Mr. President,

I have the pleasure to deliver this statement on behalf of the Geneva Group of Friends on Children and Armed Conflict.

Over eleven years of armed conflict in Syria have deeply traumatized children in the country and the region. As extensively documented by the Commission of Inquiry in its report presented to the 43rd HRC session, children endured multiple violations and abuses of their human rights, having been regularly targeted, killed, maimed, recruited, detained and used in armed conflict. 

The OHCHR report on civil deaths in Syria, recorded from March 2011 to March 2021, over 27,000 deaths of children, meaning on average 18 children lost their lives every day in Syria.

Children have been deprived of education and their childhood, as schools and other educational facilities have been deliberately attacked by all parties to the conflict, in particular by the Syrian authorities and its allies.

Rape and sexual and gender-based violence have systematically been used against girls and boys as a tool of punishment and humiliation and to instill fear among affected Syrian communities.

We urge all parties to the conflict to immediately cease all violations, especially the six grave violations against children, to respect child rights and to comply with the respective obligations under applicable international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

Finally, while commending the work of the Commission of Inquiry and the IIIM in documenting and collecting information on the ongoing violations against children in Syria, we would like to encourage these mechanisms to continue keeping their focus on children and to strengthen their cooperation with the SRSG on Children and Armed Conflict.

Thank you.