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Human Rights Coun­cil — A/HRC/58/18
Report of the Spe­cial Rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the Sec­re­tary-Gen­er­al for Children
and Armed Con­flict, Mrs. Vir­ginia Gamba

 

State­ment by Pro­fes­sor Michel Veuthey

Ambas­sador to mon­i­tor and com­bat traf­fick­ing in persons, 

Deputy Per­ma­nent Observ­er in Geneva
Gene­va, 12 March 2025

Mr. Pres­i­dent, Excellencies,

The Sov­er­eign Order of Mal­ta wish­es to thank the Spe­cial Rep­re­sen­ta­tive, Vir­ginia Gam­ba and her team for their well-doc­u­ment­ed report on this crit­i­cal issue con­cern­ing chil­dren in armed conflict.

As the report points out, armed con­flicts have a dev­as­tat­ing impact on chil­dren. There­fore, the Order of Mal­ta, which has a long his­to­ry of pro­vid­ing health care and edu­ca­tion to chil­dren through human­i­tar­i­an projects and clin­ics in Africa, Europe, and the Holy Land, is deeply con­cerned by the grave vio­la­tions of children’s rights high­light­ed by the Spe­cial Representative.

On the occa­sion of the recent Vat­i­can Sum­mit on the Rights of the Child, held in Rome, as well as in Gene­va and New York at the UN Gen­er­al Assem­bly and the Secu­ri­ty Coun­cil, the Sov­er­eign Order of Mal­ta reaf­firmed its com­mit­ment to advo­cat­ing for the pro­tec­tion of chil­dren in armed con­flict and called for increased inter­na­tion­al coop­er­a­tion to address these violations.

 

The Order of Mal­ta sup­ports the rec­om­men­da­tions of the Spe­cial Rep­re­sen­ta­tive to:

  • End and pre­vent grave vio­la­tions against chil­dren, ensur­ing com­pli­ance with inter­na­tion­al human­i­tar­i­an law.
  • Strength­en legal frame­works to pro­hib­it and crim­i­nal­ize the recruit­ment and use of chil­dren in conflict.
  • Ensure access to edu­ca­tion by pro­tect­ing schools and pre­vent­ing their mil­i­tary use.
  • Guar­an­tee human­i­tar­i­an access to con­flict-affect­ed chil­dren and ensure the safe­ty of aid workers.
  • Enhance glob­al part­ner­ships to sup­port rein­te­gra­tion and reha­bil­i­ta­tion pro­grams for child vic­tims of conflict.

The Sov­er­eign Order of Mal­ta would wel­come an increased col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Spe­cial Representative. 

Thank you.