Thank you, Mister President,
Let me begin by welcoming H.E. Mr Giorgos Gerapetritis, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, as the President of this meeting.
I thank all of the briefers – Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, Ms Vanesa Frazier, Executive Director of UNICEF, Ms Catherine Russell, African Union Special Envoy for CAAC, Ms Jainaba Jagne, and Ms Bethany Ellis, the Director of Watchlist on CAAC, – for their vital contributions and unwavering dedication.
But we must ask ourselves a simple, yet uncomfortable question: how can we do more and do better?
The global situation remains deeply alarming. Last year, the UN has verified more than 14 thousand cases of children killed or maimed, with a horrifying 34 percent increase in the number of children killed. Children continue to be recruited by armed groups in the DRC, Nigeria and Haiti, and beyond. Attacks on schools and hospitals reached tragic highs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine and Myanmar. Child abductions rose to the highest level reported since 2005.
In Ukraine, Russia’s war of aggression continues to steal childhoods and shatter families. Children are killed in their homes and on playgrounds. Schools and hospitals are targeted, while air raid sirens force children to shelter underground for hours in freezing darkness as Russia’s attacks persist. The unlawful deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children constitute clear, outrageous violations of international law. Echoing the strong call of the UN General Assembly, we demand their immediate and unconditional return.
Mister President,
Recently, I hosted a group of Ukrainian children in Latvia. They spoke of learning to recognise, by sound alone, which drones overhead were the deadliest. Some had lost loved ones; others had no homes to return to. And during my own visit to Ukraine, standing in a kindergarten shattered by a Russian missile, I saw firsthand, how even the safest spaces for our youngest have been turned into ruins. Indeed, no child anywhere in the world would have to carry such horrors.
At the same time, emerging technologies are creating terrifying new risks. Terrorist groups, such as ISIS, exploit online games to recruit children. In Khrakiv, Russia has used online platforms to manipulate minors into acting as informants or saboteurs. I fully agree with you, Mister President, we urgently need stronger safeguards, built in close partnership with tech companies and the civil society. Children’s rights must be protected online just as fiercely as offline. In this regard, Latvia has submitted its national comments on the ILC draft articles on crimes against humanity, to explicitly include the recruitment and use of children among the acts that may constitute crimes against humanity.
Mister President,
The international community has the tools: the monitoring and reporting mechanism, action plans, the 15 Security Council’s resolutions and targeted sanctions. However, commitments on paper will not protect a single child without real implementation.
We urge parties listed in the Secretary General’s report for committing grave violations to engage with the UN and sign and implement concrete, time bound action plans to end and prevent grave violations. This is the only path to delisting.
Latvia is concerned by the lack of resources for UN Missions for the protection of children, as the crisis deepens on the ground. Thus, we will continue to advocate for child protection as an essential component of mission mandates. We are also concerned that the lack of agreement of subsidiary body chairs has prevented the Working Group of CAAC from performing its functions. Given the importance of its conclusions for protection efforts on the ground, we stress the need to reach an agreement without further delay to ensure that the Working Group can resume its work.
Thirty years of this mandate have proven what sustained international engagement can achieve. Now is not the time to step back.
Mister President,
Latvia will continue to stand up and speak out. Every child, in every conflict, deserves to grow up in safety, peace and dignity.
I thank you.