“When States become the main violators of the rights of children, this signals a dramatic disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law, and an erosion of the principle that States bear the primary responsibility to protect their populations, including children,” a senior UN official said.
Briefing the Security Council, Vanessa Frazier, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said, “The United Nations Monitoring and Reporting mechanism verified 38,558 grave violations against children, affecting 24,174 children. The process of verification was undertaken in 2025, thus including violations that have taken place in previous years. This is the highest verified number of children affected by violations in any year since the establishment of the children and armed conflict mandate.”
She noted that in 2025 the report showed a concerning shift. “For the first time, Government forces are the main perpetrators of grave violations against children overall, and specifically the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals and the denial of humanitarian access.”
Frazier said, “That is not a marginal development. That is a profound and deeply troubling shift. When States become the main violators of the rights of children, this signals a dramatic disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law, and an erosion of the principle that States bears the primary responsibility to protect their populations, including children.”
According to the report, “The highest levels of violations in 2025 were verified in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Myanmar, and Somalia.”
Elpida Rouka’s first name means hope in Greek, a feeling that can sometimes be elusive when serving in the most troubled places on earth. Currently a senior political affairs officer in Geneva, she is a survivor of the 2003 Baghdad Canal Hotel bombing, the deadliest attack in UN history.
“First you feel the shake, and the light, and then the blast, the sound comes. I blacked out between exiting the building, but when I was out, there was just a scene of a massacre. The only thing I recall after that was being thrown a phone and told: ‘Call your parents, now.’”
Humanitarian workers are routinely exposed to primary and secondary trauma. Yet stigma and survivor’s guilt can prevent aid workers seeking timely help for post-traumatic stress. In this episode, Elpida Rouka reflects on grief, loss, and mental and physical scars, and shares why the exact wording of the preamble of the UN Charter has helped give her the strength to heal.
[00:00] Introduction
[01:22] Recalling the 2003 Canal Hotel Bombing
[10:01] The emotional toll of survival
[11:51] Returning to her work in Iraq
[13:23] How the attack brought renewed determination
[17:31] Life across conflict zones
[21:14] The triggers of personal loss
[23:23] Pathway to recovery
[30:12] Roots of purpose
[33:22] Reflections on contribution and impact
[35:05] Finding hope in conflict-affected communities
[38:30] Balancing service and wellbeing
[39:03] Closing remarks
Listen to more Awake at Night episodes https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoDFQJEq_0b6hu1e8oxsch9W0D7vkNqt
#podcast #UnitedNations #AwakeAtNight #Trauma #Healing
About Awake at Night
Hosted by Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, the podcast ‘Awake at Night’ is an in-depth interview series focusing on remarkable United Nations staff members who dedicate their career to helping people in parts of the world where they have the hardest lives – from war zones and displacement camps to areas hit by disasters and the devastation of climate change.
Noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
Highlights:
Secretary-General Travel
Security Council
UNIFIL
Lebanon
Occupied Palestinian Territory
Yemen
Sudan
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ethiopia
Costa Rica
Women in Diplomacy
Guest Tomorrow
SECRETARY-GENERAL TRAVEL
The Secretary-General will be back in New York later today following his participation in London Climate Action Week.
This morning, the Secretary-General addressed the Climate and Development Finance Forum 2026. The Secretary-General underscored that climate adaptation is no longer about preparing for a distant future. It’s about managing risks in real time, as the searing heat now gripping London and far beyond makes unmistakably clear.
Also today, the Secretary-General addressed a Super Pollutants Reception. He noted that the climate crisis is accelerating, and we are now on course to overshoot the 1.5-degree limit in the coming years.
Our task, the Secretary-General stressed, is to keep that overshoot as small, short, and safe as possible, and to bring temperatures back down. He said that can’t happen without drastically reducing emissions, starting now, and accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels, starting now.
The Secretary-General stressed that it requires steps to end deforestation and protect nature, and it demands the world to move fast on super pollutants, the potent greenhouse gases that are behind nearly half the warming so far. He noted that methane is the super Super-pollutant, so cutting methane is the single fastest brake we can pull on a warming planet, adding that this is why he launched yesterday a global Call to Action on Methane.
Before leaving London, the Secretary-General met Arsenio Dominguez, the Secretary-General of International Maritime Organization. The Secretary-General expressed his full support to IMO’s efforts to release the seafarers stranded in the Gulf.
And last evening, the Secretary-General was awarded the Kew International Medal in recognition of his global leadership on climate change, biodiversity loss and collective action for people and planet. The Secretary-General said that he accepted the medal not for himself, but for the United Nations, and all those who work in the United Nations.
SECURITY COUNCIL
Vanessa Frazier, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, told the Security Council this morning that the United Nations Monitoring and Reporting mechanism verified 38,558 grave violations against children, affecting 24,174 children – which, she said, is the highest verified number of children affected by violations in any year since the establishment of the children and armed conflict mandate.
The Special Representative warned that this year’s report shows that, for the first time, Government forces are the main perpetrators of grave violations against children overall, and specifically the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals and the denial of humanitarian access. That is a profound and deeply troubling shift, she said.
Ms. Frazier told the Council that the highest levels of violations in 2025 were verified in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Myanmar, and Somalia.
She added that the growing integration of unmanned systems and artificial intelligence into warfare is transforming the conduct of hostilities. Unless accompanied by meaningful human oversight, she said, these technologies risk increasing harm to children and distancing decision-makers from the human consequences of war.
Catherine Russell, the UNICEF Executive Director, told the Council about efforts taken by different governments – including in Colombia, Haiti and Syria – to improve the protection of children and end their recruitment for armed conflict. The Children and Armed Conflict framework works when there is political will, she said.
Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date=2026-06-24
UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, is in London, where he is attending a series of events taking place during the London Climate Action Week. In his special address on climate and energy, Mr. Guterres launched a global Call to Action on Methane and also proposed an AI Environmental Transparency Initiative.
In a special medal ceremony in Kew Gardens, the Secretary-General received the Kew International Medal on behalf of the United Nations.
The UN Security Council meets for an open debate on strengthening protections for children caught in armed conflict. The Secretary-General’s latest report reveals that in 2025, soldiers and Government forces were responsible for more grave violations against children in armed conflict than non-State armed groups, marking a first in 30 years of UN monitoring.
UN Special Representative for the Central African Republic Valentine Rugwabiza said that four years down the road, the country has made remarkable and tangible progress towards lasting peace and security, with the instrumental support of MINUSCA.
Addressing the Security Council about the Central African Republic, Rugwabiza said, “The progress made with the implementation of the political and peace processes, the effective extension of State authority and presence across the CAR territory, protection of civilians, the preparation and conduct of historic coupled elections of December 2025, is the result of sustained efforts by the Central African authorities and people, with the multidimensional support of MINUSCA. These gains must now be preserved and consolidated.”
She also noted, “While the security situation has generally improved across the country over the years, it remains fragile in several border areas. In the northeast, the impact of the conflict in Sudan is of particular concern with renewed armed activity along the border, including cross-border incursions targeting civilians, particularly in the Vakaga Prefecture. In the southeast, the attacks and abductions by the AAKG militia continue to be source of insecurity in the Haut-Mbomou and Mbomou Prefectures.”
She stressed, “There is a need for a comprehensive and detailed plan to address critical gaps in the capabilities of the security sector, a plan based on strong national ownership with the support of international partners. This is critical to ensuring that the mandated gradual transfer of MINUSCA security tasks to national defense and security forces will not risk strategic reversal of security achievements.”
Briefing by Indrika Ratwatte, Acting Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, on the situation in the Middle East.
Ratwatte said, “A better future for Syria remains within reach. After more than a decade of crisis, there is now a genuine opportunity to help Syrians move from survival towards recovery. There are clear signs of progress towards recovery, reconstruction and development. Yet, humanitarian needs remain acute, displacement persists, and conditions for sustainable returns are still uneven across the country. This moment requires ambition anchored in realism: sustained humanitarian action, political will and investment are essential to help Syrians move beyond emergency assistance and rebuild their lives.”
Secretary-General António Guterres said, “The age of clean electrification is here. The question is whether we can build the grids and storage, mobilize the investment, and deliver the infrastructure at the speed and scale required.”
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, made the appeal in remarks to the inaugural Global Energy Transition and Electrification Summit, held in London alongside London Climate Action Week.
Guterres told the summit the world is facing two interconnected crises: accelerating climate chaos pushing the planet past the 1.5-degree Celsius limit, and the most severe energy upheaval in years, driving up prices and straining economies. Both crises, he said, share one cause – fossil fuels, which still account for around 80 per cent of global energy use.
Three-quarters of the world’s people live in countries dependent on imported fossil fuels, he added, leaving them reliant on energy “they do not control,” at prices “they cannot predict.”
Renewables, however, are now the cheapest, fastest and most scalable source of new electricity in most of the world, the Secretary-General noted. More than 90 per cent of new renewable power projects delivered electricity at a lower cost than fossil fuels last year, he said, and wind and solar are leading all new electricity demand growth worldwide.
