This week I joined state representatives of the “Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe” (OSCE) for a cross-dimensional seminar on the topic of “War in Cities – Impact on Children”. The event comes weeks before a major international conference on protecting children in armed conflicted hosted in Oslo by the Norwegian Government in partnership with Save the Children, Unicef and the ICRC.
From Khartoum to Gaza City, to the cities of Ukraine to the shattered legacies of Aleppo and Mosul, the scourge of urban warfare and its impact on children is a pressing issue of global peace and security.
Modern conflict is becoming more complex, more prolonged, and more urban. The average ongoing conflict in the mid-1980s had been happening for about 13 years; by 2021 it was nearly 20 years. Only 30 percent of the world’s population lived in cities in 1950, by 2050 2/3rds of humanity will live in urban settings.
According to the “Peace Research institute Oslo” (PRIO) some 230 million children lived in high-intensity conflict countries in 2021. The ICRC refer to urban conflict as a “microcosm of total war”. The monitoring group “Action on Armed Violence” (AOAV) references an 83% increase in global explosive violence harm to civilians from 2021 to 2022.
In addition, 95% of people harmed by explosive weapons in Ukrainian towns and cities have been civilians. Currently much of the attention in the conflict in Ukraine is on the city of Bakhmut. Before the escalation of the conflict last February the city was home to some 12,000 children. By March this year that number was down to 38.
In the absence of adults' ability to prevent conflict we must do far more to protect children caught up in the wars of today and sadly tomorrow. In Oslo in June states and civil society actors will seek more ambitious commitments to children.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen how non-legal mechanisms like the “Safe Schools Declaration”, with 118 signatories, and the “Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas”, with 83 signatories, have brought communities of concern together to develop practical ways to protect children.
Practical innovations are making a difference too. Increasingly militaries are aware and preparing to come across injured children in what may be their battlefield but are often the homes, schools and play areas of children. We’ve worked with Imperial College London and medical experts to produce the world’s first paediatric blast injury field manual to help medics treat injured children.
Our colleagues in Ukraine are pioneering new types of assistance such as “bunker kits” to help children sheltering from fighting. In Syria Hala Systems early warning system for airstrikes against civilians has saved hundreds of lives and prevented thousands of injuries. These are just some of the myriad of initiatives that need to be supercharged by commitments coming out of Oslo in June. Children must be better protected.
Our common future is at stake.
