The Council of the European Union today adopted the updated EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict, which were first adopted in 2003 and then updated in 2008.

The updated version intends to strengthen the EU’s contribution to the respect, protection, and fulfilment of the rights of children in armed conflict and other situations of armed violence by terrorist organisations or organised criminal groups, globally. They will serve as an operational framework for all member states and EU institutions working in this area.

“The Council is gravely concerned about the rise of violations of children’s rights in the context of armed conflict, exacerbated by the proliferation of wars, including Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its unlawful deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children,” says a press release by the Council of the EU.

The updated EU guidelines are also intended to take new developments into account – e.g. increased threats not least from the use of new technologies and the indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas – and fully align the EU’s approach with the framework established by the United Nations Security Council through successive resolutions, notably ‘the six grave violations against children during times of armed conflict’. They also reinforce the EU’s alignment and cooperation with the mandate of the UN Secretary-General and the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict.

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Press release