hope for children caught in conflict.

To conclude, we must remember that the most effective way to protect children is to prevent conflict, from erupting in the first place, and to address their root causes, including poverty, inequality, and injustice. Our efforts to safeguard education and children's rights will always be reactive unless we also tackle the conditions that allow violence to take hold. I thank you.

I thank the delegation of Somalia for that statement. I now give the floor to the representative The Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo would like to thank the Republic of Panama and all, all the countries who organized a special meeting on Red Hand Day 2026. This is of great importance to my delegation because it recalls for us the key need to protect children against recruitment, their use in armed conflict, and to ensure that they have the inalienable right to education which is safe and continued. Recent data, as we have in the most recent report of the Secretary-General is alarming. More than several millions of serious violations were recorded, 44% increase in attacks on schools, and a significant increase in the difficulty in humanitarian access. This deprives children of their right to education.

Thank you.

Increase their vulnerability to recruitment, and undermine peace and stability. Given these facts, the Democratic Republic of the Congo reaffirms that education is a strategic prevention tool. A protected school is a safe space, is a space for resilience and hope. It also is an essential pillar when it comes to sustainably reintegrating children after they leave an armed group, thanks to a gender-sensitive approach and psychosocial support and community involvement. The Democratic Republic of the Congo continues implementing its commitments of the action plan aimed at ending the recruitment and use of children. We reiterate our determination to protect schools as a civil good and to strengthen cooperation with the United Nations and the monitoring and reporting mechanism and the Security Council Working Group. We encourage the Council to strengthen protection of education in peacekeeping operation mandates, to support the MRM, to ensure that decisions are made on the basis of reliable data, to promote educational approaches which are inclusive, gender-sensitive, and adapted to the local context to ensure that Resolution 64290 on the right to education in emergency situations is implemented. To conclude, the Democratic Republic of the Congo would like to reaffirm on this Red Hand Day that protecting education is protecting our own children and our own future. And it also means that we're preventing children from being dragged into the spiral of violence and that we thus invest in sustainable future and peace. I thank you.

I thank the Democratic Republic of the Congo for that statement. I now give the floor to the delegation of the United States.

Thank you, Chair, and to the co-sponsors for convening us today. The protection of children and their access to safe education remain priorities for the United States. We recognize that safe, continuous education is essential in preventing recruitment, and we are committed to addressing this urgent issue through concrete action.

Under President Trump's leadership, the United States is leading global initiatives to resolve protracted conflicts, working to eliminate the devastating impact of war on children. The United States supports and encourages results-driven efforts more than just mission statements, and we remain focused on making a difference on the ground.

Indeed, when we prioritize the protection of children, we safeguard our collective future.

Thank you.

I thank the delegation of the United States for that statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of Bahrain.

Mr. Chair, I would like to at the outset extend my thanks to the Republic of Panama and to the co-sponsoring countries, Greece, Liberia, Austria, Japan, and Uruguay. Thank them for organizing this meeting in ARIA formula format and for Thank you, Mr. President, for providing us with this opportunity on this anniversary of Red Hand Day. This meeting underscores the link between safe education and protection of children and the prevention of the recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts. I thank the briefers for their insights and analysis which enriched our discussion. Investing in inclusive and safe education is fundamental, not just because it's a basic humanitarian response, but it's also a basic human right. But also it's a vital investment and a strategic way of conflict prevention and for rebuilding communities and for the protection of future generations against the spiral of violence. According to international data, The situation has deteriorated alarmingly, in particular when it comes to attacks against schools, educational personnel. The recent report of the Secretary-General on children in armed conflict highlighted a 44% increase in such attacks. This undermines access to education, disrupting the continuation of schooling in conflict areas. Internationally, the estimate is that about 244 million children and young people of school age are still out of school, including about 30 million children in the Middle East and North Africa. Millions others are in the risk of abandoning schooling, which underscores the challenge encountered here. This exposes children also to the risk of being recruited and used by terrorist groups. The League of Arab States summit called the Bahrain Summit in May 2024 took place, and we included 5 initiatives there, including the appeal to provide educational services to children affected by conflict. This is a quality initiative which calls on international— recalls for the international community that the impact of conflict, of armed conflict, needs to be rectified, as well as the violations of fundamental rights of children and adults, including the right to education. We note the importance of the international legal framework existing here. It is provided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. These are 2 essential reference points to enhance the protection of children and prevent their recruitment and protecting their rights in conflict areas. These 2 instruments have a very high accession rate, and this shows an international consensus regarding the need to protecting children's rights. Now, given these indicators, the protection of education needs to remain a priority within international efforts to protect children, to strengthen international peace and security. This can be done by protecting schools and educational institutions, which are civilian goods under international law, international humanitarian law. We also need to strengthen the safe curriculum, which is a way of prevention limits the danger of recruitment and re-recruitment. Mr. Chair, strengthening the links between education protection and peacebuilding requires an integrated approach based on reliable data and established mechanisms. We need to take into account the needs of children who are affected by various kinds of violations and violence. We need to support the implementation of Security Council resolutions on this and abide and use the monitoring and reporting mechanisms of the international measures to ensure there's an international response and a sustainable one. In conclusion, my country reaffirms its continued commitment to international efforts to protect children in armed conflict and to ensure the right to education. We also commit to work together with international partners to ensure that schools remain safe environments for learning, for finding hope, and for building the future. I thank you for your attention.

We thank the delegation of Bahrain for that statement. We would now like to give the floor firstly to the co-sponsors of this event who have not yet taken the floor, and we'll begin with the delegation of Austria. You have the floor.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you, dear Eloy. As a longstanding and committed supporter of the CAC agenda, Austria is proud to co-sponsor today's ARIA Formula meeting alongside Greece, Liberia, Japan, Uruguay, and we thank Panama for organizing this meeting. We thank all the briefers for their sobering insights Of course, shoutouts to Esra Çiveneş and Esra Frazier. And we really have to move the agenda forward. Colleagues, education is not a luxury, it's a fundamental human right and a prerequisite for international peace and security. And when schools are targeted, they cease to be protected spaces. Attacks on schools directly amplify the vulnerability of children, pushing them into higher-risk environments where they're more exposed to recruitment and use by armed groups. Last November, Austria hosted a technical workshop for experts, UN entities, and civil societies focused on strengthening the MRM, the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism. Many of you here present here today participated, and the practical recommendations of this workshop contributed to informing our position on 3 levels. First, we need to make better use of what we already have. Sounds obvious, but it's not so easy. We must improve the systemic integration of the MRN within the UN system to ensure that protection of education is a core priority across all pillars. Second, and probably more importantly so, depoliticization. We believe that the true power of the CARC mandate lies not in the naming and shaming, but in the negotiation. It can be used to create a political space where parties understand that accountability is inevitable, but early engagement offers a credible exit ramp towards delisting or the prevention of listing. Third, prevention. MRM data must be used more strategically and in an action-oriented manner to identify trends and urgent protection priorities, such as schools at particular risk. This enables us to drive preventive action before recruitment occurs rather than documenting violations afterwards. Colleagues, implementing the CAC agenda requires partnerships with trained professionals. Consequently, we Austrians have provided significant financial resources for the 2026 Advanced Training on Children in Armed Conflict developed by the OSRSG, CAAC, and the UN Systems Staff College. This initiative ensures that child protection officers and humanitarian actors have technical— the technical capacity and knowledge to intervene effectively. Looking ahead, diplomacy through dialogue partnership and trust will remain our tool of choice. And as you all know, this is why Austria will stand in June for election to the Security Council. And if elected, protecting and strengthening the CAC mandate will remain among our core priorities in this time. We're committed to ensure that every child has access to a safe education. It's not only their fundamental right, but it's a prerequisite for building sustainable peace.

I thank you. I thank the representative of Austria for that statement, and I'll give the floor to the representative of Japan.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, Ambassador Eloy Álvaro de Alba of Panama. I would like to thank for convening today's important discussion, which Japan is pleased to co-sponsor. I'd also like to thank the distinguished briefers for their insightful and sobering analysis. Grave violations against children in conflict settings have reached historic levels, with over 41,000 verified incidents in 2024, including a dramatic 44% increase 4% rise in attacks on schools. These figures are deeply troubling and underscore the growing threats faced by children, families, and educators in conflict-affected areas. Access to quality, safe education is a fundamental human right and a powerful tool to prevent and mitigate conflict. Children out of school are often more vulnerable to recruitment and other forms of grave violations. Education also plays a critical role in reintegration and rehabilitation of those formerly associated with armed groups, helping reduce the likelihood of recruitment and offering pathways toward peaceful livelihoods. Recognizing these To address these imperatives, Japan has launched a $5 million project in collaboration with UNICEF to restore learning opportunities for more than 83,600 conflict-affected children across 5 states in Sudan. This comes at a time of an unprecedented education crisis, with learning disrupted for millions of children, disproportionately impacting girls and children. With disabilities. By restoring schools, we are not just rebuilding classrooms; we are restoring hope, dignity, and future opportunities for children. Japan also recognizes that education must be part of a broader nexus-based approach embodied in the concept of human security, which places the individual at the center and seeks to protect human dignity. Building on this understanding, Japan has served as a co-chair of the Group of Friends for Education since its establishment, contributing to the commitment to advancing inclusive, equitable, and quality education for every learner. We will continue to advocate for protection of education to ensure that no child future is determined by conflict. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Japan for that statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Uruguay. Ambassador, you have the floor.

Thank you very much. Uruguay welcomes the work of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and this initiative initiative taken by the delegation of Paraguay, and we are proud to be a part of the countries that has convened this ARIA formula Security Council meeting so as to reflect on education as an inclusive, secure, continued tool to prevent the recruitment of children in armed conflict and to support those who have been affected by armed conflict. These children, often called child soldiers become part of a force for various different reasons. Either they are abducted, threatened, co-opted by armed actors, and they could also be driven into it by poverty to generate income for their survival, for their protection, or for their families. While they are obliged to carry out dangerous work and participate in hostilities and chronic woundings and also a risk of death. They also might be forced to participate in torture, including sexual violence, murders, with the sequelae that come from that. The urgent need for this meeting is borne out by the figures reported by the UN. In 2025, violence against children in armed conflict reached unprecedented levels, with a 25% increase of serious violations of the rights of children year on year, together with an alarming rise in brutality, with a convergence of abduction and the use of sexual violence. Further, we see that around half of the serious violations of human rights of children, including mutilation, came from serious violations of international humanitarian law by governmental actors, including acts on residents, residential areas, schools and hospitals, civilian infrastructure that is protected by international humanitarian law. Uruguay, under international law and in line with our international legal obligations and our ethical commitment, is prepared— takes steps before deploying peacekeepers in We take steps to train them in IHL, humanitarian, human rights law, and others. We are indeed pioneering in peacekeeping operations in this area since 2021. We have also taken steps to train Uruguayan troops before their deployment, including in how to address the situation of child recruitment in armed conflict. Along the lines of the Vancouver Principles, we have taken steps to ensure de-escalation and proactive protection of children— of civilians, particularly children. Another area to flag is our interaction with local communities that our troops carry out on the ground to identify in a timely manner these risks and to be able to protect civilians in an effective way. Notwithstanding this, this recruitment is not only related to traditional armed conflict. We've seen in our own region increasing armed violence and the recruitment of children and adolescents by criminal gangs who attract children with money and false promises of a different lifestyle. They can— this has been analyzed by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights. As well as by ECLAC, looking at the lack of opportunities in the most vulnerable populations. Uruguay, through our extensive educational network, has rolled out a program for sport and to counter violence in all of its manifestations. As states, we have a fundamental role to— in the quest for peace and human safety, to promote the— to prevent recruitment and to ensure better opportunities for learning and growth for all children. Even in diversity, there is space for action. Reintegration reported— we have really reintegration reported by the UN as a proof of this. We are always addressing the best interests of the child and ensuring that this is the pillar that enables them to live a childhood free of violence, far from the influence of criminal networks and armed groups. Thank you.

I thank the delegation of Uruguay for that statement. We have heard of the interest of several delegations to participate in this meeting. We are very pleased to hear that, and we thank them all for their interest. However, this does mean that if we want to be able to hear from all of the delegations today, I'm afraid that we might have to use the bad custom of the United Nations, which is to cut off the speakers after a certain time. So I would ask you to please stick to the speaking time limit of 3 minutes or even 2 minutes. I'm sorry for this. I'm sorry to have to enforce this role— this rule in this session, but unfortunately that's what we have to to do here. So we will start by giving the floor to the delegation of Ecuador.

Thank you, Chairman. I'll try to beat the clock. During our term on the Security Council and as Vice Chair of the Working Group on Children in Armed Conflict and as a member of the Executive Board of UNICEF until 2025, Ecuador supported the best interests of the child. In this context, I would like to reiterate that schools should be safe spaces for coexistence and training. They shouldn't be the venues of murders, mutilation, sexual attack, or recruitment. They should not be spaces for serious violations against children. In my country, which is experiencing a national armed conflict, some of these atrocities are perpetrated by transnational organized crime and drugs trafficking. To address this, the national government is combining security and rights protection policies to strengthen our protection of the best interests of the child. I'd like to mention 3 examples of this. One, we have strengthened interagency mechanisms to prevent recruitment. Second, we have developed specific policies for the early identification of risks. And 3, we have promoted coordination between education, social protection, and specialized children and adolescents justice systems. In all cases, any strategy that's adopted should have the following end goals, which is breaking the cycles of violence. But today marks 4 years since the beginning of the military aggression on Ukraine. I must therefore conclude by repeating our message from the Security Council meeting 3 years ago that was convened by the current, uh, um, SRSG, Vanessa Fraser, when Ecuador together with France were the co-pen holders on the humanitarian file for Ukraine. And I'm quoting here, Mr. President, we will never do enough for the pain of the thousands of parents who continue to bury their

The speaker's been cut off. I'd like to thank the delegation of Ecuador for that statement. And before giving the floor to the next speaker, I would invite you to please send your statements to us, your written statements to us, so that we can have a full list of the statements that we were not able to hear from. So I now give the floor To the representative of Germany, to be followed by Ukraine and then Canada. I give the floor to the delegation of Germany.

Chair, we commend Panama and the co-sponsors for this important meeting and thank today's briefers for their thorough and sobering interventions. Colleagues, we all know education is a fundamental tool for prevention. When schools are safe, they are protective environments that shield children from exploitation, recruitment, and abuse. But when schools are attacked, occupied, or destroyed, the consequences extend far beyond the classroom. Deliberate attacks on schools are not incidental byproducts, but they're often strategic acts aimed at destabilizing communities and weakening prospects for peace. The Security Council took a decisive step in addressing this reality through Resolution 1998, which sent a clear signal and unequivocal message: schools and hospitals are not legitimate targets, and those who attack them must be held accountable. Germany had the honor of chairing the Council when it adopted this crucial resolution in 2011, and the implementation remains a priority for us. Because when education is attacked, this creates precisely the conditions in which recruitment thrives, so preventing recruitment begins with safeguarding access. Access to quality education. At the same time, we must extend our commitment to those who— children who have already been recruited or exploited in conflict, and their reintegration into education is essential for sustainable recovery and long-term peace. Colleagues, the interventions speak to the urgent necessity for all of us to continue and reinforce our work, and in this vein, we are happy to continue to support the work of UNICEF the Special Representative, and I would like to mention that we are starting a new initiative together with Save the Children in the Sahel region to reduce recruitment by strengthening community-based child protection, support safe reintegration, and enhance the institutional environment. Because, dear colleagues, when we protect schools, we protect childhood, and when we invest in education, we invest in peace. Thank you.

I'd like to thank the representative of Germany, and I now give the floor to the representative of Ukraine, followed by the representative of Canada and then Portugal. I give the floor to the representative of Ukraine.

Mr. Chair, let me begin by thanking Panama for convening this meeting and briefers for their important contributions. Children suffering armed conflicts across the world. The Red Hand Day is a stark reminder that these sufferings often include the instigators' attempt to use children as cannon fodder. Russian war of aggression against Ukraine is not an exception, unfortunately. The systematic abduction, forced deportation, militarization, and attempted erasure of Ukrainian children's identity is not a byproduct of this war. It is a deliberate, well-calculated, and cold-hearted policy. As of today, we are aware of more than 20,000 documented cases of deportation and forced displacement of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation. Overall, approximately 1.6 million Ukrainian children remain in territories under occupation or control of the aggressor. Only 2,000 Ukrainian children so far have been successfully returned. Independent investigators, in particular Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab has identified at least 210 facilities across Russia and occupied territories where Ukrainian children have been placed, some located up to 9,000 kilometers from their homes. There, young Ukrainians are subjected to reeducation programs that include military training, combat-style instruction, and ideological conditioning. Russia's goal is to erase their identity, Force them to forget their history and language, and prepare new soldiers to fight against their own homeland. Reports also indicate involvement of children in activities linked to military production, including drones. In occupied territories, Ukrainian curricula are replaced, language and history suppressed, and loyalty to the occupying power enforced. Putin's decree simplified granting of Russian citizenship to Ukrainian orphans. These actions violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the occupying power from changing the civil—

I thank the representative of Ukraine for that statement, and once again, apologies for the aggressive system. I'd now like to give the floor to the representative of Canada, followed by Portugal, and then Morocco. Canada, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the 50 member states of the Group of Friends of Children and Armed Conflict. We note with alarm the huge increase in attacks on schools verified by the UN in the most recent report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict. We underline that attacks on schools being used as such are prohibited under international humanitarian law. Children face unique vulnerabilities during conflict, and as UNICEF has highlighted, children whose education is disrupted, disrupted by violence are easy targets of abuse, exploitation, and recruitment by armed forces and groups. Keeping children in education is vital for their well-being and development. It can also help break the cycle of conflict and give the chance of a better, more peaceful future to children and societies affected by war. The increase in attacks on schools and the increase in other grave violations against children over the same reporting period is deeply concerning. We believe that the international community and the UN have the tools to better protect children affected by war. We urge all parties to armed conflict to fully comply with their obligations under international humanitarian, human rights, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol, and refugee law, and with international norms and standards for the protection of children.

We call to—

for full accountability for all grave violations through national and international justice mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court. We reiterate the importance of the Children in Armed Conflict agenda, the mandate of the SRSG for children and armed conflict, and the UN's monitoring and reporting mechanism, which is essential to inform the Security Council and to improve the situation of children in armed conflict. We call on Security Council members to prioritize the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Canada for that statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Portugal, to be followed by the representative of Morocco and India. Portugal, Portugal, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

At the outset, allow me to thank the conveners of this important discussion. Thank you, everybody, for joining us today. I would like to thank our distinguished guests for their insightful presentations. As we mark Red Hand Day last February 12th, Portugal reaffirms its commitment to ending and preventing the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. The protection of children's rights, including the right to safe, inclusive, and quality education, is not only a moral and legal obligation, but also a cornerstone of sustainable peace. Attacks on education facilities significantly amplify children's vulnerabilities. When schools are destroyed, occupied, or rendered unsafe, children are deprived not only of learning but of protection, routine, psychosocial stability, and hope. In particular, for girls, The denial of access to education carries particularly devastating consequences. Beyond heightened risk of child marriage, trafficking, and sexual violence, exclusion from school narrows life opportunities and entrenches gender inequality. Education is one of the strongest protective factors against early and forced recruitment. Portugal accepted over 270 students, staff, and family members from the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, including many girls from the Zohra, all-female orchestra, who flared the Taliban's ban on music. The initiative follows also former Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio's initiative known as Global Platform for Syrian Students, launched in 2013, Designed to provide emergency scholarships and academic pathways for students from conflict zones— Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan— to continue their higher education in Portugal and elsewhere. We underscore that safe education must not lead to the militarization of the school environment. We reaffirm our support to the Safe Schools Declaration and to the Vancouver Principles and encourage their full implementation by all Member States. Reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces or armed groups requires tailored, child-centered approaches. Teachers must be equipped with adequate training, practical tools, and ongoing support to manage classrooms inclusively and sensitively. We are particularly aware of the dire situation of children in Haiti and have therefore decided to financially contribute to DPPA's efforts on DDR/CVR to help support the reintegration of children associated with gangs, in line with child rights standards.

Excellent.

Safe education is not a secondary humanitarian concern. It's a frontline defence against the recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts. By investing in schools that protect, include and empower, we break cycles of violence and lay the foundations for peace. Let's ensure that every child everywhere can learn in safety and dignity, and never be forced to carry the burden of war. I thank you.

Agradecemos a la delegación.

I thank the delegation of Portugal for that statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Morocco, followed by Mexico and Syria.

Muchas gracias, señor presidente.

Thank you very much.

In this meeting, this is a forever timely question. That need our constant attention. Education is a fundamental human right and a central pillar for peace and security. Morocco acceded to the full international human rights and humanitarian instruments for the protection of the rights of the child and also signed and ratified other international soft law instruments such as the Paris Principles, the Vancouver Principles, and the Safe Schools Declaration. Protecting education is both a humanitarian duty and strategic investment in conflict prevention. In fragile and displacement contexts, flexible learning pathways and psychological— psychosocial support are critical. Comprehensive educational reintegration with community engagement and efforts to address stigma reduces the risk of recruitment and strengthens long-term stability. Morocco recalls the adoption of the Rabat Declaration at the African Ministerial Conference on the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of Child Soldiers held in Rabat on November 20th, 2025, under the theme Building Sustainable Pathways for Children Affected by Armed Conflicts, which demonstrated a collective African commitment to preventing the recruitment and use of children and to promoting their sustainable reintegration. Finally, Morocco reaffirms its full support for all efforts aimed at protecting education, preventing child recruitment, and ensuring sustainable reintegration.

I thank you.

I thank the delegation of Morocco for that statement, and I'd now like to give the floor to the representative of Mexico, to be followed by Syria and India. Mexico, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Chairman. Mexico would like to express its thanks to Panama for convening this meeting, and we align ourselves with the joint statement delivered by Panama. I'd like to begin by recognizing the work of the Office of the Special Representative of the SRSG and the Working Group on Children in Armed Conflict to strengthen mechanisms that protect and promote the rights of children. Rights of child in all of these situations. We believe that evidence has shown that when educational facilities are used for military purposes, that they can heighten the risk of recruitment and the use of children by— in armed conflict. This can leave children exposed to violence in many areas. For instance, violence in Haiti forced the closure of more than 1,600 schools between It is estimated that between 30 and 50% of the members of armed groups in that country are children, some only 9 years of age. In the midst of these terrible, real circumstances, Mexico appeals to states that have not yet done so to join the Safe Schools Declaration. International humanitarian law categorically stipulates that the parties to Thank you. The parties to a conflict must take all possible measures to provide— to protect the human rights of children that are affected by armed conflict. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen. Mexico believes that the international community can provide the following support: one, demand the parties to a conflict to refrain from using explosive weapons in populated areas; two, promote comprehensive disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration; integration programs for children and young people to curb violence and prevent their recruitment. 3, and very importantly, generate a culture of peace and narratives of peace to help to— in a conflict-sensitive education and to train agents of peace. Meetings like today are important to reaffirm this obligation to protect children. This is not optional; rather, it is a legal, ethical, and political imperative.

I thank the delegation of Mexico for that statement, and I'll now give the floor to the delegation of Syria, followed by India and then Estonia. Syria, you have the floor.

Syria, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Syrian children we see today in the camps, or whose graves we visit, or whom we see in countries of refuge, or whose bodies we remember that was laid ashore when they have been failed by their countries and countries of refuge, they are the living memory of the Syrian people. Syria, the new Syria, after the fall of the former regime, inherited a heavy state, including deprivation of health and education as a result of targeting of schools and hospitals by the former regime. You have seen in the scene that shook the conscience of humanity during the day of liberation, When the doors of jails were open, the jails that were called the human slaughterhouse, when we saw children walking out startled, breathing freedom all anew in a moment that for them represented a new life and a new beginning to Syria. Since Syria has liberated from the former regime, it spared no effort to promote the values of children protection and the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The constitutional declaration issued in March last year reaffirmed that children— that all rights and freedoms of children are included, and that included the education in Kurdish language. Mr. Chair, few weeks ago, I visited the SRSG and I arranged a historic visit for her, the first of its kind, to Damascus. When she was in Damascus, she met with representatives from the Ministers of Defense and the Interior, and she said— and if she allows me to quote her— she said, I feel great hope when I see this new commitment to build a new Syria. In conclusion, Mr. Chair, despite the strife. We cried, our children cried a lot, yet the difference today is that we see a glimmer of hope. The mic got cut off.

I thank the delegation of Syria for that statement, and I'll now give the floor to the representative of India, followed by Estonia and then Lithuania.

Thank you, Excellencies. I thank the missions of Panama, Greece, Liberia, Austria, and Japan for for convening this meeting today. India believes that the right to a joyful childhood, allowing children to realize their full potential, is a fundamental right. Schools must become safe spaces protecting children from exploitation. For children formerly associated with armed groups, schools can be a means to reintegrate into society. Our own experience is as follows: education in India is a fundamental right. Guaranteed to all children from 6 to 14 years of age. India focuses on children in conflict with laws to ensure that their vulnerabilities are not exploited by criminals. India established a National Commission for Protection of Children's Rights in 2007. Mission Vatsalya is a flagship initiative to ensure the safety, protection, and holistic development of children. The Juvenile Justice Act helps in rehabilitation and and protection of children in conflict with law. We believe that terrorism constitutes armed conflict by other means. Terrorists exploit social media and other digital platforms to radicalize and recruit children for their cause. Thus, beyond physical safety, schools must cultivate critical thinking and reinforce secular ideals. Excellencies, while Pakistan sheds crocodile tears blaming India for the fate of their children, their own defense minister paints a different picture. In a frank admission in Parliament recently, he lamented that radicalization became Pakistan's state policy, which was mainstreamed through their education system, and that Pakistani children continue to be indoctrinated till day. According to him, students who have undergone religious indoctrination are Pakistan's second line of defense. With no qualms, Pakistan's defense minister asserted that these youngsters Will certainly be used as needed. While India is marching ahead to achieve a developed India status by 2047, we hear Pakistan's defense minister conspiring to weaponize its own students. By now, the world knows the root cause of Pakistani children's bane. In closing, India reaffirms its unwavering commitment to protect children's rights and ensure their opportunity.

Agradecemos la del.

I thank the representative of India for that statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Estonia, to be followed by Lithuania and Czechia.

President, I thank Panama and the co-sponsors for convening today's important discussion. I also thank the briefers for their contributions and for their steadfast work in protecting children in the world's most difficult environments. The Red Hand Day is both a commemoration and a warning. It reminds us that the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict is not a relic of the past. On the contrary, the global trend is deeply alarming. Verified grave violations against children continue to rise, including a dramatic increase in attacks on schools. When schools are targeted, children are pushed into higher-risk environments making them exposed to exploitation, trafficking, and forced recruitment. Girls face specific and disproportionate risks in conflict, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, forced marriage and pregnancy, as well as stigma that further undermines their access to education and long-term recovery. There are several acute situations around the world— in Sudan, Gaza, Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Myanmar, and elsewhere, where conflicts are depriving children of the right to learn and to live in safety. In Ukraine, Russia has damaged and destroyed thousands of educational institutions. Millions of children have experienced prolonged disruption of schooling. Particularly disturbing are the credible reports of the systematic deportation and forced transfer transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children by Russia. Such violations committed by a permanent member of the Security Council also erodes the credibility of this body. President, Estonia remains committed to advancing child protection across the UN system. As a member of the Human Rights Council in 2026 to 2028 and currently serving as a Vice President of the Council, we will continue to promote the right to education in situations of conflict. Estonia is also honored to serve as a president of the UNICEF Executive Board, supporting UNICEF's essential work in education and reintegration. We recognize that—

We thank the representative of Estonia for that statement. And I now give the floor to the representative of Lithuania, to be followed by Czechia and Nigeria.

Mr. President, Lithuania aligns itself with the European Union statement. We thank the Permanent Mission of Panama for organizing this ARIA Formula meeting on the Red Hand Day. Lithuania condemns in the strongest terms the recruitment and the use of children by parties to conflict, as well as the deliberate targeting of educational infrastructure. Mr. President, Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine continues to generate grave violations against children and sustained attacks on educational infrastructure. As a result of Russian actions, Ukraine remains under monitoring for Russia's sustained attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, including educational facilities, violation of international humanitarian law, that heighten displacement, trauma, and the risk of recruitment. In addition to these violations, independent research by the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health has documented a systematic campaign of large-scale reeducation and militarization of Ukrainian children transferred into Russia and temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories since February 2022. According to this investigation, Children from Ukraine have been taken to at least 210 facilities across Russia and temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory, where reeducation activities have occurred in at least 61.9% of locations and militarization programs in approximately 18.6% percentage of sites, including combat drills, tactical medical training, and drone control training. These programs often target children aged 8 to 17 years and form part of a broader effort to impose pro-Russian culture and patriotic narratives and military conditioning on Ukraine's youngest citizens. Mr. President, Lithuania is deeply concerned by the recruitment of children and attacks on schools in situations such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, Yemen, South Sudan, Mali, and other contexts, and calls on all parties to prevent such violations and ensure safe access to education. Lithuania expresses its support for the Special Representative of Secretary General mandate and will continue.

I thank the representative of Lithuania for that statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Czechia, to be followed by Nigeria. and Timo Lesch.

Mr. President, Excellencies, I am honored to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of Friends for Education and Lifelong Learning. Education is both a human right and a driver of peace, resilience, and sustainable development. When countries invest in inclusive, quality education, they strengthen the foundations of stability, particularly when conflict and crisis uproot lives and erode social cohesion. Yet education itself is under attack. The 2025 report of the Secretary-General on Children in Armed Conflict recorded the highest number of grave violations against children in 3 decades, including a 44% increase in attacks on school— on schools over the past year. Nearly 1 in 5 children now lives in a conflict-affected area where classrooms are destroyed, educators threatened, and learning forced to take place under fear and fragility. Additionally, funding for education is expected to decline by 25% by 2027, and education is being deprioritized in both development and humanitarian aid. Education does far more than restore normality. It equips learners with the knowledge, digital literacy skills, and values necessary to navigate an increasingly an increasingly complex world, foster cross-cultural understanding, and participate responsibly and ethically in civic life. To realize this potential, we must support learners, the teachers, and education personnel who nurture critical thinking, model empathy, and rebuild trust within communities. We welcome the recently launched UNESCO CAC toolkit for educators working with children formerly associated with armed forces and armed groups. We commend UNESCO, UNICEF, SRSG, CAC, and other partners for their efforts to prevent attacks on education, strengthen monitoring, and uphold international humanitarian law and norms. These efforts must be matched by sustained political will. We strongly encourage all Member States to consider endorsing and implementing practical instruments that can strengthen child protection, such as the Safe School Declaration. Today, we join the call to protect education everywhere without exception, ensure that schools remain.

I thank the representative of Czechia for that statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of Czechia to be followed by. in Nigeria. Czechia, you have the floor. Apologies. We'd like to thank the representative of Czechia, and I now give the floor to the representative of Nigeria. the next speaker, which is reserved for Timo Lesch, it's my understanding that the delegation of Portugal will take the floor to deliver a message on behalf of the Community of Portuguese Language States. Nigeria, you have the floor. So we will now give the floor to the— to take the floor in the place of Timor-Leste to the delegation of Portugal. Portugal, you have the floor.

Mr. President, I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, CPLP. Due to time constraints, I'm delivering a shorter version of the statement. The full one will be circulated. We commend Panama and the co-sponsor for convening this meeting. This important occasion reminds us of our collective responsibility to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, as well as to safeguard their rights, dignity, and future. The CPLP reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the protection of children affected by armed conflict, the principle of the best interest of the child must remain a primary consideration in all actions concerning them. Safe, inclusive, and continuous education is not only a fundamental right but also one of the most effective tools to prevent recruitment, to strengthen resilience, and to support sustainable reintegration. Full compliance with these protection obligations remains essential. Excellencies, the CPLP expresses deep concern over the continued deterioration of the protective environment for children in situations of armed conflict. The Secretary-General's Annual Report on Children in Armed Conflict recorded more than 40,000 verified grave violations in 2024. Attacks by armed groups, against schools, educators, and protected personnel, as well as restrictions on humanitarian access, continue to disrupt education, erode protective environments, and expose children to heightened risks of recruitment and exploitation. We strongly support the emphasis placed on the nexus between education, protection, peace, and security. Education plays a crucial preventive role by fostering stability and providing meaningful alternatives to violence and exploitation. Ensuring that schools remain safe civilian spaces, educational responses must be—

CPLP renews its firm commitment to upholding international law and to working collectively to ensure that no child anywhere

I thank the community of Portuguese language countries for that statement, and I'll now give the floor to Spain, followed by Qatar and Poland. Spain, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much for convening this meeting on such an urgent, important matter. We align ourselves with the EU statement and the statement of the Group of Friends on children in armed conflict, and we'd like to express the following in our national capacity. Firstly, education in emergencies and the Safe Schools Agenda is one of the pillars of Spain's commitment to protecting children in conflict. We play a sustained, active role in promoting and implementing the Safe Schools Declaration. We are one of the champions of the Declaration, and in addition, we co-chaired the 5th International Conference on Safe Schools. We appeal, as was already mentioned by the States, on all States to join the Declaration and to include the guidelines to prevent the military use of schools and universities in training for their armed forces, as Spain and 30 other countries have already done. From the cooperation perspective, we are committed to allocating 10% of our humanitarian aid to education, and between 2017 to 2025, we already gave 20 €61 million to protecting education in emergencies. I'd like to conclude by flagging 2 particularly important points. The first is on accountability for violations for the rights of children. This should go hand in hand with protection and recovery measures for children. In this context, we fully support the work of the International Criminal Court in combating impunity. Finally, in the context of the 30th anniversary of the mandate, and the 20th anniversary of the Group of Friends. We reiterate our staunch support for the work of the SRSG for children in armed conflict, and we support the essential work of her office in rolling out the monitoring and reporting mechanism pursuant to Resolution 1612, and also her work— the office— her office's work in the dialogue with the parties to bring an end to serious violations against children and to to promote accountability and the reintegration of conflict-affected children. We thus reaffirm our firm commitment to continue to support this protection framework. Thank you.

I'd like to thank the Spanish delegation for that speedy statement, and I'll now give the floor to Qatar, followed by Poland, and then Côte d'Ivoire.

Thank you. With that, I extend my sincere appreciation to the Permanent Mission of Panama and the co-organizers for convening this important ARIA Formula meeting. I also thank the distinguished briefers for their valuable insights. Children continue to endure the gravest consequences of armed conflict. Attacks on education and unsafe learning environments disrupt their development and heighten their vulnerability. Including the risk of recruitment and use by armed groups. Ensuring safe and continuous access to education is therefore essential. The State of Qatar remains firmly committed to protecting children affected by armed conflict. Qatar has continuously championed the right to education as a pillar of peace, stability, and sustainable development. In 2010, the State of Qatar proudly presented the GA resolution entitled The Right to Education in Emergency Situations, placing protection of education in emergencies firmly on the international agenda. The commitment was further strengthened by the establishment of the Education Above All Foundation in 2012 by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation. Through its global programs, the foundation has enabled more than 80 million children and youth to access quality education, particularly those in fragile and conflict-affected settings. A decade later, the unanimous adoption of the GA Resolution 74/275 proclaimed 9th of September as the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, underscoring our shared responsibilities to safeguard education. Qatar highly values its partnership with the Office of the SRSG of FERCAC, And we commend the significant role of the analysis and outreach hub in Doha. To conclude, I reaffirm the unwavering commitment of the State of Qatar to safeguarding the fundamental rights of children, particularly those in situations of armed conflicts.

I thank you.

Agradecemos.

I thank the representative of Qatar for that statement, and I now give the. Floor to the representative of Poland, followed by Côte d'Ivoire and the European Union. Poland, you have the floor.

Muchas gracias, señor presidente. At the outset, I'd like to thank Panama and all co-sponsors for convening this Area Formula meeting on such an important issue. We align ourselves with the statements by the European Union and by Canada on behalf of the Group of Friends of Children Armed Conflict. Safe, inclusive and continuous education is not a secondary humanitarian concern, but a strategic tool to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict and a foundation for lasting peace. Much has already been said today about the latest Secretary-General's report on CAC. Let me focus on one of its most troubling conclusions, which are attacks on education which are becoming a systematic rather than an incidental feature of contemporary conflicts. It is a global challenge, but nowhere is this pattern more visible today than in Ukraine. We meet today on the 4th anniversary of Russia's full-scale aggression— 4 years during which millions, millions of children have seen their education disrupted by war. Russian armed forces have been listed for 3 consecutive years on the List of Shame in the Secretary-General's annual reports, including for attacks on schools. Hundreds of educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed. At the same time, we are witnessing the forced deportation of Ukrainian children and attempts at their so-called reeducation— to put it bluntly, Russification. Depriving children of their language, curriculum, and cultural identity is a direct assault on their rights to education and a shameful attempt to destroy Ukrainian identity itself. Poland believes we cannot allow diminished attention, fatigue, or funding gaps to weaken our commitment to what is right, especially when children's rights and futures are at stake.

Mr.

Chair, Poland experiences the consequences of this war also in our classrooms. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children have found safety in Poland, and ensuring their access to education in secure, inclusive, and supportive schools has been a central element of our response. This is about continuity of learning, but also about protection, resilience, and preserving identity. We look forward to working closely with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict, Vanessa Fraser, and trust that the situation of Ukrainian children, including attacks on educational facilities and forced transfers, will remain high.

I thank Poland for that statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Côte d'Ivoire, followed by the European Union. And Czechia.

Mr. Chair, Côte d'Ivoire thanks Panama and all of the co-sponsors for organizing this important meeting. The trends observed globally are very concerning, as demonstrated by the annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, which shows that there are more than 40 1,000 grave violations identified in 2024, and a 44% increase in attacks on schools and protected personnel. Learning environments are thus far too often becoming targets of war, confirming that education is today directly threatened in several conflict zones. Mr. Chair, this dynamic is particularly acute in certain areas of West Africa and the Sahel, where terrorist groups deliberately target educational system, depriving children, especially girls, of access to learning and exposing them to exploitation, violence, and recruitment. For Côte d'Ivoire, this constitutes a direct national and regional security challenge. Persistent instability in the Sahel threatens to spread towards coastal states and already directly affects them, notably through forced displacements, cross-border criminal networks, and attempts to radicalize vulnerable youth. Mr. Chair, Côte d'Ivoire's experience and resilience in the face of the terrorist threat along our borders confirms that no security strategy can succeed sustainably without massive investment in education and social inclusion. In fact, since 2011, under the high leadership of the President of the Republic, Alassane Ouattara, The Government of Côte d'Ivoire has made substantial investments in access to education, particularly through the construction of tens of thousands of classrooms, strengthening compulsory education, and improving school enrollment rates, especially in vulnerable areas. Our post-conflict experience in disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration also demonstrates that sustainable reintegration relies on integrated approaches combining education, vocational training, psychosocial support, and community reconciliation. These approaches have helped reduce risks of re-recruitment as they have strengthened social cohesion.

I thank the delegation of Côte d'Ivoire for that statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of the European Union to be followed by Malta and Italy, given that Czechia has already taken the floor. I now give the floor to the European Union.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and we thank Panama and the co-sponsors for organizing this meeting and the briefers for their insights. And as this meeting moved to today on the 4th commemoration of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I want to underline our strong concern about the grave violations against children committed there, which includes Russia's attacks against schools and education facilities in Ukraine.

Mr.

Chair, I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the European Union.

And often school is the only constant in an insecure daily environment for many children in conflict-affected areas. This was also highlighted during a consultation conducted by the EU with children living in conflict- affected settings in preparation for this year's Human Rights Council resolution on the rights of the child. 24 children from 10 different countries were consulted, and among all their recommendations, their top priority was that states should build safe learning spaces, protect schools from military use, invest in alternative and remote learning, and guarantee access to education so that children do not fall behind in their studies. The SG's latest report on children in armed conflict shows that we currently fail to fulfill this straightforward request. We therefore call on all parties to conflict to uphold international law, respect the protections afforded to education facilities, and hold accountable those responsible for attacks against them. Regarding reintegration, children released from armed groups require sustained support. Education systems need the capacity to welcome these children without stigma, offering support from trained teachers, psychosocial care, and flexible learning pathways. Programs that combine education with child protection, mental health care, and assistance to displaced families have proven effective in reducing vulnerability, strengthening resilience, and preventing re-recruitment. We encourage member states to endorse and implement the Paris Principles and Commitments, the Vancouver and the Safe Schools Declaration, and to abide by the principles of the Political Declaration on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas.

We also call on states and other parties to the conflict to actively participate in the protection of children in armed conflict.

I thank the European Union for that statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of Malta, to be followed by Italy and Yemen. Malta, you have the floor.

President, Malta aligns itself with the statements delivered by the European Union and the Group of Friends for CAC and for Education and Lifelong Learning, and would like to add the following in its national capacity. We thank Panama and the co-sponsors for organizing this meeting and for highlighting the importance of education in preventing recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. Malta is deeply alarmed by the escalating scale and severity of grave violations committed against children in crisis situations.

Including the attacks on schools and the military use of schools and hospitals worldwide.

These attacks are driving millions of children out of education. Children in armed conflict was a priority for Malta during our 2023-2024 term on the Security Council. As President of the Council in February 2023, Malta convened its first signature event on CAC, focused on preventing grave violations where education was highlighted as a crucial pillar of prevention, with clear evidence that children who are out of school are significantly more vulnerable to recruitment and other abuses. Ensuring the continuity of safe, inclusive, and quality education during conflict is therefore not only a development objective, but a frontline protection measure indispensable to eradicating poverty, strengthening resilience, and preventing the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. Education is also central to reintegration efforts for children formerly associated with armed forces and groups. During Malta's tenure as Chair of the Security Council CAC Working Group, field visits to Nigeria and Colombia reinforced this reality. In Nigeria, attacks on schools and prolonged disruption of education heightened children's exposure to recruitment. In Colombia, access to education and vocational training strengthened reintegration efforts. We believe that reintegration programs should also be gender responsive.

Girls formerly associated with armed groups often face stigma.

Early enforced marriage, and exclusion from formal education. Tailored psychosocial support and community sensitization are essential to ensure their sustainable reintegration and prevent re-recruitment. Against this backdrop, Malta welcomes the growing support for the Safe Schools Declaration and welcomes initiatives such as the Guidance for Teachers and Educators developed by UNESCO and the OSRSG-CAC. We also emphasize the importance of building capacity on the children in armed conflict agenda to empower practitioners around the world. In collaboration with the OSRSG CAC, Malta—

I thank Malta for that statement, and I now give the floor to the representative of Italy, followed by Yemen, and then Ireland. Italy.

Yeah, thank you. I'd like, first of all, to thank the delegation of Panama for convening the meeting, and to myself with the statements delivered by the European Union, the Group of Friends of Children and Armed Conflict, and the Group of Friends for Education and Lifetime Learning. As a member of the Human Rights Council for the 2026-2028 term, Italy places the protection of children at the very heart of its human rights engagement across all UN fora. Italy firmly believes that child protection must remain at the core of the international agenda and will continue to promote concrete initiatives to strengthen policies in this area. We have reaffirmed this commitment on numerous occasions, and we are a steadfast supporter of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. The Secretary-General's latest report presents an alarming picture: serious violations of international humanitarian law continue to disproportionately affect children. Education is a fundamental right and a life-saving tool in conflict and post-conflict settings. Italy firmly believes in the transformative power of education, and as recently assumed Together with Nigeria, the role of co-chair of the 5th replenishment of the Global Partnership for Education for the period of 2026-2030. Mr. President, Italy firmly supports the Safe Schools Declaration and Security Council Resolution 2601, which seek to protect students and teachers and discourage the military use of educational facilities. We stress the importance of gender-sensitive and inclusive education and ensuring that survivors of gender-based violence receive support that is confidential and non-stigmatizing. Education progress must be tailored to the needs of girls, who face heightened risks of early marriage, trafficking, and sexual violence when denied access to school. Safe education is not a secondary humanitarian concern; it's a frontline prevention strategy. Children are not collateral damage. Their protection is a legal obligation, a political responsibility, and above all, a moral imperative. Italy remains committed to leading international efforts to safeguard their rights in situations of armed conflicts.

I thank you. I thank the delegation of Italy for that statement. I now give the floor to Yemen, followed by Ireland, and then Jordan. Mr.

Chair, Yemen reiterates its steadfast commitment to protecting the rights of the child and ensuring a safe, inclusive, and continuous education in line with the CRC and relevant international conventions aiming at protecting children in conflict settings. My country is enduring exceptional circumstances since the terrorist Houthi militia coup against the state, the aspirations of the Yemeni people, and the national consensus, causing heavy economic and humanitarian consequences. However, the Yemeni government continued to adopt practical measures to protect children and ensure that education continue uninterrupted. It is a preventive tool from recruitment. Measures included strengthening mechanisms with the United Nations to implement action plans. We have also endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, and we cleared schools from mines planted by the Houthis so that they remain safe civilian objects. We also supported reintegration programs that are based on remedial education, psychosocial support, so that children affected by conflict are helped. Regions that are controlled by the Houthi militias have witnessed violations against children in Yemen. They continue to recruit thousands of children in the largest child recruitment operation in recent history.

They are—

those children, they're trained in so-called summer camps and sent to front lines in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, human rights law, and the CRC. Beyond direct recruitment, schools and educational facilities are becoming military bases and tools for ideological indoctrination instead of being safe education environments. These militias manipulated school curricula in order to serve their agendas and to teach violence, hatred, and racism. In this regard, we stress that the Office of SRSG on Children in Armed Conflicts, in cooperation with UNICEF and in line with the, um, MRM, must document these violations. Microphone cut off.

I thank the representative of Yemen, and I now get the floor to Ireland, followed by Jordan and Algeria. Ireland, please.

Thank you, President. Ireland aligns with the EU statement and adds the following. Ireland thanks Panama and co-sponsors for convening today's important meeting to mark Red Hand Day. We also thank our briefers for their insightful contributions. We have heard about the alarming and increasing levels of recruitment and use of children in conflict. Children should never be soldiers, and schools should never be places of armed conflict. Ireland urges all parties to conflicts to uphold IHL, refrain from recruitment and use of children in conflict, and respect the protections afforded to educational facilities during conflict. Schools provide vital structure, support, and hope to children whose lives have been ravaged by conflict. When access to schools and education is reduced, children become more vulnerable to recruitment, and equally, children who have faced recruitment experience challenges returning to education upon release. Education systems must be equipped to reintegrate these children without stigma, providing psychosocial support and flexible learning pathways while taking into account the different needs of girls and boys. Further, children's access to education cannot be safeguarded if humanitarian access is denied. President, as an international community, we have the tools to protect children from recruitment by armed forces or groups, to protect civilian objects, including schools, from attack and to ensure humanitarian access. It is now high time that we used them. We encourage all member states to ratify the CRC Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. We also urge all member states to endorse and implement practical, practical instruments that serve to strengthen child protection in conflict, including the Vancouver Principles, the Paris Principles, the Safe Schools Declaration, as well as the Uwepa Declaration. We must also consistently and impartially pursue accountability for grave violations, including attacks on civilian objects in breach of the IHL and the recruitment of children, regardless of the perpetrator, and ensure dedicated gender-responsive, child-specific expertise in international investigations. Finally, Ireland remains a strong supporter of the mandate of the SRSG for children in armed conflict, and we warmly welcome its recent extension for a 4-year period. Safe education is a right and not a luxury. It must be at the center of all of our efforts to protect children affected by conflict.

I thank the representative of Ireland for that statement. I now give the floor to the representative of Jordan, followed by Algeria and Australia.

Jordan.

Okay, so we'll give the floor to Algeria, followed by Australia, Argentina, and Armenia.

Mr. Chair, we would like to thank Panama for convening this meeting on the occasion of Red Hand Day. We also extend our appreciation to the briefers for their insightful presentations. The most recent data are deeply alarming. Over 41,000 grave violations against children were recorded in 2024, alongside a sharp increase in attacks against schools and protected personnel. Education and protection are intrinsically linked. Safe, inclusive, Effective and continuous education provides stability, restores a sense of normalcy, and offers children alternatives to violence. It contributes to breaking cycles of conflict. We are deeply alarmed by the fact that children in Gaza are currently deprived of access to schooling. We underscore the urgent need for adequate resources and sustained international support to restore and protect education in Gaza. Algeria reaffirms the importance of full respect for international humanitarian law, including the protection of schools as civilian objects. Consistent with this commitment, Algeria formally endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration in 2021. We further underscore the importance of tailored reintegration programs for children formerly associated with parties to armed conflicts. Reintegration must go beyond access to classrooms. It requires psychosocial support and the meaningful involvement of teachers and society. Preventing recruitment requires addressing root causes, including poverty, displacement, lack of opportunity and the erosion of institutions. Investing Education in emergencies is therefore not a secondary humanitarian concern; it is a peace imperative. In conclusion, Algeria believes that protecting education means protecting the future. Ensuring that every child can learn in safety is not only a moral obligation; it is a strategic investment in sustainable peace. I thank you.

I thank the representative of Algeria. I now give the floor to the representative of Australia, followed by Argentina and Armenia.

President, colleagues, this year marks 30 years of the UN Children and Armed Conflict mandate, yet the recruitment and use of children continues to rise. This is unacceptable. It deprives children of their fundamental rights and robs them of their futures. We can and we must do better. Today Australia makes 2 key points. First, UN peace operations remain essential to preventing recruitment and supporting accountability. Australia is proud to endorse the Vancouver Principles and continues to push for strong, well-resourced child protection mandates in peace operations. We must ensure peace operations, where mandated, have the tools and political backing to continue to monitor, report, verify, and address grave violations. Second, education is one of the most effective shields against recruitment and one of the most powerful tools for reintegration. But attacks on schools are increasing, and girls remain disproportionately denied access to education. In conflict-affected and fragile contexts, girls are 2.5 times more likely to be out of school than boys. When schools are targeted and access to education is denied, children become more vulnerable to recruitment, exploitation, and violence. Australia calls on parties to ensure schools remain safe civilian spaces and commitments such as the Safe Schools Declaration are translated into concrete action on the ground. On Red Hand Day, Australia stands with survivors, advocates, and communities working to end the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. We urge all UN and all parties to conflict to prioritize the protection of education, safeguard schools as civilian spaces, and ensure every child has access to safety, learning, and hope. Children deserve more than survival. They deserve a future, and we have a responsibility to make it possible. Thank you.

Thank you very much for that statement. I'll now give the floor to Argentina, followed by Armenia and Cambodia. Ambassador.

Good afternoon, Chairman. Argentina would like to thank Panama and the co-organizers for this opportunity to reflect in the context of the International Day Against Child Soldiers on the protection of children in armed conflict. This space for dialogue focuses on one of the most sensitive and urgent dimensions of the international peace and security agenda. The reality of the use of children in armed conflict continues to be alarming. The recruitment and use of child soldiers represents one of the most serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. This violates their most basic rights such as the right to education. Every day without education is a day lost for the comprehensive development of a child and, by extension, for the future development of their country. Protecting children, keeping them out of networks of recruitment, avoiding them being used in armed conflict, and facilitating their social and educational reintegration is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic investment in sustainable peace. In this context, our country has actively supported stopping— ensuring education in emergency situations to preserve and protect schools as spaces of learning and not confrontation. Generating safe, predictable environments so that children can study is an essential precondition to break cycles of violence. Education provides individual tools. It strengthens the social fabric. It contributes to social cohesion and increases institutional predictability. Where children learn, we build more resilient societies with a greater prospect for lasting peace. We reiterate that looking after children is a priority. And we promote the model that promotes the fact that the best interests of the child fall face— firstly fall on families. Thank you.

I'd like to thank Argentina for that statement. And I now give the floor to Armenia, followed by Cambodia and Azerbaijan.

Since its establishment in 1996, the Children and Armed Conflict mandate has advanced the protection of conflict-affected children, but unfortunately more still needs to be done. It is with grave concern that we familiarized with the most recent report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict and the subsequent report of the Special Representative. Armenia condemns in strongest terms physical, sexual and emotional violence against children and urges to adhere to the obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law. We support the call for the universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Protocol related to children in armed conflicts. Under the Pact for Future, the Member States pledged to accelerate the implementation of their commitments under the Children and Armed Conflict Agenda. Security Council reaffirmed that the right to education, including in situations of armed conflict, is fundamental to the achievement of peace and security. Armenia welcomed the adoption of UNESCO recommendation on education for peace, human rights, sustainable development, and has always been vocal in highlighting the urgency of safeguarding the right to education for all, particularly for children and learners affected by armed conflict, occupation, poverty, disasters, humanitarian and other crises, including for refugees, IDPs, victims of racial discrimination, and people in vulnerable situations. Stressing the need to ensure continuity of inclusive and quality education and to protect educational institutions and civilians, personnel connected to them from attacks and threats of attacks, Armenia also tabled a relevant resolution which currently discussed in the General Assembly. I thank you again for convening of this meeting.

I thank the delegation of Armenia for that statement. I now give the floor to Cambodia, followed by Azerbaijan, then Fiji.

Thank you, Chair.

I will start by saying that safeguarding children from the risk of, um, the conflict requires a firm commitment to quality education, beginning with significantly improved and equitable access to education systems for all. Schools must be respected and protected as civilian objects in full compliance with international and humanitarian law. Any attack against a school constitutes a grave violation of international norms disrupts learning and inflicts lasting trauma upon students and teachers alike. Cambodia is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. The ongoing displacement along Cambodia's northern-western border has taken a severe humanitarian toll. Approximately 25,000 Cambodians are currently living in internally displaced person, IDP, camps, many having endured trauma and the loss of their schools, an alarming situation that requires sustainable attention and solidarity.

Amid makeshift shelters and overcrowded pagodas, education remains a beacon of hope.

The Ministry of Education of Cambodia has launched the— we call School Camp or Sala Camp initiative to provide digital offline-first learning and ensure continuity despite displacement. Cambodia expressed sincere appreciation to foreign partners, including individual governments United Nations agencies and international organizations for their support in transforming temporary shelters into spaces of learning, enabling children to continue their studies until they can return home.

I thank the delegation of Cambodia for that statement. Given that we need to release the interpreters to whom we express our thanks, I fear that we will have to continue asking the delegations to please make their statements in English. So we'll give the floor to Azerbaijan to be followed by Fiji and Romania.

Mr.

Chair, we thank Panama and the co-sponsors for organizing today's meeting drawing attention to Red Hand Day and the briefers for their valuable contributions. Azerbaijan shares its firm conviction that continuous education is a fundamental human right and an indispensable means to realize other human rights. Mr. Chair, Azerbaijani citizens, including children, were subjected to numerous violations of international law in the 1990s. Our country will mark the 34th anniversary of the Khojaly Genocide within 2 days, on February 26th, during which 613 civilians, including 63 children, were killed overnight on the basis of their ethnicity. Accountability is critically important, and Azerbaijan has taken concrete steps to bring justice to those responsible. At the same time, the end or cessation of active conflict does not necessarily eliminate threats to or alleviate the suffering of children in post-conflict settings, including threats to their right to education. The existence of landmines in populated areas is among the concerns highlighted by the Special Representative in her report submitted to the 60th First session of the HRC. In Azerbaijan, following the end of the conflict in 2020, 418 people have become mine victims, including 14 children and young persons. The Special Representative's call on Member States to commit to clearance of explosive remnants of war is therefore more vital than ever, in particular by providing reliable information on the location of landmines by the State responsible for their placement. Mr. Chair, the prohibition of recruitment and use of children in armed conflict is a grave violation and is firmly grounded in international law. Racist movements, including those that recruit schoolchildren, pose a serious threat to human life and hinder reconciliation in post-conflict settings. States should explicitly condemn and prohibit organizations that promote or incite racial discrimination. Thank you.

We thank the delegation of Azerbaijan.

We now give the floor to the delegation Mr.

Chair, Fiji conveys its gratitude to Panama for hosting this critical event and to the co-sponsors, Austria, Greece, Japan, Liberia, and Uruguay. We also thank all the panelists for their valuable insights. Although Fiji and most Pacific Island countries are not directly affected by the large-scale armed conflicts in other regions, we stand in solidarity with children worldwide whose rights, safety, and futures are threatened by war. The theme, as you've indicated, resonates deeply with Fiji's values and the Pacific's collective vision for peace, stability, and human dignity. Education is more than a pathway to opportunity. In fragile contexts, it is a shield. Safe, inclusive, and resilient learning environments reduce children's vulnerability to recruitment, exploitation, and violation— and violence. Fiji recognizes that when schools are protected, communities are strengthened, and the cycle of conflicts is disrupted before it begins. This is the very reason behind the adoption of the Pacific's Ocean of Peace Declaration in September last year, led by Fiji's Prime Minister Rambuka in the Pacific Leaders' 54th Meeting in Honiara, as one of the Pacific's contributions to peace and security in the Pacific and beyond. And as a nation with a long history of peacekeeping, Fiji is committed to ensuring that all Fijian personnel deployed abroad uphold the highest standard of child protection, and we continue to strengthen training, doctrine, and operational guidance to prevent any form of child recruitment exploitation in the environments where they serve. While the Pacific is largely free from armed conflict, our region faces its own vulnerabilities— climate-driven displacement, economic pressures, and social instability— that can expose children to heightened risk. Finally, Fiji stands with the global community in saying no to the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. We reaffirm our commitment to international peace in line with the UN Charter for the Protection of Children and Safe School Systems. Together, we can build a world where every child grows, learns, and thrives in safety.

Thank you.

por su habilidad y por su trabajo. Y repito que continuaremos nuestro trabajo sin interpretación, por razón por la cual solicito al resto de las delegaciones de Rumanía, Nepal y Filipinas que se dirijan a la audiencia en inglés. Doy la palabra a la delegación de Rumanía, seguida de Nepal y Filipinas.

Romania.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Let me begin by thanking Panama for convening this timely and important dialogue. Across armed conflict worldwide, the protective environment for children is steadily eroding. Millions of children in conflict-affected contexts remain out of school, deprived not only of education but also of safety and stability. The child recruitment is both a grave breach of international law and a profound moral failure. Mr. Chair, allow me to highlight a few points. First, the protection of child rights and adherence to international law must be upheld in all circumstances. School must be declared as zones of peace. By promoting non-violence, dialogue, and shared responsibility, education lays the foundation for reconciliation and sustainable peace. Second, sustained global cooperation and adequate investment in inclusive, conflict-resilient education systems are indispensable. Education ecosystem that integrates moral, civic, and peace learning fosters empathy, critical thinking, and resilience against manipulation and extremism. Third, robust legal frameworks accountability mechanisms, and enforcement measures must be implemented to prevent recruitment and bring perpetrators to book. Fourth, rehabilitation and reintegration of formerly recruited children is essential. Teachers must be protected too and equipped with trauma-informed, inclusive, and gender-sensitive approaches. Adequate funding for disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs remains critical. Finally, preventive diplomacy with a focus on peaceful settlement of disputes, social justice, and better governance is ultimately the most effective child protection strategy. In closing, Mr. Chair, as a State Party to core child rights instruments, Nepal reaffirms its steadfast commitment to protecting children in times of peace and conflict alike. Our Constitution guarantees rights of children and education as fundamental rights and prohibits their recruitment or use in armed forces or groups. Our nationally-led and one-peace process prioritized the rehabilitation of conflict-affected children, and as a major troop and police-contributing country, Nepal supports child protection efforts under UN mandates. On this solemn day, let us recommit to safeguarding schools, preventing recruitment, and ensuring that every child goes to school.

Thank you to the delegation of Nepal for their statement.

I'm now very pleased to give the floor to the delegation of the Philippines.

You have the floor.

Thank you, Ambassador. The Philippines thanks Panama and the co-sponsors for convening this timely Area Formula meeting on the occasion of Red Hand Day. We likewise thank the briefers for their valuable insights. The protection of children affected by armed conflict is a Philippine priority. As early as 1991, our laws introduced the doctrine of children and schools as zones of peace. Building on this foundation, our Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict Act codifies the 6 grave violations recognized by the UN, criminalizes their commission, and affirms that children associated with armed groups are victims entitled to rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Our Interagency Committee on Children in situations of armed conflict brings together relevant agencies dealing with welfare, justice, education, security, and peacebuilding. These measures complement national plans of action for children, which place a child-centered, rights-based, and peace-oriented approach at the heart of our responses, including the role of education and promotion of IHL. Under Security Council Resolution 1612, the Philippines engaged in sustained good faith cooperation with the UN. The Philippines' removal from the Secretary-General's List of Situations of Concern in June 2025 reflects deliberate efforts to address the recruitment and use of children by armed non-state actors, strengthen our legal institutional frameworks, and deepen cooperation with the UN. In conclusion, Ambassador, we reaffirm our commitment to work closely with the UN and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed conflict, UNICEF, and other stakeholders to strengthen monitoring, reporting, and promote accountability for grave violations, as well as share good practices, including our experience on safe education, especially as a tool to prevent recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. Thank you.

I thank the representative of the Philippines for the statement. I'm afraid that we had some technical difficulties with giving the floor to the representative of Romania, and now I am told by the system that we need to end the services. I wonder whether the representative of Romania would make the statement, and if their services are cut, to stand up and say it loudly.

Thank you.

As a sign of protest against the system itself.

You have the floor.

Mr. Chair, all protocols observed, I think we can allow ourselves a couple more minutes for the statement to be delivered with all services. Romania has been on the front line of the regional response to the humanitarian consequences of the war in Ukraine. Since February 2022, we welcomed more than a quarter million Ukrainian refugees that were granted temporary protection in Romania. Our support has been inclusion-driven with a focus on children and women and consisted of free and unhindered access to healthcare, social protection, employment, and housing, with sustained efforts to keep children in school. As a member of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, Romania underscores the particular relevance of this conversation, especially as we mark today the 4-year anniversary since the start of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. We deplore the grave violations of international law and international humanitarian law against Ukrainian children. The fate of Ukrainian children remains one of the most dramatic consequences of Russia's aggression. The adoption of the General Assembly last December of the resolution Return of Ukrainian Children should provide a renewed impetus, including through the offices of The Secretary-General, the recent announcement of the return of 2,000 abducted Ukrainian children from Russian control to their homes in Ukraine has to be followed by further efforts to bring every Ukrainian child safe home. Mr. President, the efforts of the Government of Romania in support of alleviating the heavy consequences of armed conflict against children have been deployed beyond our region. Romania facilitated the evacuation of 160 patients from the Gaza Strip, along with their families. Among them, 54 pediatric patients are currently treated in Romanian hospitals. We are fully prepared to double down on our humanitarian assistance to support the reconstruction of Gaza by, inter alia, increasing the number of flights to and from Gaza in order to transfer and provide children in need and their families with medical care in Romanian hospitals, and by increasing the number of scholarships we offer for Palestinian students as well as helping rebuild and refurbish the schools in Gaza. Le agradezco por su atención.

I thank the representative of Romania for her statement. And I am afraid that now we have to cut the meeting. We have to end it. So I would like to thank all the delegations that have shown strong support for our Red Hand Day and also thank our briefers, Executive Director SRSG, Director, and Mr. Etienne from Save the Children Haiti for all of the support that we have received from you in this Area Formula. We will have a brief of the meeting so that we can share it with all of you, and hopefully you can circle— send your statements to us whenever it is possible so that we can have the full length of what you really meant to say this afternoon. And we again apologize for the lack of time, but it just shows the support and the interest in this very important topic. Thank you all for coming today.