UN children and conflict list ‘lacks credibility and accuracy’

• Last year was the worst on record for incidents of killing and maiming children
• World Vision raises concerns as UN issues its report
• Documented perpetrators are ‘being let off the hook” says the aid agency

Friday, August 2, (NEW YORK) – After the UN this week released the Secretary-General’s annual report on children in armed conflict, World Vision is calling for greater accountability for children.

The report reveals there were more than 24,000 grave violations of children’s rights last year, with the highest number of children killed and maimed, and more than 1,000 verified attacks on schools and healthcare facilities.

 “For too many children born in some of the most dangerous places in the world, this report is their last chance for any kind of accountability, which is why it is disappointing for the annual report to not be fully credible and accurate to UN verified data,” said World Vision Representative to the UN, Lyndsay Hockin, in New York.

“Last year was horrific, with the real number of violations likely to be more than double the official figures. Yet, states and non-state groups documented by the UN for violating children’s rights are being let off the hook.”

There are limited chances for children and communities to hold perpetrators to account, which is why this report must, said Hockin.

Since its creation in 2005, the United Nations Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) on the six grave violations of children’s rights (killing and maiming, recruitment and use, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals, denial of humanitarian assistance) forms the basis for the UN Secretary-General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict.

“Naming and shaming has a role to play, we would like to see this be credible and accurate,” said Hockin.

“Decisions not to list parties at all, to offer undue praise to parties who continue to perpetrate, or to omit perpetrating parties for certain rights violations all deeply and devastatingly undermine the reporting mechanism at the heart of this key form of accountability.”

“It’s time we stood for protection, justice and accountability for children,” says Hockin.

ENDS