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STORY: UN / CHILD TRAFFICKING ARMED CONFLICTS
TRT: 02:58
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 03 OCTOBER 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN flag
03 OCTOBER 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, conference room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Siobhán Mullally, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children:
“The report, which has been launched today, places a spotlight on child trafficking in armed conflict. The study is the first of its kind. It analyzes the links between child trafficking and the six grave violations against children in armed conflict, and it is a call to action to address a serious failing in protection through strengthening of monitoring and reporting processes and through documenting the links between child trafficking and the sixth grave violations against children in armed conflict.”
4. Wide shot, conference room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict:
“In countries reviewed, we indeed found that abduction was linked to a range of exploitative purposes, including recruitment and use of children, child marriage and or sexual exploitation. For example, in South Sudan, there is a continued prevalence of conflict related trafficking of children, including abductions for purposes of sexual violence, sexual exploitation and recruitment and use.”
6. Wide shot, conference room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict:
“We also found that the responses taken to child recruitment and use can also generate risks of re-trafficking, such as in Colombia, where there is limited assistance and protection given to children who escaped from armed groups or criminal organizations, who are victims of trafficking and at high risk of reprisal, including killing violence and re trafficking.”
8. Wide shot, conference room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict:
“The lack of humanitarian assistance was cited as a root cause that contributes to increased poverty, that in turn makes children more vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking, including by their families and friends. And the study confirmed that child trafficking patterns like this can occur in conflict settings as families give boys to armed forces or groups in exchange for food or small salary, or girls for marriage to armed forces or groups and to nonparties to conflict.”
10. Wide shot, conference room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director, Humanitarian Action and Support Operations, UNICEF:
"Across the world, it's estimated that one in three of all trafficking victims as a child in some region, this number exceeds 60 percent and while there are important regional variations in the prevalence and types of child trafficking, children are 1.7 times more likely than adults to suffer physical or extreme violence at the hands of traffickers across all regions."
12. Wide shot, conference room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Elizabeth Mary Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, Department of Peacebuilding and Political Affairs
“We know that the best way to protect children from our conflict is to prevent the outbreak of art, conflict in the first place.”
14. Wide shot, end of meeting
Child trafficking in armed conflicts remains a critical and underreported issue, according to a new report presented today (03 Oct) at a UN high-level meeting. The study highlights the links between child trafficking and the six grave violations against children in conflict, urging stronger monitoring and reporting processes.
The six grave violations are killing and maiming, recruitment and use of children, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access.
Siobhán Mullally, UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking said that the report “is a call to action to address a serious failing in protection through strengthening of monitoring and reporting processes.”
Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, noted that in conflict-affected countries, "abduction was linked to a range of exploitative purposes, including recruitment and use of children, child marriage and or sexual exploitation." She said, “for example, in South Sudan, there is a continued prevalence of conflict-related trafficking of children, including abductions for purposes of sexual violence, sexual exploitation, and recruitment.”
Gamba also pointed to Colombia as an example of how inadequate support systems can leave children at risk. Gamba explained, “we found that the responses taken to child recruitment and use can generate risks of re-trafficking,” adding that children who escape armed groups often face reprisals, including further violence and re-trafficking.
A key concern raised in the report is the lack of humanitarian assistance, which contributes to poverty and increases children's vulnerability to trafficking. Gamba said, “in conflict settings, families may give boys to armed groups in exchange for food or small salaries, or girls for marriage to armed forces.”
UNICEF’s Ted Chaiban, Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Support Operations, stressed that children are disproportionately affected by trafficking, noting, “across the world, it's estimated that one in three of all trafficking victims is a child.” He also added, that “children are 1.7 times more likely than adults to suffer physical or extreme violence at the hands of traffickers.”
Elizabeth Mary Spehar, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, added that prevention is key. She said, “the best way to protect children from armed conflict is to prevent the outbreak of conflict in the first place.”
Among the countries reviewed in the report are Colombia, Libya, Myanmar, Ukraine, South Sudan and Syria.
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