Every war is a war against children. But it must never be accepted as an inevitability by Save the Children International, agencies   Mar. 2026   “Children were already paying the highest price in wars worldwide, and the escalating conflict in the Middle East is only deepening the crisis, with hundreds killed, thousands displaced, and millions living in fear.   As the world marks Annual Day on the Rights of the Child this year, bombardment, displacement, and terror are inflicting new wounds on a generation of children across the Middle East and wider region, many of whom already carry the physical and mental scars of years of violence, insecurity, or deprivation. What our teams are seeing and hearing is devastating.   More than 200 children have been killed in the first week, according to official and media reports. Across the region, children are terrified - unable to sleep as sirens sound or blasts shake the walls around them.   In Iran, children were killed in their classrooms. In Israel, where children have also died, rocket and drone attacks have forced thousands of children back into bomb shelters.   In Lebanon, families are fleeing for the second or third time. In Gaza, closures at crossings bring fears of prolonged siege and deprivation, and in the West Bank, checkpoint closures have prevented children from going to school. This latest escalation compounds harm upon harm.   In every conflict - from Ukraine to the Democratic Republic of Congo - children bear the heaviest burden. Children are seven times more likely to die from blast injuries than adults. When hunger sets in and malnutrition strikes, their developing bodies succumb faster, and preventable childhood illnesses become fatal.   The harms do not end when the hostilities do. The wounds of war follow children through their lives.   The current conflict in the Middle East and wider region is unfolding against the backdrop of a fracturing of the laws, norms, and institutions designed to protect civilians and uphold the rights of the most vulnerable. Children are among the intended beneficiaries of that system. They are also its most visible victims when it fails.   There was a record number of grave violations against children in armed conflict documented by the United Nations in 2024, with violations including killing, maiming, abduction, sexual violence, recruitment into armed groups, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access to children. These are not abstract statistics, but rather a record of our collective failure.   We have the tools to protect children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Geneva Conventions, and the Children and Armed Conflict mechanisms are enshrined in international law and exist precisely to prevent what we are now witnessing.   Yet many in positions of power are failing to uphold these laws, and the broader international community is failing to ensure compliance.   Leaders have spent the better part of a decade perfecting the art of deep concern - releasing statements that are masterpieces of diplomatic posturing but that fall short of consequence.   When the law becomes a set of suggestions rather than a collective responsibility, children pay the price.   Last year, Sila, 17, from Idlib, Syria, addressed the United Nations Security Council, the body charged with overseeing international peace and security. Sila shared her powerful experience of growing up amidst conflict in Syria for almost her entire childhood:   “I am from a generation that survived physically, but our hearts still live in fear. Help us replace the word ‘displacement’ with ‘return’, the word ‘rubble’ with ‘home’, and the word ‘war’ with ‘life’.”   Today, Sila and more than 100 million children like her across the Middle East are once again living under the terrifying shadow of an expanding war. Her plea should echo in every chamber of power.   Over a century ago, Save the Children’s founder, Eglantyne Jebb, declared that “every war is a war against children.” That truth is as irrefutable today as it was then. But it must not be accepted as an inevitability. It is a choice.   Leaders must prioritise diplomacy over escalation, uphold international law, and ensure that all States renew their commitment to global stability and the mechanisms designed to protect children in armed conflict before erosion becomes irreversible and children around the world pay the highest price.   We must reject a global system that has decided children’s lives are acceptable geopolitical collateral. The stakes could not be higher - and the time for posture alone has long passed.”   http://www.savethechildren.net/news/every-war-war-against-children-it-must-never-be-accepted-inevitability-statement-save-children http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/child-casualties-rise-amidst-deepening-middle-east-conflict http://www.icrc.org/en/statement/unhrc-statement-children-rights-armed-conflict
	4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024 - Most deaths were preventable by UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality   Mar. 2026   An estimated 4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024, including 2.3 million newborns, according to new United Nations estimates – highlighting a worrying slowdown in global progress on child survival.   Most of these deaths were preventable with proven, low-cost interventions and access to quality health care, the report stresses.   The Levels and Trends in Child Mortality report by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation shows that, although under-five deaths have fallen since 2000, the pace of reduction has slowed by more than 60 per cent since 2015.   Among its key findings, more than 100,000 children aged between one month and five, died directly from severe acute malnutrition – the first global estimate of such deaths – with some of the highest numbers recorded in Pakistan, Somalia and Sudan.   Experts however warn the true toll is likely much higher, as malnutrition weakens immunity and increases vulnerability to other diseases, while many cases go unrecorded.   “No child should die from diseases that we know how to prevent. But we see worrying signs that progress in child survival is slowing – and at a time where we’re seeing further global budget cuts,” said Catherine Russell, Executive Director for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).   Child deaths are not evenly distributed. In many countries, inequities based on geography, income, maternal education, access to water and sanitation, and broader social protections shape a child’s chances of survival.   Fragile and conflict affected settings face the steepest challenges, with limited access to essential health services and greater exposure to overlapping risks.   Yet even with these challenges, the global evidence is clear: where targeted investments have been made, child mortality has fallen sharply. But where health systems are fragile or under resourced, progress remains slow or has stalled entirely.   Infectious diseases remain a major threat, with the nine leading infections accounting for 43 per cent of under-five deaths globally. Beyond the first month of life, illnesses such as malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia continue to be leading causes of death.   Child deaths remain concentrated in countries where conflict, climate shocks, invasive mosquitos, drug resistance, and other biological threats continue to affect access to prevention and treatment.   Newborn deaths account for nearly half of all under-five mortality, reflecting slower progress in preventing deaths around the time of birth. Complications from preterm birth and those arising during labour and delivery are the leading causes, alongside infections.   Geographical disparities remain stark. Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 58 per cent of all under-five deaths in 2024, while Southern Asia represented a further 25 per cent.   Children in fragile and conflict-affected settings are nearly three times more likely to die before their fifth birthday than those elsewhere.   The report also notes that 2.1 million children, adolescents and young people aged 5 to 24, died in 2024. While infectious diseases and injuries remain leading causes among younger children.   UN officials warned that declining development financing is placing essential maternal, newborn and child health programmes under increasing strain.   “No child should die from diseases that we know how to prevent. But we see worrying signs that progress in child survival is slowing – and at a time where we’re seeing further global budget cuts,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.   “Too many children still die from preventable causes,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “We must protect essential health and nutrition services and reach the most vulnerable families so every child has the chance not only to survive but to thrive.”   Li Liu, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health: “The science is clear: targeted investments in primary health care, maternal and newborn health services, routine immunization, nutrition programmes, and quality and timely data systems can save millions of lives.”   The report underscores that investments in child health with proven interventions such as vaccines, nutrition programmes and skilled care at birth are capable of saving millions of lives.   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/progress-reducing-child-deaths-slows-49-million-children-under-five-die-2024 http://data.unicef.org/resources/levels-and-trends-in-child-mortality-2025/ Visit the related web page
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