The regional conference on preventing grave violations against children in armed conflicts kicked off virtually on Sunday, in coordination with the League of Arab States and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
Qatar hosts the event as president of the 42nd meeting of the Council of Arab Ministers of Social Affairs.
Bringing together Arab Ministers of Social Affairs, the conference will discuss the best regional practices on preventing grave violations against children in armed conflicts and highlight ways to boost regional cooperation.
Addressing the conference, Minister of Social Development and Family HE Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad said the conference aims to discuss our governments' views and ideas that help us crystalize a unified international and Arab position on the issue of preventing grave violations against children in armed conflicts.
She added that the world is facing a complex and deep crisis that threatens the future of childhood amid the rising intensity of armed conflicts, and the absence of peaceful solutions to them, prompting those in charge of humanitarian and development work to harness further efforts and accelerate their coordination to limit the exacerbating humanitarian situation in countries suffering from the scourge of armed conflict, to impose peaceful dialogue and to define guarantees for the protection of children and human rights during conflicts.
Children remain the group most affected by the absence of clear mechanisms to protect them during wars and conflicts, specifically those from poverty-stricken spots, including refugees and displaced persons, as the groups that suffer the greatest share of gross violations and exploitation, Her Excellency said.
She highlighted that the Middle East showed 79 percent of violations against children due to armed conflict, with 93,000 children having been recruited in armed conflicts and more than 25,000 children kidnapped by the armed men between 2005 and 2020. The same period also documented 14,000 cases of child rape or forced marriage at the hands of the parties to the conflict, Her Excellency highlighted.
This complex situation requires doubled efforts and cooperation among all countries of the world, including the Arab countries, to protect children from being exploited, especially in armed conflicts, Her Excellency said, warning that distorted childhood, poverty and ignorance make appropriate incubators for extremism, terrorism and urge to revenge.
She added that childhood in areas of armed conflict generates major future psychological and physical disabilities that exhaust societies, and establish the inheritance of poverty and ignorance.
She stressed that the State of Qatar is always ready to coordinate and cooperate with Arab countries and the world to support people suffering from armed conflicts, including the Sudanese people, and stop the deterioration of social and humanitarian conditions and end the crisis that threatens the future of childhood and the world.
The humanitarian and development aid requires innovative solutions and faster methods to finance relief and development efforts, and to support peace-making programs, she said.
