Missing out on school due to war

At its meeting on 13 February 2023, the UN Security Council addressed the issue of children in conflict regions. Violent conflicts are having a catastrophic impact on children and young people worldwide, robbing them of their future prospects. "This Council has developed numerous tools to prevent grave violations. For these tools to maintain their deterrent effect, their independence, impartiality, and credibility must be preserved," said Switzerland's UN Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl at the Security Council meeting in New York. 

The issue of children in armed conflict is closely related to two of the priorities for Switzerland's UN Security Council term: 'Protecting civilians' and 'Building sustainable peace'. Switzerland is committed to three action areas in the Security Council to mitigate the impact of conflict on children: 

"Children are particularly vulnerable, which is why protecting them plays a special role in the PHRD's civilian protection work. With this in mind, we work to ensure that international law and human rights are respected and that the relevant international instruments are strengthened. By also seeking to ensure that children have access to education and are reintegrated into society after a conflict, we are making an important contribution to lasting peace and prosperity," says Ambassador Simon Geissbühler, Head of the FDFA's Peace and Human Rights Division. 

UN Security Council regularly verifies violations against children in armed conflict

An armed conflict has been under way in Yemen since 2015. In 2022 alone, the UN's Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) verified and documented 2,748 grave violations against 800 children in the country. These included cases of children being killed or maimed, or recruited and used in either combat operations or support roles. Switzerland supports the MRM because it strengthens accountability for serious child rights violations around the world.

Established by a Security Council resolution in 2005, the MRM documents the six categories of grave violation committed against children in armed conflicts by both state and non-state actors. The Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict regularly reviews the information reported through the MRM and makes recommendations for possible measures to improve the protection of children.

New schools for Syrian refugee children in Jordan

Switzerland's international cooperation work promotes education in emergency situations – for Syrian refugee children in Jordan and Lebanon, for example. Since the start of the conflict in Syria in 2011, hundreds of thousands of children have fled to neighbouring countries to escape the horrors of war. This has placed a huge additional burden on local infrastructure. As the Syrian children attend school in their host countries, the state education system is also coming under strain. Switzerland is upgrading school buildings in the region so that they can accommodate more pupils. So far, it has renovated 171 schools in Jordan and Lebanon, benefiting 110,000 local and Syrian schoolchildren.

Through these efforts, Switzerland is enabling Syrian children and young people who have fled their homeland to continue their schooling while also benefiting from psychosocial support services. This gives them a chance to overcome the traumas of war and integrate into society. At the onset of a crisis, access to education is essential as part of a rapid humanitarian response. However, education also strengthens the resilience and prospects of children and young people in the long term. That is why education is particularly important as an investment in sustainable peace and development.