UN Security Council Calls for Accountability in Attacks on Schools and Hospitals

The United Nations Security Council, recognizing the devastating impact of attacks on schools and hospitals, has called for all parties to conflict to be held accountable for such violations. The Council, in a unanimous resolution, has added attacks on places of learning and healing to the list of grave violations against children. This move is seen as a significant step towards protecting children in armed conflict, a peace and security issue that the international community will not tolerate.

Key Takeaways:

• The Security Council has recognized attacks on schools and hospitals as a grave violation of children's rights, and called for perpetrators to be listed in the annual report on children and armed conflict.
• The resolution aims to expand the criteria for listing parties in the report, making it clearer that attacks on schools and hospitals are unacceptable.
• The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, hailed the action, stating that the promise of this resolution is very real.
• Schools have become targets of violent attacks or threats by both State security forces and non-State armed groups in at least 31 countries worldwide.
• Attacks on schools and hospitals have devastating consequences, weakening education and health systems, and potentially deepening deprivations and disparities.
• The Security Council has taken a major step towards ending the culture of impunity and protecting children at their most vulnerable.
• The resolution highlights the importance of protecting children in armed conflict, making it a top priority for the international community.
• The Secretary-General's annual report on children and armed conflict will now include attacks on schools and hospitals as criteria for listing parties.
• The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director, Anthony Lake, emphasized that these attacks are a violation of international and humanitarian law, and a violation of our common humanity.

Statistics:

• At least 31 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East have experienced violent attacks or threats by both State security forces and non-State armed groups against schools.
• Attacks on schools and hospitals are alarmingly common, with devastating consequences on children's lives and on their communities.
• The UN Secretary-General's annual report on children and armed conflict has listed parties that commit grave violations such as the recruitment of child soldiers, killing or maiming of children, and rape or other forms of sexual violence against children.

Sources:

• "United Nations Security CouncilCalls for Accountability in Attacks on Schools and Hospitals."
• Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (Speech to the Security Council)
• Radhika Coomaraswamy, Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict
• UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake
• United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict