“From this day, our house has become a travel bag and our path became that of travel … My childhood was filled with fear and anxiety and people with which I was private,” she said, speaking by videoconference of Syria.

Sila, now 17, described her experiences during the Syrian civil war at a UN meeting Security advice held Wednesday to discuss the secretary general’s conclusions Last report on Children and armed conflict.

The report documented a 25% increase in serious violations against children in 2024, the greatest number ever recorded during its 20 years of history.

“” The report of this year of the secretary general confirms once again what too many children already know – that the world did not protect them from war horrors“Said Sheema Sen Gupta, Director of Child Protection at the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

“Each violation against children in each country around the world represents a moral failure.”

The actual scale of damage

The report presented to the Security Council is published each year to document the serious violations against the children affected by the war. It is fully based on the data compiled and verified by the UN, which means that real numbers are probably much higher than those reported.

In 2024, the report documented A record of 41,370 violations of serious – including death and mutilation, rape, removal and targeting infrastructure such as schools supporting children.

“Each child struck by these attacks has a story, a stolen life, a interrupted dream, a future obscured by insane violence and prolonged conflicts”, ” said Virginia Gamba, the special representative of the Secretary General for children and armed conflicts, whose office has produced the report.

While many of these violations have occurred during the conflict – especially since the urban war is increasing – serious violations can persist even after the end of a conflict.

They persist in unplodced ordinances which still dot the soil.

“Each unploded shell remains in a field, a school courtyard or an alley is A death sentence waiting to be triggered“Said Ms. Sen Gupta.

They persist in the spaces that remain destroyed, preventing children from accessing health care and education.

And they persist in the trauma and injuries that never completely leave a child.

Scars that never heal

Children who survive serious violations do not escape unscathed – if they suffered from violence, wounds will remain with them a lifetime. And even if they were not injured, the trauma remains.

“The physical and psychological scars carried by the survivors last a lifetimeAffecting families, communities and the very fabric of societies, “said Ms. Gamba.

This is why UNICEF and its partners worked to provide reinstatement programs and psychosocial support to children victims of serious violations.

Sila said that the trauma of her childhood is still with her and pushed her to become children’s defender in conflicts.

“From this moment, nothing felt normal in my life. I developed a phobia of all sound that looks like an airplane, darkness and even silence, “she said.

‘It cannot be the new normal’

Ms. Gamba called for “an unshakable conviction and an urgent action” of the international community in order to overthrow the disturbing trends that the report details.

“” We cannot afford to return to the dark ages where children were invisible and victims of armed conflict speech… Please do not allow them to retreat in the shadow of despair, ”she said.

Current humanitarian aid financing reductions lead to the work of United Nations agencies and partners to document and respond to serious violations against children.

In light of this, the call of Ms. Sen Gupta to the Security Council was simple: “Fund this program”.

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

Despite the devastation that the report detailed, there were “glimmer of hope” according to Ms. Sen Gupta. For example, the Syrian national army has signed an action plan that will prevent the recruitment, death and mutilation of children.

Sila also spoke of hope – she hopes hers is the latest generation to undergo these serious violations.

“I come from a generation that has survived. Physically, “she said. “Our body has survived, but our hearts always live in fear. Please help us replace the word movement by return, the word rubble by the house, the word war by life. ”

Each dollar invested in girls’ education reports an average yield of $ 2.80, translating into billions of additional GDP. Likewise, each dollar spent on water and sanitation saves $ 4.30 in health costs.

Simple mathematics, not miracles

These are not miracles – these are measurable results. Mathematics do not recognize sex or infrastructure; It simply reflects the truth in number. And these figures make a convincing case: helping countries with the least resources benefit everyone, including those who have the most.

Even a single dollar, strategically invested, can make a profound difference.

For example, the allowance of only $ 1 per person per year to combat non -transmitted diseases could prevent nearly seven million deaths by 2030. Likewise, each dollar spent on disaster risk reduction can save up to $ 15 in recovery costs.

However, despite such convincing evidence, development aid is often poorly understood – considered by some as a simple charity and by others as a profit vehicle.

Equity, no charity

The latest United Nations Development Program Report on Afghan Entrepreneurs defies skeptics.

This underlines that these women do not seek charity – they require an equitable chance of succeeding. Winning their own income gives them an independence measure, which in turn strengthens the communities in which they live.

Against all expectations, they generate income, create jobs and build more enriching and more enriching lives.

Expand access to public and private financing, guarantee loans, offer preferential conditions on international markets and strengthen support networks can fuel business growth and promote a more prosperous future – whether in Afghanistan Or EcuadorOr anywhere between the two.

FFD4 faces solid -contrary winds

These examples – from education and health to entrepreneurship and resilience to disasters – paint a clear story and data: intelligent investments in development pay dividends for everyone.

This message should be at the center of next time Fourth United Nations Conference on Development Financing which will be held in the Spanish city of Seville, from June 30 to July 3. But the summit, known by its clumsy acronym FFD4, faces opposite winds.

Even if the merchanting countries at the UN headquarters in New York agreed a week ago on a radical result document – which should be adopted at the end of the conference and intended to guide the future of global development aid – some nations are retreating.

In particular, the United States has announced that it would not send delegation at all in Seville.

And even if there are notable exceptions, including Spain, which has increased its budgetary development funding allowances by 12%, the upcoming uncertain landscape has led the UN secretary general Antono Guterres to be deplored that “global collaboration is actively questioned”.

This interrogation is reflected in the annual deficit of $ 4 billions of development in development, as well as in abandoning previous commitments and the delivery of aid by donors to what the Secretary General called “a historic speed and scale”.

In addition, the Sustainable development objectivesSigned by all world leaders only 10 years ago, are far from the track.

What is at stake in Seville?

Success in Seville “will demand that other countries Fill the vacuum cleaner in world leadership And demonstrate a credible commitment to multilateral cooperation, which is essential to our survival, “said Jayati Ghosh, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

The significant steps must include deep reforms of the international financial system. As it stands, it does not meet the needs of developing countries while firmly protecting the interests of richer nations.

Consider this: developing countries face interest rates at least twice as high as those paid by developed nations. And today, the average rates billed by private creditors at these countries have reached their highest levels in 15 years.

What help gives, debt removes

Developing countries spent a record of $ 1.4 billion in external debt service in 2023, the highest in 20 years.

At the same time, in 2024, more than 1.1 billion people live in developing countries where the external debt service represents more than 20% of government revenues, and almost 2.2 billion live in developing countries where the percentage is greater than 10%.

Payment of interest on this debt hinders development by preventing investments in health and education infrastructure services, to name only two examples.

The restructuring of the debt is therefore essential, because a large part of the hope of development is lost in the context and taking aid and debt.

Promote investments in what works

Eradicating hunger, advancing gender equality, protecting the environment, facing climate change and saving our oceans are not radical ideas.

Despite the affirmations of certain highly ideological points of view according to which the sustainable development objectives represent an extremist program, they are, in fact, a shared reference base – an urgent set of priorities that humanity requires and that the leaders of 193 countries were committed in 2015.

Despite the noise made by those who oppose development and multilateralism, they are a minority, explains the Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation.

Ana Granados Galindo considers Seville as “a world solidarity lighthouse”.

Meanwhile, while the world is preparing for FFD4, mathematics, statistics and Afghan women continue to work on their “development magic” of common sense.