Vatican envoy urges UN: protect children in wartime

June 19, 2015

The Vatican’s representative at UN headquarters in New York has called for more effective international action to protect children in warfare.

Archbishop Bernardito Auza told a UN Security Council meeting that the past year, 2014, “has been touted as the worst year for children affected by armed conflict,” with an estimated 230 million children living in war-torn areas.

The archbishop observed that the proportion of civilian casualties in armed conflicts has skyrocketed in the past century, from 5% of total fatalities to over 90%. Children, naturally, are among the innocent civilians who suffer.

Archbishop Auza also called attention to use of children in war, in violation of international conventions. Some children are used as human shields, while others are trained as suicide bombers, he said. Still others are abducted and forced into active duty as child-soldiers.

 

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Further information:

• Intervention of H.E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza (Holy See Mission)