Children are being denied access to life-saving humanitarian aid in conflict zones around the world in blatant disregard for international law, a senior United Nations official told the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday. Speakers at the hearing focused in particular on the alarming situation for children in Gaza and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Sudan, Haiti, Yemen, Myanmar, Mali, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
“Let me be very clear: The Geneva Conventions and the Convention on the Rights of the Child contain key provisions requiring the facilitation of humanitarian relief to children in need,” Virginia Gamba, the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, told a Security Council meeting.
“The denial of humanitarian access to children and attacks against humanitarian workers assisting children are also prohibited under international humanitarian law,” she said.
Her office verified nearly 4,000 such cases of denial of aid in 2022, she said, with the highest numbers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Yemen, Afghanistan and Mali. Gamba said data for her office's upcoming 2024 report - which will cover 2023 - shows “we are on target to witness a shocking increase” in the denial of access globally.
“Some situations involve high levels of arbitrary impediments and/or outright denial of humanitarian access to children, including in situations such as in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and in Haiti to name but two,” she said.
Denial of humanitarian access is one of the six grave violations monitored by the UN-led Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict, established by Security Council resolution 1612 (2005).
Gamba said denial of access is linked to restrictions on humanitarian activities and movement, interference with humanitarian operations and discrimination against aid recipients, direct and indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure, disinformation, looting, and the detention, violence and killing of humanitarian personnel.
She emphasized that “all parties should be held […] accountable when preventing children from receiving life-saving assistance, which threatens their existence”.
Children are particularly affected by the lack of food, education and health care, which can have lifelong consequences. Gamba said it is even more disastrous for children with disabilities. And it affects boys differently than girls.
“For instance, restrictions to girls’ movement challenge their access to aid in areas where it may be distributed, including in internally displaced persons camps, while teenage boys could be perceived as associated with an opposing party and, therefore, denied that access,” she said.
Gamba called on all parties to allow and facilitate safe, timely and unhindered humanitarian access, as well as access by children to services, assistance and protection, and to ensure the security of humanitarian personnel and assets. She said hospitals, schools and their staff must also be protected under international humanitarian law.
Describing the critical situation in several contexts, Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said that in Gaza, the widespread destruction of logistical infrastructure, a de facto blockade on the north of the Strip, repeated denials or delays in granting access to humanitarian convoys, and power and telecommunications cuts have had a devastating impact on children.
As a result, dozens of children in northern Gaza have reportedly died of malnutrition and dehydration in recent weeks.
On the world's worst child displacement crisis - Sudan - he said the blatant disregard for permits to deliver aid - essential to protect children from the effects of conflict in Darfur, Kordofan and Khartoum - has greatly exacerbated their suffering.
Similarly, in Myanmar, intensified conflict and increased restrictions on aid have hampered critical assistance, with access to safe water a major challenge for children living in hard-to-reach areas.
Chaiban urged the Security Council to help humanitarian workers get the access they need. He stressed that aid groups need more exemptions in sanctions resolutions for their work, the ability to engage with all armed groups without fear of consequences, and access across borders and conflict lines.
"Around the world, our teams on the ground are working under increasingly difficult operational circumstances to access children," the UNICEF official said, adding they are committed to staying and delivering.
“Children are the first to suffer and the ones who will carry the longest-lasting humanitarian consequences,” he said. “Parties have a legal and moral responsibility to ensure children’s access to humanitarian services.”
In the ensuing discussion, Council members expressed concern about the consistent denial of humanitarian access for children, detailing the alarming situations for children in Gaza, Sudan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Haiti, Yemen and Myanmar.
Many speakers also paid tribute to the seven humanitarian workers killed by Israeli forces in Gaza on Monday, recalling that humanitarian workers should always be protected under international humanitarian law.
On April 1, seven aid workers from the US-based charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in multiple Israeli airstrikes on their convoy as they were leaving their warehouse after unloading more than 100 tons of humanitarian aid.
“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” Erin Gore, the WCK Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
The seven aid workers killed were from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, United States / Canada, and Palestine. Since October 7, Israeli forces have killed more than 200 humanitarian workers in Gaza.
Some information for this report provided by VOA.
Further information
Website: Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/