“To remain a sector leader in humanitarian aid and development, it is imperative that the UK government respond to the one of the greatest and most neglected needs of our time,” the report concludes. The report also notes that failings have occurred despite the UK’s focus on conflict, and its status as one of the world’s largest humanitarian contributors and a permanent member of the UN security council. The initiative was unveiled to great fanfare by former foreign secretary William Hague and actor Angelie Jolie last May, and earlier this month a centre to support the scheme was opened in London. In addition, the report says that not one of the team of experts established through the high-profile Preventing Sexual Violence initiative led by the Foreign Office have received pre-deployment training in the area of child protection.
Parliamentarians, along with humanitarian campaigners, are also concerned that there is not a single dedicated government official with the expertise and the mandate to drive the UK’s response to children affected by conflicts.
“In the past two decades, an estimated 90% of those killed in conflicts around the world have been civilians, and 80% of those have been women and children,” it says. In the last decade, according to the report, more than 2 million children have died as a result of conflict and three times that number have been permanently disabled or seriously injured. It also found that the Department for International Development (DfID) does not place a specific priority on children’s welfare and that it “lacks a tangible, or indeed any kind of strategy” when it comes to a child protection policy within its humanitarian operations.Īn estimated 230 million children live in countries affected by armed conflicts, while 20 million children are displaced because of ongoing disputes. The scathing report, which will be published on Monday by the all-party parliamentary group on protecting children in armed conflict, concludes an urgent review is required to amend the government’s “one-size-fits-all approach to aid and development”.
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