Source: United Nations (video statements)
Briefing by Sheema Sen Gupta, Director of Child Protection and Migration, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), on children and armed conflict.
UNICEF’s Director of Child Protection, Sheema Sen Gupta, said, “we are witnessing a breakdown in the basic protections each of these children is owed — not just as a legal matter, but as a matter of human decency.”
Gupta said, “children are not collateral damage. They are not soldiers. They are not bargaining chips. They are children. They deserve to be safe. They deserve justice. They deserve a future. This Council has a unique role to play in making that future possible. We cannot allow these grave violations against children to continue unchecked.”