UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has excluded India from his annual report on the impact of armed conflict on children, acknowledging the steps taken by the Indian government to enhance the protection of children. India had been mentioned in the Secretary-General’s report on Children and Armed Conflict since 2010, along with countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Lake Chad basin, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the Philippines, due to allegations of the recruitment and use of boys by armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir and the detainment of boys by Indian security forces on various grounds.
In his report last year, Guterres welcomed the Indian government’s engagement with his special representative and expressed optimism that it might lead to India’s removal as a situation of concern. In the 2023 report on Children and Armed Conflict, Guterres stated, “In view of the measures taken by the government to better protect children, India has been removed from the report in 2023.”
Guterres highlighted the efforts made by the Indian government, including a technical mission conducted by the office of his special representative in July 2022 to identify areas of cooperation for child protection. He also commended a workshop on strengthening child protection held in Jammu and Kashmir in November, which involved the participation of the United Nations.
The Secretary-General’s report called upon India to implement remaining measures identified in consultation with his special representative and the United Nations. These measures include providing training on child protection to armed and security forces, prohibiting the use of force on children, discontinuing the use of pellet guns, ensuring children are detained only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period, preventing ill-treatment in detention, and fully implementing the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, stated that India has been working closely with the United Nations for the past two years. Gamba mentioned that India initiated a prevention engagement and expressed readiness to implement sustainable measures to address child protection concerns and be removed from the report.
In the previous year’s report, Guterres had expressed concern over the increased number of verified violations against children in Jammu and Kashmir. He had called upon the Indian government to strengthen child protection measures. The UN chief had also welcomed the legal and administrative framework for child protection and improved access to child protection services in several Indian states, including Chhattisgarh, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Jammu and Kashmir. Progress in establishing a Jammu and Kashmir Commission for Protection of Child Rights was also acknowledged.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development in India stated that the government had consistently engaged in efforts to exclude the country’s name from the report. As a result, an agreement was reached to appoint a national focal point to identify priority interventions for enhancing child protection. A joint technical mission was conducted to facilitate inter-ministerial, technical-level meetings with the UN and identify areas of enhanced cooperation for child protection.
Under the guidance of Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Zubin Irani, the ministry developed a roadmap for cooperation and collaboration on child protection issues.
It is worth noting that India had expressed concerns about the inclusion of situations in the 2022 report that were not classified as armed conflict or threats to international peace and security.
In the recently released annual report on children and armed conflict, Guterres highlighted that children globally continued to be disproportionately affected by armed conflict. The number of verified grave violations against children increased compared to the previous year, with a total of 27,180 violations documented. These violations affected 18,890 children in 24 situations and one regional monitoring arrangement. The report noted that the highest numbers of violations were killings and maiming of children, followed by recruitment and use of children and abductions. Children were also detained for alleged association with armed groups or national security reasons.
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The Chenab Times News Desk
