Protecting Children in Conflict and War
No child should grow up in a war zone. Yet millions do—caught in conflicts they didn't create, facing violence they don't understand, losing childhoods they can never get back.
When bombs fall and bullets fly, children pay the highest price. They're killed, injured, forced from their homes, separated from families. Schools become targets. Hospitals are destroyed. The basics of childhood—safety, education, play—disappear overnight.
In 2024, conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and beyond subjected children to horrific violence. Despite incredibly challenging circumstances, Save the Children's teams worked tirelessly to reach children in these toughest situations. We raised £31 million for emergency response work and brought lifesaving services to families when they needed it most.
But emergency aid alone isn't enough. We must also hold those in power accountable, enforce international law, and ensure the global standard that children should always be off-limits in war.
What is conflict & war?
A conflict is a fight between armed troops. War is the hostility towards other parties issued officially by governments/states. Conflicts are part of war, though not every war sees actual conflict, nor is every conflict connected to war.
Conflict/armed conflict: when armed force is used by an organised actor against another organised actor, or against civilians, resulting in at least 25 battle-related deaths in one calendar year. The definition includes three types of conflict:
- State-based conflict takes place between two states (inter-state conflict), or between one state and one or more rebel groups (civil conflict)
- Non-state conflict is fought between two organized, armed actors, of which neither is the government of a state
- One-sided violence is perpetrated by an organized armed group, either a state’s military forces or an armed group, against civilians.
Jana*, age 13, pictured at home wearing her Eid outfit with mother Amari, age 39. Jana*, takes part in the Coaching for Life programme in Za’atari refugee camp, Jordan. We launched the programme with a focus on supporting children like Jana* and their families who had been affected by the Syrian war.
Baby Sara* was the first baby born at the health clinic in the IDP Reception Centre. Her mum, Asma arrived at an IDP Reception Centre in Gedaref after a roughly two-month long journey on foot from Sinja, the capital of Sennar State, while heavily pregnant. Asma left Sinja due to the escalation of attacks in the city in June 2024, which forced over 400,000 people to flee to Gedaref.
What the data says
The scale of children's suffering in conflict is staggering.
Gaza: Following the escalation of conflict in October 2023, children in Gaza faced catastrophic humanitarian conditions throughout 2024. Despite the extremely challenging context, Save the Children continued providing essential lifesaving services—cash for urgent needs, clean water, safe spaces for children, and two primary healthcare centres. More than 100,000 people signed our petition calling for a definitive ceasefire.
Sudan: The combination of conflict, natural disasters, disease outbreaks and economic crisis left 25 million people—more than half of them children—in need of humanitarian support by the end of 2024. We ran mobile health clinics treating cholera outbreaks, provided essential learning services to children forced out of school, and ensured access to clean water and sanitation in conflict-affected areas.
Ukraine: As conflict continued into its third year, children's lives remained disrupted by violence, displacement and trauma. We worked with local partners to create safe spaces where children could learn and play, provided cash assistance to families, and supported education for displaced children across Europe.
Democratic Republic of Congo: Ongoing violence in eastern DRC forced families from their homes repeatedly. We worked with international and local partners to increase access to education for 60,000 children who were out of school or at risk, including girls, teenage mothers and children with disabilities.
Across all these contexts, our global One Humanitarian Team remained committed to delivering aid alongside local and international partners, despite growing attacks on humanitarian workers.
How conflict affects children
The impact of war on children goes far beyond immediate physical danger, though that alone is devastating.
Death and injury: Children are killed by bombs, shells, bullets, landmines and crossfire. According to UN verification, thousands of children are killed or maimed in armed conflict every year—though the true number is certainly higher.
Forced displacement: Families flee fighting, often multiple times. Children lose their homes, communities, schools and the stability crucial for development. Some are separated from parents in the chaos of displacement.
Education destroyed: Schools are damaged, destroyed or used for military purposes. Teachers flee. Even when schools remain standing, families can't afford to send children or fear for their safety. Lost education means lost futures.
Health systems collapse: Hospitals and clinics are attacked or overwhelmed. Routine immunisations stop. Treatable illnesses become life-threatening. Malnutrition rises as food systems break down. For pregnant women, giving birth becomes far more dangerous.
Protection failures: In the chaos of conflict, children face heightened risks of violence, abuse, exploitation and trafficking. Some are recruited by armed forces or groups. Gender-based violence increases. The systems meant to protect children—police, social services, courts—cease to function.
Psychological trauma: Living through war leaves deep psychological scars. Children witness horrifying violence, lose loved ones, live in constant fear. Without support, this trauma affects their development, relationships and mental health for years.
Poverty and hunger: Conflict destroys livelihoods. Families lose income, homes and assets. Food prices soar as supply chains break down. Children go hungry. Even when fighting stops, recovery takes years.
How does Save the Children help children affected by conflict & war?
Save the Children was founded to protect children caught up in conflict, and we continue this work today.
Our teams work before, during and after conflicts to protect children and uphold their rights.
In a humanitarian emergency, we provide:
Emergency response: When crisis hits, we're often already there—or among the first to arrive. We provide immediate lifesaving support: healthcare, clean water, food, shelter, cash assistance. In Gaza in 2024, we set up safe spaces for children and primary healthcare centres despite the difficult and dangerous context.
Child protection: We work to keep children safe from violence, abuse and exploitation. This includes:
Setting up Child Friendly Spaces where children can feel safe, play and learn, experience a sense of normality, and recover from distressing experiences
Helping children that have been separated from their families, ensuring they are taken care of and reuniting them with their families, whenever possible
Providing psychosocial support for trauma and programmes addressing gender-based violence
In Somalia, we launched Gaashaan—a project tackling sexual and gender-based violence against children in conflict-affected areas.
Education in emergencies: We believe every child has the right to learn, even in war. We create temporary learning spaces, train teachers, provide school supplies and catch-up classes. This includes:
Delivering non-formal education and primary education via temporary learning centres
Rehabilitating or rebuilding schools which have been damaged during the conflict
Training teachers in trauma-informed and inclusive teaching methods
In Myanmar, we helped over 43,000 students continue learning in conflict-affected areas, training more than 1,200 educators in inclusive teaching methods.
Health and nutrition: We run mobile clinics, support hospitals, provide maternal healthcare, treat malnutrition and ensure children receive lifesaving vaccinations. Our health work includes:
Supporting or running health centres and hospitals and setting up remote outreach posts to ensure that children get the healthcare they need, wherever they are
Running Mobile Health & Nutrition Teams that provide primary healthcare to remote communities
Providing essential medical supplies, equipment and medicines, including solar power system equipment and fuel
Treating moderate cases of malnutrition in the community, and severe cases in specialised stabilisation centres
In Sudan, we ran mobile health clinics to treat cholera outbreaks and provided essential services in conflict-affected areas.
Food security and livelihoods: When conflict destroys food systems and incomes, families struggle to feed their children. We provide:
Food parcels for immediate needs
Cash and food vouchers to empower families to decide how to meet their own needs and feed their families using available local resources
Support to rebuild livelihoods so families can provide for themselves in the long term
Water, sanitation and hygiene: Clean water and proper sanitation prevent disease outbreaks that often follow conflict. Our work includes:
Distributing hygiene kits and dignity kits to help children stay healthy and to curb the spread of disease
Carrying out water trucking to ensure that communities have access to clean drinking water
Constructing water points, emergency latrines, and bathing units, as well as running environmental sanitation activities, such as solid waste and drainage management to reduce the risk of disease outbreak
Shelter and essential supplies: Families fleeing conflict often lose everything. We provide:
Winterisation kits, fuel, blankets, and warm clothes to help families stay warm when temperatures drop
Core relief items such as new arrival kits, shelter kits, hygiene kits, cooking utensils and sleeping materials
Support to repair or rebuild homes when it's safe to return
Building local capacity: Long-term change requires local leadership. Through our Humanitarian Leadership Academy, we partnered with 79 organisations globally in 2024, providing training to nearly 1,500 participants—52% of them women—on technical areas like humanitarian operations, child protection and education in emergencies.
Advocating for children: We campaign to hold governments and armed groups accountable to international law. In 2024, we brought young people from DRC, South Sudan, Ukraine and the occupied Palestinian territory to speak with the UK Minister for Children and Armed Conflict about their experiences. Their contributions informed the UK's first Children and Armed Conflict Strategy.
We also campaign publicly—calling for ceasefires, arms embargoes when necessary, and humanitarian access. In 2024, 100,000 people signed our petition calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.Long-term recovery: When fighting stops, we help communities rebuild—repairing schools and clinics, supporting livelihoods, reuniting families, and addressing the psychological impact of war on children. Recovery takes years, and we stay committed long after headlines fade.
How we helped children in DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO affected by conflict
When armed groups attacked Angel’s* village, she fled on foot with her grandchildren, carrying one child on her back and two little girls on her shoulders. After walking for three days, they reached a displacement camp in Ituri province. Having left everything behind, hunger quickly became a major concern. Two months after their arrival, Angel’s husband died from a sudden illness, leaving her to care alone for six children and her granddaughter, 18-month-old Christelle*. “The most difficult and terrifying thing is to live alone with the children. Feeding them every day is the hardest part for me,” said Angel.
When Christelle was just 13 months old, she became severely ill due to malnutrition, suffering from a high fever and losing the ability to walk. Thankfully, she received treatment at a nearby health centre supported by Save the Children, where she was given Plumpy’Nut—a peanut-based paste used to treat severe acute malnutrition. Gradually, Christelle began to regain her strength and was able to take steps again.
International law and children in conflict
International humanitarian law is clear: children must be protected during armed conflict. The Geneva Conventions, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and related treaties set out specific protections:
Attacks on civilians, including children, are prohibited
Schools and hospitals must not be targeted
Children must not be recruited into armed forces or groups
Humanitarian access to provide aid must be allowed
Children's specific needs—food, healthcare, education—must be met
Yet these laws are violated constantly. Save the Children campaigns to strengthen enforcement, ensure accountability for violations, and make clear that attacks on children are never acceptable.
In 2024, we publicly campaigned for a definitive ceasefire in Gaza and for the UK to stop arms exports to the government of Israel. We worked with Sudanese groups in the UK to push their cause up the political agenda. We brought a young Ukrainian to speak to the UK Defence Minister about his hopes for the future.
A portrait of Milena* 22, Bohdan* 1 years old, both are from Ukraine at the school that has been turned into dorms for Ukrainian refugees.
What you can do
Stay informed: Conflicts affecting children don't always make headlines. Follow our work to understand what's happening and why it matters.
Use your voice: When children are suffering in conflict, speak up. Contact your MP. Share information. Join our campaigns. In 2024, 100,000 people signed our petition calling for a ceasefire in Gaza—showing the power of public pressure.
Support emergency response: When crisis hits, our teams need resources fast. Your donation enables us to provide lifesaving aid—healthcare, food, clean water, shelter and protection.
Think long-term: Conflicts last years, often decades. Children need support long after headlines fade. Regular giving helps us stay committed through protracted crises and into recovery.
No child chooses to grow up in a war zone. But together, we can ensure children caught in conflict survive, continue learning, and are protected from the worst of what conflict brings. We can demand accountability from those who violate international law. And we can work towards a world where fewer children experience the horror of war.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many children are affected by conflict worldwide?
According to UNICEF, more than 450 million children—around 1 in 6 children globally—live in conflict zones. These children face heightened risks of death, injury, malnutrition, disease, loss of education and psychological trauma.
What are the biggest threats to children in war zones?
The most severe threats include: being killed or injured by violence; displacement from homes; loss of access to education and healthcare; family separation; malnutrition and disease; recruitment by armed forces or groups; and sexual and gender-based violence. The destruction of essential infrastructure—schools, hospitals, water systems—multiplies these risks.
How does Save the Children reach children in active conflict zones?
We work through established local partnerships, pre-positioned resources, and experienced humanitarian staff. In 2024, despite attacks on humanitarian workers, our global One Humanitarian Team remained committed to delivering aid. We coordinate with other agencies, negotiate access with armed actors, and adapt our programmes to the security context while maintaining safety of staff and communities.
What is international humanitarian law and how does it protect children?
International humanitarian law—including the Geneva Conventions—sets rules for armed conflict. It prohibits attacks on civilians (including children), requires protection of schools and hospitals, bans child recruitment by armed forces, and mandates humanitarian access. When violated, Save the Children campaigns for accountability and works to strengthen enforcement.
How can I help children affected by conflict?
You can donate to our emergency appeals for specific crises, become a regular supporter for sustained impact, join our campaigns to influence policy, and stay informed to keep pressure on decision-makers. In 2024, public support raised £31 million for emergency response work.
Does Save the Children work in all conflict zones?
We work in many of the world's most challenging contexts, but we can't be everywhere. In 2024, our humanitarian response focused on Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, DRC, Yemen and other priority contexts. We also work through the Disasters Emergency Committee and partnerships like Start Network to coordinate larger-scale responses and reach more children.
Updated November 2025
