United Nations S/AC.

51/2024/8
Security Council Distr.: General
23 December 2024

Original: English

Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict

Conclusions on children and armed conflict in Nigeria

1. During its formal meeting on 13 September 2024, the Working Group on
Children and Armed Conflict of the Security Council examined the fourth report of
the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Nigeria (S/2024/559),
covering the period between 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023, which was
introduced by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and
Armed Conflict. Group Captain Agenson Ameh, from the Permanent Mission of
Nigeria to the United Nations also addressed the Working Group (see annex).
2. The members of the Working Group expressed deep concern at the six grave
violations that continue to be committed against children in Nigeria. They welcomed
the efforts by the Government of Nigeria to strengthen child protection frameworks
and called for the full and consistent implementation the action plan to end and
prevent the recruitment and use of children signed in 2017, as well as the signing of
the handover protocol, and further urged the Government to ensure accountability for
the violations and abuses committed against children in Nigeria. The members further
called upon all armed groups to also implement the handover protocol.
3. The members of the Working Group welcomed the report of the Secretary -
General, and in accordance with relevant Security Council resolutions, including
resolutions 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009), 1998 (2011), 2068 (2012), 2143 (2014), 2225
(2015), 2427 (2018) and 2601 (2021) the Working Group agreed to the direct action
as set out below.

Public statement by the Chair of the Working Group

4. The Working Group agreed to address the following message, through a public
statement by the Chair of the Working Group, to all parties to the armed conflict in
Nigeria:
(a) Deeply concerned at the significant increase in the number of violations
verified during the reporting period, and strongly condemning all violations and
abuses that continue to be committed against children by all parties to the conflict in
Nigeria; noting that armed groups were responsible for the vast majority of the
violations verified in the report; urging all parties to the conflict to immediately end
and prevent all abuses and violations against children, including those involving the
recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms
of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, abduction, and the denial of

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humanitarian access and urging all parties to comply with their obligations under
international law;
(b) Noting that the United Nations country task force on monitoring and
reporting in Nigeria had greater access to children who had left armed groups, yet,
noting with concern that monitoring was hampered by access and security constraints
in areas where armed groups operate and that the information contained in the report
of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Nigeria does not reflect
the full impact of armed conflict on children in Nigeria;
(c) Calling upon all parties to further implement the previous conclusions of
the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in Nigeria (S/AC.51/2023/2);
(d) Stressing the importance of accountability for all violations and abuses
against children in armed conflict and stressing that all perpetrators must be brought
to justice and held accountable without undue delay, including through timely,
systematic, comprehensive and independent investigations, and, as appropriate,
prosecution and conviction; to ensure that all victims and survivors have access to
justice and comprehensive, age-appropriate and gender-sensitive, disability-
inclusive, non-discriminatory protection and support services, including psychosocial
care and healthcare;
(e) Stressing that the best interests of the child should be a primary
consideration, and that the specific needs and vulnerabilities of girls and boys, as well
as children with disabilities and displaced children, should be duly considered when
planning and carrying out actions concerning children in situations of armed conflict;
(f) Strongly condemning the high number of and the sharp increase in
incidents of abduction of children by Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad
(JAS) and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), noting the disproportionate
impact of abduction on girls, often followed by rape and other forms of sexual and
gender-based violence, including the sexual exploitation and forced marriage of girls,
and recruitment and use, including in combat roles and in supporting roles such as
cleaners, cooks and for intelligence gathering; strongly urging all parties to the
conflict, in particular JAS and ISWAP, to immediately and without preconditions
release all children associated with them, to hand them over to relevant civilian child
protection actors, in accordance with established protocols, and in coordination with
the relevant Nigerian authorities to continue notifying relevant stakeholders,
including the United Nations, before the release of detained children to ensure
adequate programming, ensuring that children be treated primarily as victims and
urging all parties to prevent the abduction of children and the re-recruitment and use
of children who have been released, consistent with their obligations under
international law, including, as applicable, the Optional Protocol to the Convention
on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict;
(g) Expressing deep concern about the deprivation of liberty of children for
their or their parents’ or relatives’ association or alleged association with armed
groups, including concerns related to children being detained with adults, while
welcoming the release of all 181 children from detention during the reporting period;
emphasizing that children who have been recruited by armed groups and are accused
of having committed crimes during armed conflicts should be treated primarily as
victims, including those children who are accused of having committed crimes, and
that detention should be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest
appropriate period of time, in line with applicable international law, and reaffirming
the importance that all actors respect the rights of children in Nigeria, including, as
applicable, under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol
on the involvement of children in armed conflict to which Nigeria is a State party,

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noting also the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces
or Armed Groups (the Paris Principles);
(h) Expressing grave concern at the killing and maiming of children, including
as a result of crossfire, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices,
shelling and cold weapons, while noting an overall decrease in the number of children
killed and maimed compared with the previous reporting period, and calling upon the
authorities to scale up explosive ordnance clearance, risk education and victim
assistance efforts and calling upon all parties to comply with their obligations under
international humanitarian law, in particular the principles of distinction,
proportionality and humanity, as well as the obligation to take all feasible precautions
to avoid and in any event minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects;
(i) Expressing grave concern about the significant increase in verified cases
of rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated against children during the
reporting period, mainly of girls following their abduction and including displaced
children, urging all parties to the armed conflict to take immediate and specific
measures to put an end to and prevent the perpetration of rape and other forms of
sexual and gender-based violence against children by their members and stressing the
importance of accountability for those who commit sexual violence against children;
underscoring that girls continued to be extremely vulnerable to rape and other forms
of sexual and gender-based violence, including sexual exploitation and forced
marriage, noting with concern that forced marriage has been used as a negative coping
mechanism to deter armed groups from abducting unmarried girls and to alleviate
economic desperation and that the risk of sexual violence is compounded by
inadequate or limited basic services and livelihood opportunities; noting that sexual
violence continued to be vastly underreported owing to stigmatization, fear of
reprisals, harmful social norms, the absence or lack of access to services, impunity
and safety concerns; stressing the importance of providing non-discriminatory,
comprehensive and age-appropriate specialized services, including mental health and
psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive health services, legal and livelihood
support and services to victims and survivors of conflic t-related sexual violence, as
well as safe alternatives for girls who do not wish to be reunited or remain with their
“husbands” who are affiliated with JAS and ISWAP;
(j) Strongly condemning the ongoing attacks on schools and hospitals in
north-east Nigeria attributed to ISWAP and hostilities and violence perpetrated by
JAS and ISWAP, which continued to severely affect children’s access to education
and healthcare; welcoming Nigeria setting up the “National Safe Schools Response
Coordination Centre”, while calling upon all parties to comply with applicable
international law and to respect the civilian character of schools and hospitals,
including their personnel, and to prevent and end attacks or threats of attacks against
those institutions, as such, as well as the military use of schools and hospitals in
violation of applicable international law, as guided by the Safe Schools Declaration,
which was endorsed by the Government of Nigeria in May 2015, and in line with
Security Council resolution 2601 (2021), and noting the negative effect that attacks
on schools can have on the enjoyment of the right to education, while also noting the
negative effects of climate change;
(k) Expressing particular concern that many children in armed conflict, in
particular girls, lack access to education owing to, among other things, attacks against
schools and fear of attacks; and expressing further concern about the continuing trend
from the previous reporting period with regard to the kidnappings of students for
ransom beyond north-eastern Nigeria into the north-west of the country;
(l) Strongly condemning the high number of and sharp increase in incidents
of abduction of children by JAS and ISWAP, including for the purpose of recruitment

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and use, forced marriage and other forms of sexual violence, and for ransom; urging
relevant parties, in particular JAS and ISWAP to immediately cease the abduction of
children and all violations and abuses committed against abducted children, noting
the disproportionate impact of abduction on girls, including the forced marriage of
girls to its fighters, and to immediately release without preconditions all abducted
children to relevant civilian child protection actors;
(m) Expressing grave concern at incidents of denial of humanitarian access,
including attacks on, abduction and killing of and threats thereof, to humanitarian
personnel the disruption and looting of humanitarian supplies, and interference in
humanitarian operations, noting that these incidents affected the delivery of
humanitarian aid to thousands of children, and that there was increased hostility
towards humanitarian personnel and assets by armed groups; calling upon all parties
to the conflict to allow and facilitate, in accordance with international law, including
international humanitarian law, safe, timely, and unhindered humanitarian access,
consistent with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and
independence, as well as the United Nations Guiding Principles of Humanitarian
Assistance, and to respect the exclusively humanitarian nature and impartiality of
humanitarian aid and to respect the work of all United Nations agencies and their
humanitarian partners, without adverse distinction;

To Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad and Islamic State West

Africa Province
(n) Condemning in the strongest possible terms the continuing violations and
abuses committed against children by JAS and ISWAP, and strongly urging them to
immediately end and prevent all violations and abuses against children in Nigeria and
the Lake Chad Basin region and to immediately release without preconditions all
children associated with them and end and prevent further killing and maiming,
abduction, recruitment and use of children, including the re-recruitment of children
who have been released, and rape and other forms of sexual violence, and abide by
their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights
law;
(o) Strongly condemning the targeting of schools and hospitals and their
personnel by ISWAP and JAS including through attacks that caused damage to
schools, health and humanitarian facilities and destruction of related infrastructure;
(p) Urging JAS and ISWAP to cease the abduction of children and rape and
other forms of sexual violence, specifically targeting girls and to immediately release
all abducted children to relevant civilian child protection actors;
(q) Recalling that the Security Council, by its resolution 2368 (2017),
reaffirmed the asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo affecting all individuals and
entities, among them JAS and ISWAP, set out in paragraph 1 of resolution 2083
(2012);
(r) Expressing the readiness of the Working Group to communicate to the
Security Council and to the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267
(1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
(Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities
pertinent information with a view to assisting them in the imposition of the sanctions
on perpetrators;

To the Civilian Joint Task Force

(s) Commending the Civilian Joint Task Force for the constructive role that it
has continued to play, in cooperation with the Government of Nigeria, in the

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implementation of the 2017 action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of
children, noting that the Civilian Joint Task Force was delisted from the annexes of
the report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in 2021
(A/75/873-S/2021/437); welcoming the establishment of child protection units in all
Civilian Joint Task Force formations in Borno State and the roll-out of awareness-
raising activities among Civilian Joint Task Force and community members; urging
the Civilian Joint Task Force, with the continued support of the United Nations, to
complete its remaining obligations under the action plan, namely, the training of its
units on children’s rights and the establishment of accountability mechanisms and to
sustain gains made through implementation of the action plan, and calling upon the
Civilian Joint Task Force to address violations when they occur;
5. The Working Group agreed to address a message, through a public statement by
the Chair of the Working Group, to community and religious leaders:
(a) Emphasizing the important role of community and religious leaders in
strengthening the protection of children affected by armed conflict, and recognizing
their important role in advocating for an ending to violations and abuses against
children, including child, early and forced marriages;
(b) Urging them to publicly condemn and continue to advocate ending and
preventing violations and abuses against children, in particular those involving the
recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual
violence against children, abductions, attacks and threats of attacks against schools
and hospitals, and to engage with the Government of Nigeria, the United Nations and
other relevant stakeholders to support the reintegration of children affected by armed
conflict in their communities, including by raising awareness to avoid the
stigmatization of such children.

Recommendations to the Security Council

6. The Working Group agreed to recommend that the Security Council continue to
consider the situation of children affected by armed conflict in the Lake Chad area
when the situation is addressed by the Council.
7. The Working Group agreed to recommend that the President of the Security
Council transmit a letter addressed to the Government of Nigeria:
(a) Stressing the primary role of the Government in providing protection and
relief to all children affected by armed conflict in Nigeria, consistent with its
obligations under international law, including the Convention on the Rights of the
Child and its optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict;
(b) Commending the Government for the constructive role that it has played
in support of the Civilian Joint Task Force and in the implementation of the 2017
action plan to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children by the Civilian
Joint Task Force; also commending the National Safe Schools Response Coordination
Centre, the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools, and the
National Strategy to End Child Marriage, and calling for their implementation;
(c) Calling upon the Government to continue to pursue its efforts towards
accountability, including through comprehensive, independent, timely and systematic
investigation and, as appropriate, prosecution, conviction and punishment of anyone
found to be responsible for any of the six grave violations against children, and to
ensure that all survivors have access to justice as well as to gender- and age-sensitive,
and disability-inclusive comprehensive specialized services, including psychosocial
and health services, education and vocational training, livelihood support and social
reintegration;

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(d) Calling upon the Government of Nigeria to ensure accountability, as well

as access to non-discriminatory, gender-sensitive and comprehensive specialized
services, including psychosocial, health, mental health and psychosocial support,
legal and livelihood support services, to survivors of sexual violence;
(e) Welcoming the adoption of the handover protocol for children encountered
in the course of armed conflict in Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region between
the Government of Nigeria and the United Nations to facilitate the release and
handover of children actually or allegedly associated with armed groups to civilian
child protection actors; further welcoming the endorsement of an implementation plan
for the protocol, developed by the implementation committee, and encouraging the
Government to expedite the implementation of the protocol, including through the
dissemination of the protocol to children formerly associated with JAS and ISWAP,
and to grant access to the United Nations, child protection actors and independent
monitors to detention facilities, in particular Giwa military barracks;
(f) Encouraging the Government to continue the good practice of
coordinating with relevant stakeholders, including the United Nations, before the
release of detained children, and noting in this regard the release of 181 children from
detention by the Nigerian Security Forces in 2022 and 2023;
(g) Expressing concern about the deprivation of liberty of children for their
actual or alleged association with armed groups, encouraging the Government to
continue to provide unhindered access, including for monitoring, to the United
Nations to detention facilities and encouraging access of civilian child protection
actors to children deprived of liberty for association with armed groups; and
emphasizing that children should be treated primarily as victims, and that detention
should be used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period, with
the best interests of the child as guiding principles;
(h) Welcoming the efforts of the Government of Nigeria, with the support of
the United Nations and partners, leading to the reintegration of 15,967 children
formerly associated with armed groups or with suspected family ties to elements of
armed groups, and emphasizing the importance of sustainable, effective and gender-
sensitive reintegration of all children released through family- and community-based
reintegration programmes, as well as the provision of educational, health, mental
health and psychosocial support programmes to all children affected by conflict, as
well as relevant support to effected families and communities; encouraging the
Government to focus on sustainable reintegration opportunities for children affected
by armed conflict, in particular those formerly associated with JAS and ISWAP and
the victims of abductions, forced marriage and sexual violence, including by raising
awareness and working with communities to avoid stigmatization of such children
and facilitating their return, while taking into account the specific needs of girls and
boys, and to further provide safe alternatives for girls who do not wish to be reunited
or remain with their “husbands” who are affiliated with armed groups;
(i) Encouraging the Government to pay particular attention to the risks of
re-recruitment and use of children, particularly in the light of the large number of
individuals, including children, escaping from JAS and ISWAP;
(j) Welcoming the signing into law of child protection bills in Adamawa,
Borno, and Yobe States which provide a legal framework for the protection of children
against violence and exploitation and for the prevention of child marriage, and
stressing the importance of pursuing efforts towards accountability by investigating
and, as appropriate, prosecuting and sanctioning anyone found to be responsible for
violations and abuses against children;

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(k) Recalling the endorsement of the Government of Nigeria of the Safe

Schools Declaration and its commitment to pursue efforts to protect schools from
military use, stressing the importance of access to education and healthcare for
children in Nigeria and calling upon the Government to continue to ensure that
schools and related personnel are protected;
(l) Noting with concern child casualties resulting from explosive remnants of
war and improvised explosive devices and calling upon the Government of Nigeria to
take concrete steps to prevent and reduce their impact by prioritizing mine action
efforts, including clearance of explosive ordnance, risk education and victim
assistance;
(m) Noting with concern the closure of internally displaced person camps in
and around Maiduguri, and the proposed closure of additional camps in Borno State
in 2024, which pose significant security risks for displaced persons, including
children, who may be exposed to attacks by armed groups when relocated to or near
their areas of origin;
(n) Inviting the Government to keep the Working Group on Children and
Armed Conflict informed of its efforts to implement the recommendations of the
Working Group and the Secretary-General, as appropriate.
8. The Working Group agreed to recommend that the President of the Security
Council transmit a letter to the Secretary-General:
(a) Requesting the Secretary-General to ensure the continued effectiveness of
the monitoring and reporting mechanism on children and armed conflict in Nigeria;
(b) Further requesting the Secretary-General to ensure that the country task
force on monitoring and reporting continues its engagement and advocacy with
parties to conflict in line with Security Council resolution 1612 (2005) to advocate
for the release and reintegration of children in Nigeria and facilitate the adoption of
action plans to end and prevent violations and abuses against children; and to continue
engagement with the Civilian Joint Task Force to fully implement its action plan;
(c) Noting the negative impact of conflict on children in regions of countries
bordering north-east Nigeria, and inviting the Secretary-General in that regard to
include, as appropriate, through his regular reporting on relevant developments, a
more comprehensive picture of the situation of children affected by the conflict.
9. The Working Group agreed to recommend that the President of the Security
Council transmit a letter from the Chair of the Working Group addressed to the
President of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and the Chairperson
of the African Union Commission:
(a) Welcoming the continued commitments made by the African Union and
the Multinational Joint Task Force to peace and security in Nigeria and neighbouring
countries affected by the actions of JAS and ISWAP and to the protection of children
affected by armed conflict;
(b) Encouraging Multinational Joint Task Force-contributing countries to
continue to cooperate with the United Nations regarding child protection issues;
(c) Strongly encouraging the Peace and Security Council of the African Union
to include in the mandate of the Multinational Joint Task Force specific provisions
for the protection of children, encouraging the Task Force to issue a Force
Commander’s directive on the protection of children encountered during military
operations, including their handover to civilian child protection authorities for
appropriate assistance and protection, and emphasizing that children who have been
recruited contrary to applicable international law by armed groups should be treated

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primarily as victims and that, in actions concerning children, the best interests of the
child should be a primary consideration;
(d) Encouraging the Multinational Joint Task Force to deploy child protection
officers or designate child protection focal points within the Task Force to contribute
to training, capacity-building and advocacy regarding violations and abuses
committed against children.
10. The Working Group agreed to recommend that the President of the Security
Council transmit a letter addressed to the Chair of the Security Council Committee
pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic
State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups,
undertakings and entities:
(a) Recalling paragraph 7 (b) of Security Council resolution 1882 (2009), by
which the Council requested enhanced communication between the Working Group
and relevant Council sanctions committees, including through the exchange of
pertinent information on violations and abuses committed against children in armed
conflict;
(b) Encouraging the continued sharing of relevant information by the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict with the
Committee and the Working Group;
(c) Encouraging the Committee to continue to consider the designation for
sanctions of individuals and entities, in accordance with the rules and guidelines of
the Committee.

Direct action by the Working Group

11. The Working Group agreed to send letters from the Chair of the Working Group
addressed to the World Bank and other donors:
(a) Stressing the critical needs of children in Nigeria and neighbouring
countries, and calling upon donors to cooperate with and support the Government of
Nigeria in developing and implementing national policies, programmes and initiatives
to enhance the protection of children;
(b) Requesting in this regard donors to provide flexible, predictable and
adequate funding and support to the Government of Nigeria and relevant
humanitarian and development partners to strengthen child protection efforts,
including:
(i) The development and implementation of sustainable multisectoral
reintegration programmes for children formerly associated with armed groups;
(ii) The bolstering of systems, including the judicial system and the children’s
parliament, providing access to appropriate education and vocational training,
as well as healthcare and nutrition for all children affected by armed conflict;
(iii) The establishment of birth and late birth registration as a means to prevent
the recruitment and use of children, in violation of applicable international law
in Nigeria;
(iv) The development and implementation of sustainable long-term strategies
to end and prevent all violations and abuses against children in armed conflict
in Nigeria, as well as programming and research on preventing the recruitment
and radicalization of children and youth;
(v) The development and implementation of the interim care, long-term
psychosocial recovery and community-based social and economic reintegration

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of children who have been abducted, recruited and used, and girls who are
victims and survivors of sexual violence;
(vi) The development and implementation of sustainable long-term strategies
to end and prevent sexual and gender-based violence against children in armed
conflict in Nigeria, including by addressing safe reporting mechanisms, stigma
and retaliatory attacks, discrimination by service providers and community
members and the specific health, including sexual and reproductive health, and
mental health and psychosocial needs of children who have been victims of rape
and other forms of sexual violence during their captivity by armed groups, the
majority of which are girls, and of children born as a result of rape and their
mothers;
(vii) The provision of technical assistance to build and strengthen the protection
and response capacity of child protection personnel at the governmental and
non-governmental levels;
(c) Inviting donors to keep the Working Group informed of their funding and
assistance efforts, as appropriate.

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Annex
Statement made by Group Captain Agenson Ameh, Permanent
Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations, to the Working Group on
Children and Armed Conflict *

The Government of Nigeria reaffirms its unwavering commitment to protecting

children from the devastating effects of armed conflict and pledges to uphold the
highest standards of professionalism and integrity in the defence of the nation.
Recognizing that children are among the most vulnerable groups during conflicts,
Nigeria has formulated and implemented several robust measures to mitigate the
impact on them and ensure their safety and well-being.
As part of Nigeria’s dedication to international humanitarian standards, the
Nigerian Armed Forces strictly adhere to the Rules of Engagement (ROE), which
outline clear and comprehensive guidelines on the use of force, ensuring that all
military operations are necessary, proportionate, and aimed at minimizing harm to
civilians, especially children. Nigeria has consistently emphasized adherence to
international humanitarian law (IHL), the Geneva Conventions, and other key
treaties. In this vein, the country has developed specific policies that prohibit the use
of illegal weapons and tactics. Violations of these rules are promptly reported,
investigated, and addressed through established judicial and disciplinary processes.
The Nigerian government has also advanced several policies aimed at enhancing
the protection of children during conflict, such as the National Policy on Protection
of Civilians in Armed Conflict and the Child Rights Act, which provides legal
frameworks to shield children from the harmful effects of violence and recruitment
by armed groups. Moreover, Nigeria’s engagement with the Safe Schools Initiative
further demonstrates its proactive approach to safeguarding educational facilities
from attacks and ensuring continuous learning for children in conflict-affected areas.
To ensure a transparent and accurate portrayal of the situation on the ground,
Nigeria emphasizes the importance of collaboration with international partners,
NGOs, and other stakeholders. In an age where misinformation can rapidly spread
through digital platforms, it is essential that reporting exercises involving conflict
zones engage all relevant entities. This collaborative approach helps present a
comprehensive and factually accurate representation of events, ensuring that
assessments are based on verified data. We stress that governments should not be
unjustly held responsible for the heinous actions of non-state actors whose tactics
undermine peace and security.
The Government of Nigeria continues to collaborate with multilateral
organizations and has signed numerous agreements aimed at preventing and
addressing grave violations against children. Through partnerships with entities such
as UNICEF, Nigeria has developed and supported programs focused on the
rehabilitation and reintegration of children affected by armed conflict. The Policy on
Disengagement, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration of Repentant Armed Elements is
an example of such commitment, facilitating the reintegration of children who have
been victims of abduction or recruitment by terrorist groups.
Nigeria calls on the international community to strengthen support for initiatives
that aid the rehabilitation and psychological healing of children affected by armed
conflict. This includes increased financial and technical assistance for child
protection programs and mechanisms that hold non-state actors accountable for grave
violations of children’s rights. Only through sustained and collective action can we

* The present annex is issued without formal editing.

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ensure that perpetrators face justice, and children’s futures are safeguarded from the
scourge of violence.
In closing, Nigeria reiterates its commitment to protecting children and fostering
an environment where they can grow free from fear and violence. We urge
international partners to continue supporting these efforts and join us in ensuring that
those who commit violations are brought to justice, regardless of the time it may take.

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