The latest United Nations Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict showed a record 24,174 children had their rights violated in conflict last year, the highest number since the protection of Children in Armed Conflict (CAAC) mandate was established 30 years ago.
NEW YORK, 18 June 2026– The number of children killed in conflict soared to at least 6,266 in 2025, up about 34% from 2024, with the increased use of high-tech explosive weapons driving the trend, said Save the Children [1].
The latest United Nations Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict showed a record 24,174 children had their rights violated in conflict last year, the highest number since the protection of Children in Armed Conflict (CAAC) mandate was established 30 years ago [2]. These numbers represent the tip of the iceberg for grave violations against children, as most attacks on children go unverified, said Save the Children.
The number of children maimed in conflict rose by nearly 10% to 7,958 in 2025, continuing a steady trend of increasing child casualties in conflict since 2020 [3].
Many of these deaths and injuries are linked to unmanned aerial systems, drone-enabled and remotely operated attacks, and AI-supported target selection, all of which pose grave new risks to children’s lives and safety in conflict zones, said Save the Children. Once exclusive to advanced militaries, drones are now cheap, commercially available, and deployable by any armed actor, making them the small arms of this era.
Notably, for the first time since the establishment of the CAAC mandate, government forces were the main perpetrators of grave violations against children. Governments around the world are not only failing to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect children in conflict zones, they are doing so with near-total impunity, said Save the Children.
The highest numbers of grave violations were verified in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel (12,445), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (4,114) and Nigeria (2,560).
According to the UN report, the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel saw the sharpest rise in violations verified in 2025, up over 45% from 2024 [2]. Of these, 9,465 violations were attributed to Israeli armed and security forces who were responsible for the highest number of verified violations globally in 2025. The violations perpetrated by the Israeli armed and security forces include 5,946 incidents of denial of humanitarian access, 2,760 cases of maiming, and 828 attacks on schools and hospitals.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cases of children killed or maimed in conflict more than doubled from 438 in 2024 to 918 children in 2025 and cases of sexual violence nearly doubled from 358 to 592 children in 2025. This reflected a deteriorating security situation in a country battling multiple humanitarian crises.
Inger Ashing, Save the Children International CEO, said:
“Wars are being waged in a fundamentally different way to 30 years ago when the CAAC mandate was established. Around the world, Save the Children is watching drone strikes hit the places children gather: kindergartens, schools, hospitals, maternity wards, markets, and displacement camps. Children’s smaller bodies, developing organs, and lower harm thresholds mean they are disproportionately killed and maimed by these weapons, and the psychological toll of living under constant drone threat compound that harm for years after the attack.
“More damning still is the fact that for the first time in 30 years, government forces were the main perpetrators of grave violations against children. No longer can shadowy ‘armed groups’ be scapegoated for the killing and maiming of children in war. It’s governments making the choices they know will cost children their lives – with a complete disdain and disregard for international law.
“We know that drones and other tech-enabled weapons can be deployed covertly, across borders, and without combatants present, making attribution and accountability exceptionally difficult—compounding the ongoing erosion of norms designed to protect civilians.
“With States responsible for much of this harm, it is for States to act and stop the bloodshed of children. Governments must uphold the rules that govern conflict, especially when it comes to protecting children, who are always the most vulnerable. There is both a legal obligation and a moral duty to speak out against those who harm children in war. And just as importantly, there is a responsibility to invest in the programmes that protect them, care for them, and help them rebuild their lives. Because ultimately, the future of millions of children depends on the choices we make today—and on whether we act with urgency and resolve.”
