Noting that the world is witnessing a dangerous and worrying trend of an increase in the number of children being recruited and involved in terrorism-related activities, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Monday said there is need for a more coordinated approach in implementing the child protection and counter-terrorism agendas.
He said there must be greater accountability and sincere efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice by governments from whose territory such entities operate.
Addressing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) high-level open debate on children and armed conflict on Monday evening through video conferencing, Shringla said COVID-19 pandemic has further negatively impacted children in situations of armed conflict, including by hampering their access to education, health and social services.
"It has made them susceptible to grave violations, particularly through recruitment and abduction. It is, therefore, important that states keep child protection concerns at the core of their pandemic response measures and recovery plans," he said.
Shringla said the scale and severity of violations perpetrated against children in armed conflict remain on the rise.
He said national governments have the primary responsibility for protecting the rights of the child as mandated by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
" We are witnessing a dangerous and worrying trend in global terrorism and that is an increase in the number of children that are being recruited and involved in terrorism-related activities. Terror groups take advantage of the fact that children are the most susceptible to manipulation. School closures due to the pandemic have provided an even greater opportunity to these terrorist groups to target children, including through online avenues, for radicalization and indoctrination in violent extremist ideologies.