UN drops India from the list of countries where children are impacted by armed conflict
This is the first time since 2010 that India isn’t included in the list
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has removed India from the list of countries where children are impacted by armed conflict in his annual report for the first time since 2010 citing improved measures taken by the Indian government.
India was initially included in the list in 2010 after allegations and reports of young children joining armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir emerged. There were also reports that young children were detained by the army for having connections and being part of such armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir. India was in the list along with countries such as Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Cameroon, Nigeria and The Philippines.
The UN Secretary-General has also acknowledged India’s technical mission and a workshop on strengthening child protection which took place in November 2022 in Jammu and Kashmir and also had involvement from the United Nations.
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, stated that India had been working closely with the United Nations for the past two years, indicating a commitment to prevention and the establishment of sustainable measures to protect children.
In the latest report, Guterres has also called upon India to implement the remaining measures that were discussed between the Indian government and the representatives from the UN. These include the training of armed and security forces on child protection, prohibition of the use of lethal and non-lethal force on children, including ending the use of pellet guns, ensuring that children are detained as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.
Antonio Guterres also stressed on the implementation of measures to prevent all forms of ill-treatment in detention and the full implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
In 2022, the United Nations verified 27,180 grave violations, with 24,300 committed in 2022 and 2,880 committed earlier but verified during that year. These violations affected a total of 18,890 children in 24 situations and one regional monitoring arrangement. The report identified killing, maiming,
