The UN verified 41,370 grave violations committed against children globally in 2024 in its annual report on children and armed conflict, released Thursday. The number, which includes 11,967 children killed or maimed, represents the highest number of grave violations against children recorded by the UN since it began monitoring.

The Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict marked a 25 percent increase in grave violations compared to 2023 and marked the third consecutive year with alarming figures verified during the reporting period, according to the UN. Additionally, the number of children who faced multiple grave violations increased by 17 percent.  Prevalent forms of violations included killing and maiming, recruitment and use, abduction, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access.

The UN said that the “[c]ountries with the highest levels of violations in 2024 were Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, notably the Gaza Strip, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Somalia, Nigeria, and Haiti.”

The UN kept Israeli forces on its blacklist of countries that violate children’s rights for a second year, citing 7,188 verified grave violations by its military, including the killing of 1,259 Palestinian children and injury to 941 others in Gaza. Over 50,000 children have reportedly been killed or injured in Gaza since October 2023, and 658,000 children have had no schooling for 18 months.

In the eastern DRC, cases of sexual violence have risen by more than two and a half times since conflict in the region escalated in January 2025. Abductions have increased sixfold, killing and maiming are up sevenfold, and attacks on schools and hospitals have multiplied by 12.

Virginia Gamba, the UN special representative for children and armed conflict, called for concrete preventive measures. She said:

I call on the international community to recommit to the universal consensus to protect children from armed conflict, and on parties to conflict to immediately end the war on children and to uphold the core principles of International Humanitarian Law that impose limits on the destruction and suffering caused by armed conflict: humanity, distinction, proportionality and necessity.

The report will be presented during an open debate at the UN Security Council later this month. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on member states to strengthen child protection mandates in peace operations and ensure accountability for violations committed against children in conflict settings.