“From that day on, our home became a travel bag and our path became that of displacement … My childhood was filled with fear and anxiety and people I was deprived of,” she said, speaking via videoconference from Syria.  

Sila, now 17, described her experiences during the Syrian Civil War to a meeting of the UN Security Council held on Wednesday to discuss the findings of the Secretary-General’s latest report on Children and Armed Conflict.

The report documented a 25 per cent increase in grave violations against children in 2024, the largest number ever recorded in its 20-year history. 

“This year’s report from the Secretary-General once again confirms what too many children already know — that the world is failing to protect them from the horrors of war,” said Sheema Sen Gupta, director of child protection at the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“Each violation against children in every country around the globe represents a moral failure.”

The real scale of the harm

The report presented to the Security Council is published annually to document grave violations against children affected by war. It relies entirely on data compiled and verified by the UN, meaning that the real numbers are likely much higher than reported.  

In 2024, the report documented a record 41,370 grave violations — including killing and maiming, rape, abduction and the targeting of infrastructure such as schools which supports children.  

“Each child struck by these attacks carries a story, a stolen life, a dream interrupted, a future obscured by senseless violence and protracted conflict,” said Virginia Gamba, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, whose office produced the report.  

While many of these violations occurred during times of conflict — especially as urban warfare is on the rise — grave violations can persist even after a conflict ends. 

They persist in the unexploded ordinances which still pepper the ground.  

“Every unexploded shell left in a field, schoolyard, or alley is a death sentence waiting to be triggered,” said Ms. Sen Gupta.  

They persist in the spaces which remain destroyed, impeding children from accessing healthcare and education.  

And they persist in the trauma and injuries which never fully leave a child.  

Scars that never heal

Children who survive the grave violations do not escape unscathed — if they suffered violence, the injuries will stay with them for a lifetime. And even if they were not injured, the trauma remains.

“The physical and psychological scars borne by survivors last a lifetime, affecting families, communities and the very fabric of societies,” said Ms. Gamba.  

This is why UNICEF and its partners have worked to provide reintegration programmes and psychosocial support for children who are victims of grave violations.

Sila said that the trauma of her childhood is still with her, and has pushed her to become an advocate for children in conflicts.  

“From that moment on, nothing has felt normal in my life. I’ve developed a phobia of any sound that resembles a plane, of the dark, and even of silence,” she said.  

‘This cannot be the new normal’

Ms. Gamba called for “unwavering condemnation and urgent action” from the international community in order to reverse the worrying trends which the report details.  

“We cannot afford to return to the dark ages where children were invisible and voiceless victims of armed conflict… Please do not allow them to slip back into the shadows of despair,” she said. 

Current funding cuts to humanitarian aid are impeding the work of UN agencies and partners to document and respond to grave violations against children.

In light of this, Ms. Sen Gupta’s call for the Security Council was simple: “Fund this agenda.”

She said that the international community cannot allow this to become “a new normal,” and reminded the members of the Security Council that children are not and should never be “collateral damage.”

Despite the devastation which the report detailed, there were “glimmers of hope” according to Ms. Sen Gupta. For example, the Syrian National Army signed an action plan which will prevent the recruitment, killing and maiming of children.  

Sila also spoke of hope — she hopes that hers is the last generation to suffer these grave violations.  

“I am from a generation that survived. Physically,” she said. “Our bodies survived but our hearts are still living in fear. Please help us replace the word displacement with return, the word rubble with home, the word war with life.” 

“We are not meeting the minimum requirement to prevent women from being silenced, and support their participation and leadership in…building peace,” Mr. Türk said.

25 years ago, the UN Security Council passed a resolution which affirmed the vital role that women play in preventing and resolving conflict and emphasized the importance of ending impunity for sexual violence in and around conflict.

Since then, other resolutions have reinforced these principles and UN agencies and their partners have worked to implement them. While this work has led to trials which held perpetrators accountable, gender-based violence is becoming more, not less, prevalent.

Justice is not the norm

Mr. Türk’s office has documented thousands of horrific cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Haiti, Sudan, Ukraine and many other conflict-affected areas.

“Fighters are being encouraged or instructed to victimize women, often as a deliberate weapon of warfare – to terrorize communities and force them to flee; and to silence the voices of women who speak out against war-mongering, and seek to build peace,” he said.

Funding and aid cuts are also impeding the efforts of humanitarians and human rights agencies, impeding the provision of essential medical and psychosocial support for affected women and girls.

Mr. Türk noted that the failure to provide these essential services has long-term impacts on survivors and “leaves young girls and women alone, outcast and traumatised.”

Floods in Brazil displacing communities two years in a row

The UN migration organization (IOM) raised the alarm on Tuesday over heavy rains pounding Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Since mid-June, over 5,000 people have been displaced, four have died, one person remains missing, and 132 municipalities have reported damage.

This latest disaster comes just a year after record flooding forced many communities from their homes, some now displaced for the second time.

IOM response

IOM’s presence and partnerships in the region were expanded and strengthened during the 2024 crisis, allowing for a swift response in 2025.

This year, the organization is focused on supporting recovery efforts by providing technical expertise and helping authorities assess needs and develop long-term solutions.

The goal is to ensure aid reaches those most in need and that systems are in place to help communities rebuild safely and sustainably.

While committed to supporting the people of Rio Grande do Sul, IOM has called for critical support: “As extreme weather events become more frequent and intense, humanitarian action must go hand in hand with investments in preparedness and resilience,” said Paolo Caputo, IOM Chief of Mission in Brazil.

Nicaraguan dissident killed in Costa Rica is part of a pattern, experts say

The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, condemned the murder of Nicaraguan exile Roberto Samcam on Tuesday, saying that reports indicate the crime may be part of a larger pattern to silence dissidents abroad.

Mr. Samcam was killed in Costa Rica on 19 June by someone posing to be a delivery man who shot him five times before fleeing.

The victim was a retired army major who, in 2018, publicly denounced the current Nicaraguan government led by President Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo.

“We condemn the murder of Roberto Samcam in the strongest terms, and welcome the swift action of Costa Rica, which we trust will expose the motivations behind this terrible act and bring justice to his family,” said Jan-Michael Simon, chair of the group.

A pattern of silencing dissidents

Since 2018 when security forces in Nicaragua violently suppressed anti-government protests, independent experts have documented many alleged human rights violations and abuses.

Most recently, in February, the UN group released a report warning that the repressive actions of the Nicaraguan State have extended beyond their territorial borders, affecting dissidents – real or perceived – living abroad.

“Nowhere in the world seems to be safe for Nicaraguans opposed to the Government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo,” said expert Reed Broady.

The experts noted that there is information to indicate there may be links to the murder of another Nicaraguan dissident Rodolfo Rojas Cordero in 2022 in Honduras and the twice attempted murder of Jaoa Maldonado in 2021 and 2024.

“States must be held accountable for committing transborder human rights violations,” Mr. Simon said.

Independent rights experts are not UN staff, receive no salary for their work and and independent of any government or organization.