Crimes against children in conflict zones surges in 2024: NGO

One in five children live in conflict zones and 520 million exposed to war, a record high.

One in five children globally lived in active conflict zones last year, according to Save the Children.

In a report released on Tuesday, the charity said 520 million children in 2024 were exposed to war, marking a record high for the third consecutive year.

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Save the Children verified 41,763 grave violations against children last year, a 30 percent increase from 2023.

This means an average of 78 children endured grave violations – such as being killed or maimed, abducted, recruited or sexually abused – each day, the report said.

Growing up in militarised areas also often means dropping out of school, being forced to leave home, and being subjected to physical and mental trauma, it added.

“This disproportionate rise in grave violations reveals that beyond exposure to conflict, there is also a deep erosion of the international norms and protections designed to shield children from harm,” said Inger Ashing, Save the Children’s CEO.

“This report also reveals another troubling reality: The current unilateral focus on combating violence through military, state and private security solutions is failing to adequately protect children from the gravest forms of harm,” Ashing added.

In 2024, there were 61 state-based conflicts, meaning that at least one of the warring parties was a state government.

Less than 2 percent of global security funds went towards peacebuilding and peacekeeping in 2024, mirroring a long-term trend in declining peace spending.

By contrast, military spending hit a record high as it soared by more than 9 percent to total $2.7 trillion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Africa has the highest number and ratio of children living in conflict zones – 218 million – surpassing the Middle East for the first time since 2007.

However, the highest number of grave violations recorded against children took place in occupied Palestinian territory while one in three children killed or maimed in war were Palestinian.

Overall, more than half of the violations against children took place in Palestinian territory, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria and Somalia.