Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) 2018

In 2018, killing and maiming of children reached record high levels since the creation of the monitoring and reporting mechanism on children and armed conflict. More than 24 000 grave violations against children were recorded by the United Nations in 20 countries. Children in Afghanistan accounted for 28% of all casualties in the country (amounting to 3 062 child deaths). In Syria, 1 854 children died due to airstrikes and cluster munitions, whereas 1 689 children in Yemen suffered in fighting and other offenses.

Trends in 2018 saw a steady occurrence of grave violations against children by non-state actors, while there was an alarming increase in grave violations by state-actors and international forces. New war tactics, as well as a decline in adherence to international law, were identified as two contributing factors.

Please note that the following report excludes the Saudi and Emirati-led coalition from the list of perpetrators on grave violations against children. 726 casualties of children in Yemen were the direct result of attacks led by the coalition in 2018.