UN Chief Guterres Takes Off India From Report on Impact of Armed Conflict on Children After 12 Years

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, omitted India from a report on the impact of armed conflict on children in light of “measures taken by the government to better protect children”. This is the first time since 2010 that India has not been named in a report.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his report last year that he welcomed the Government of India’s engagement with his special representative and suggested that it could lead to India’s removal as a case of concern.

In last year’s report, Guterres said he was concerned about the “increasing number of verified violations against children in Jammu and Kashmir,” and called on the Indian government to strengthen protection for children.

The UN Secretary-General welcomed the legal and administrative framework to protect children and improve access to child protection services in Chhattisgarh, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir, and the progress made in establishing the Jammu and Kashmir Child Protection Commission. rights.

In his 2023 Report on Children and Armed Conflict, the Secretary-General highlighted the technical mission of his Office of Special Representative in July 2022 to identify areas of collaboration for child protection, and the workshop on strengthening child protection held in Jammu and Kashmir last November. By the government, with the participation of the United Nations.

Guterres, in his latest report, also called on India to implement the remaining measures that have been identified in consultation with his Special Representative and the United Nations.

Remaining measures include training armed and security forces on child protection, prohibiting the use of lethal and non-lethal force against children, including ending the use of pellet guns, and ensuring that children are detained as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate time. Guterres said that a period of time.

Guterres also sought to implement measures to prevent all forms of ill-treatment in detention and fully implement the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Child Sexual Offenses Protection Act.