War’s impact on children focus of Forum for Security Co-operation Meeting

The impact that war has on the safety and wellbeing of children was at the heart of today’s Forum for Security Co-operation meeting. This topic was introduced for the first time for discussion by the Forum by the Belgian Chair, who will lead the Forum’s discussions until the end of 2022.

“Children are the most vulnerable victims of armed conflict and it is high time that we address this question head on in this Forum,” said Didier Nagant de Deuxchaisnes, Belgium’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE and FSC Chair. “Five and a half million children are affected by the war in Ukraine. This is further proof of the urgency of this issue that has ramifications across the OSCE region and the globe.”

“Right now, 177 million children in the world depend on humanitarian aid. Of these, over 30 million have fled conflict. So far, tragically, 746 children have been injured and 383 killed due to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine,” he added.

The forum was addressed by Geert Cappelaere, Director of the UNICEF Partnership Office in Brussels, Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office on Children and Security, Gamba de Poittiers, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, and Andrii Chernousov, sociologist at the Kharkiv Institute for Social Research.