473 million children – one in six children worldwide – live in conflict zones. UNICEF: 2024 is one of the most tragic years for children in conflict zones Human Rights
The impact of armed conflict on children in 2024 has reached unprecedented levels. This year has become one of the most difficult in the history of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for children caught in the middle of wars and violence.
According to UNICEF, the number of children living in conflict zones or forced from their homes by violence has reached record levels. These children face grave violations of their rights: they are killed, maimed, denied access to education, chronically malnourished and face shortages of life-saving vaccines. Intensifying conflicts are responsible for 80 percent of all humanitarian needs, depriving millions of people of access to food, health care and clean water.
Today, 473 million children – one in six children worldwide – live in conflict zones. In percentage terms, this is almost double the percentage in the 1990s. By the end of 2023, the number of children forced from their homes reached 47.2 million, and in 2024, this figure continued to rise due to escalating violence in Haiti, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and the State of Palestine.
Conflict and children
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell warned of the catastrophic consequences of this trend. “2024 will be one of the most tragic years ever for children affected by war. A child growing up in a conflict zone is more likely to be out of school, malnourished and homeless than their peers in peace. This cannot become the new normal. We cannot allow children to become victims of inaction in the face of wars,” she said.
The UN recorded 32,990 grave violations of children’s rights in 2023, the highest number in the history of monitoring. The violations recorded include killings, maimings, and the use of children as soldiers. The data for 2024 is not yet final, but according to preliminary estimates, the sad statistics will grow again. For example, thousands of children were killed or injured in Gaza, and in Ukraine, more minors were injured in the first nine months of 2024 than in the whole of 2023.
The increase in sexual violence against children is particularly alarming. In Haiti, the number of such crimes has increased by 1,000 percent compared to last year. Children with disabilities are also particularly vulnerable and are more likely to be subjected to violence.
Education and Health Crisis
More than 52 million children in conflict zones have no access to education. In Gaza, Sudan and other affected areas, many children have not attended school for more than a year. Educational facilities in Ukraine, Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been destroyed or converted for other purposes.
Malnutrition has also reached critical levels: more than 500,000 people in five conflict-affected countries are on the brink of starvation. In Sudan’s North Darfur, mass starvation has been officially confirmed for the first time since 2017.
Children in conflict zones also lack health care. About 40 percent of the world’s unvaccinated children live in war-torn countries, leaving them vulnerable to outbreaks of diseases such as measles and polio.
Psychological trauma in children is reaching alarming proportions. Constant violence, loss of loved ones and destruction of familiar environments cause depression, nightmares, aggression and isolation.
Call to Action
UNICEF calls on all parties to conflicts to respect international humanitarian law, protect children’s rights and put an end to their suffering. “Children in conflict zones struggle every day to survive, they are deprived of a childhood,” Russell stressed. “They do not go to school, they are separated from their families, they lose their homes. They are denied the opportunity to play, to learn or to simply be children. The world continues to betray them. In 2025, we must do more to change this situation.”
UNICEF insists: the tragedies of 2024 must not become the norm. The world must do everything possible to protect children and their future.