© UNICEF/M. Jamal Children who fled violence in Sudan’s El Fasher receive school supplies in Tawil. 2025 sees record number of crimes against children in conflict zones Peace and Security
According to the new edition of the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict, the number of gross violations against minors in 2025 reached levels unprecedented in the 30 years of this mandate.
According to verified UN data, 38,558 gross violations were committed against children last year. 24,174 children were affected, many of them victims of multiple types of crimes: from murder and recruitment to rape and deprivation of humanitarian aid. A third of the victims are girls.
Government structures are the main violators
For the first time in the history of observations, the main perpetrators of crimes against children were government forces, and not non-state groups.
“2025 was without a doubt the year “one of the darkest chapters in the history of child protection,” said Vanessa Fraser, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. She stressed that when states with a responsibility to protect children themselves bring about their suffering, this demonstrates a deep erosion of respect for international law.
The most critical situations in 2025 are in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Myanmar and Somalia. The most common violations remained murder (6,266) and mutilation (7,958), with the number of murders increasing by 34 percent compared to 2024. Mass abductions (5,129) and detentions of children (1,667 people) were also recorded. The UN calls for such children to be treated exclusively as victims.
UNICEF/J. Diffidenti Schoolchildren walk between destroyed buildings in Syria.
Rape and other forms of sexual violence remained widespread; At the same time, confirmed cases of the use of gang rape as a tactic of war have become more frequent.
However, the UN mandate on children and armed conflict, issued 30 years ago, has helped to achieve some successes: in 2025, more than 13 thousand former child soldiers received reintegration assistance, and warring parties made about 40 different commitments to protect minors.
Conflict in the territory Ukraine
As part of the war on the territory of Ukraine, the UN confirmed 1,899 gross violations against 781 children. Most of the victims were victims of the use of explosive weapons with a large affected area.
94 children were confirmed dead and 659 injured. The Russian armed forces are credited with 511 casualties (62 killed, 449 wounded). Responsibility for 29 killed and 201 wounded lies with unidentified persons (including 173 children injured by shrapnel when Ukrainian air defense intercepted Russian missiles and drones). The Ukrainian armed forces are credited with 12 casualties (3 killed, 9 wounded). There were also 4 cases of sexual violence against girls by the Russian military. Fraser
Of the 641 attacks on schools and hospitals, 469 were attributed to Russian forces, 165 to unidentified individuals, and 7 to Ukrainian forces. 473 cases of denial of humanitarian access were verified (399 by the Russian Federation, 57 by Ukraine), including 429 large-scale attacks on energy infrastructure.
Facts were revealed of the use of 24 children as informants and spotters or for the manufacture of explosives and committing arson of railway infrastructure and transport facilities. The detention of 35 children was also verified (28 by the Ukrainian authorities, 6 by the Russian Armed Forces, 1 by the Russian authorities in the temporarily occupied territories).
© UNICEF Ukrainian families spend whole nights in the basement during massive attacks.
“I am deeply concerned by the serious violations attributed to Russian military forces, including the increasing number of deaths and injuries – primarily as a result of long-range strikes against populated areas located far from front lines – as well as ongoing attacks against schools, hospitals and protected persons,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He also called on the Russian Federation to cooperate with the UN to determine the whereabouts and return of deported Ukrainian children to their families and to prohibit changes in their legal status or citizenship. Guterres expressed concern about the use of children by the Russian Federation or its associated entities for surveillance, arson and other conflict-related activities, as well as reports of attempts at such use by Ukraine or its associated entities.
The UN chief welcomed the reduction in the number of violations by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the implementation of the joint preventive plan. At the same time, he called on Kyiv to cancel the decision to suspend the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines, completely eliminate the use of hospitals for military purposes (2 such cases were recorded in 2025), and also expresses concern about the detention of 28 children by the Ukrainian authorities (including for online activities) and the operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the territory of the Russian Federation, calling for putting the safety of children first place.
The situation in Israel and Palestine
In Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the UN confirmed 12,445 gross violations against 5,663 children. The vast majority of victims are Palestinian children. Due to access problems, these data do not reflect the full picture: another 4,588 children in Gaza are dead and 346 are injured in Israel.
© UNICEF/e. El Baba The war has taken an unimaginable toll on children in the Gaza Strip.
The majority of violations (9,465) are attributed to the Israeli army and security forces. The culprits also include Israeli settlers (326), unidentified individuals (104), individual Palestinian individuals (8), Islamic Republic of Iran armed forces (7), Palestinian Authority security forces (5), Houthis (5), Palestinian armed individuals (4), Palestinian armed groups (2) and Hamas brigades (1). Responsibility for 2,518 confirmed child deaths was still being determined at the time of publication.
In the Gaza Strip, 2,668 Palestinian children were verified dead, mostly due to the use of explosive weapons in residential areas. 57 Palestinian children were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In Israel, Iranian strikes killed 3 Ukrainian and 2 Israeli children.
“I am deeply alarmed by the surge in violence by Israeli settlers, often backed by security forces, and the complete lack of accountability,” the UN Secretary-General said. Guterres also highlighted the large number of children detained by Israel, as well as ongoing reports of violence in detention and poor conditions.
He called on Israel, as well as the leadership of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to develop and sign formal action plans with the UN with clear timelines to stop the killing, injury of children and attacks on civilian infrastructure.