• The impact of armed conflicts on children around the world reached devastating and likely record levels in 2024.

• Almost 19 per cent of the world’s children – over 47.3 crore – now live in conflict zones, and 47.2 million have been displaced by conflict and violence.

• From Palestine to Myanmar, Haiti to Sudan, the world is experiencing the highest number of conflicts since World War II. Thousands of children have been killed and injured in Gaza, and in Ukraine.

• There have been widespread reports of rape and sexual violence against women and girls in conflict settings.

• In Haiti, so far this year, there has been a 1,000 per cent increase in reported incidents of sexual violence against children. In situations of armed conflict, children with disabilities also tend to be disproportionately exposed to violence and rights violations.

Impact of armed conflicts on children

Children do not start wars, but they pay the highest price for them. They  are more likely than adults to be killed or maimed by explosive weapons. They lose the protection and care of family members and friends. They are abducted from their homes, recruited by armed groups and sexually violated. Their schools and hospitals are destroyed, and many are denied life-saving aid, based simply on who they are or where they live.

Children account for 30 per cent of the global population, yet on average account for roughly 40 per cent of refugee populations and 49 per cent of internally displaced people.

A child growing up in a conflict zone is far more likely to be out of school, malnourished, or forced from their home — too often repeatedly — compared to a child living in places of peace. This must not be the new normal.

Education severely disrupted

• More than 52 million children in countries affected by conflict are estimated to be out of school.

• Children in the Gaza Strip, and a significant portion of children in Sudan, have missed out on more than a year of education, while in countries such as Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Syria, schools have been damaged, destroyed or repurposed, leaving millions of children without access to learning.

• The destruction of educational infrastructure and insecurity near schools have exacerbated an already dire situation for children’s education in these regions.

Malnutrition and famine

• Malnutrition among children in conflict zones has also risen to alarming levels, as conflict and armed violence continue to be the primary drivers of hunger in numerous hotspots, disrupting food systems, displacing populations, and obstructing humanitarian access.

• For example, in Sudan, famine was declared in North Darfur, the first famine determination since 2017. 

• In 2024, more than half a million people in five conflict-affected countries are estimated to be living in the most extreme food insecurity situations.

Healthcare threatened

• Conflicts are also having a devastating effect on children’s access to critical healthcare.

• Around 40 per cent of unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children live in countries that are either partially or entirely affected by conflict.

• These children are often the most vulnerable to disease outbreaks like measles and polio, because of disruptions and lack of access to security, nutrition, and health services.

• The impact on children’s mental health is also huge. Exposure to violence, destruction and the loss of loved ones can result in reactions such as depression, nightmares and difficulty sleeping, aggressive or withdrawn behaviour, sadness and fear, among others.

Children in war zones face a daily struggle for survival that deprives them of a childhood. Their schools are bombed, homes destroyed, and families torn apart. They lose not only their safety and access to basic life-sustaining necessities, but also their chance to play, to learn, and to simply be children.