A report on Children and Armed Conflict, prepared by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s office and submitted to the Security Council recently found that from January through December 2022 in Pakistan, at least three children were killed and 17 others were hurt.

The report noted that 23 grave violations against 20 children were recorded in the calendar year 2022. Of these, three were boys, while the gender of the remaining 17 was unknown. A further five children were reportedly hurt in gun incidents.

The report tracks the impact of armed conflict on children and information on violations committed. Guterres, in the report, said that Pakistan remains listed as a country with a situation of concern for children in armed conflict.

The biggest cause of casualties was explosives, causing 15 casualties. Of these, at least nine children suffered the consequences of explosive remnants of war detonating. Another six were hurt in the detonation of improvised explosive devices as terror returned to Pakistan.

This included the use of an improvised explosive device – the preferred attack method of terrorists – against a girls’ middle school. Worryingly, the report noted that at least three attacks were reported on schools.

Much of these in remote areas go unreported as the only source of information, the government finds it embarrassing, analysts say.

Besides accidental violence by tripping on mines, the UN has noted organised violence against children, especially girls, whose schools have been set afire in rising numbers.

The report said that the UN had verified at least 1,797 grave violations against 970 children (783 boys, 187 girls) and 14 children who were victims of multiple violations.

Guterres expressed concerns over incidents in the border areas with Afghanistan and about attacks against schools. One of the areas of concern highlighted was how five child casualties were reported due to cross-border firing from Pakistan into Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s worse case was recorded in December 2014 when the Army Public School in Peshawar, a supposedly well-fortified garrison town, was attacked by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), killing 132, mostly children at school.

The other has been a targeted attack on girl-activist Malala Yusufzai who was shot in the head while on a bus taking her to school. Flown to Britain by an embarrassed Pakistan Government, she survived to become the youngest Nobel laureate. Subsequent reports indicate that her attackers have shown no remorse and many in Pakistani society think that she was “whisked away” to Britain to be made an example against Pakistan.

The latest report comes nine months after another by UNICEF in October 2022 that warned of more children in Pakistan dying without immediate international support. It revised the funding appeal to US$173.5 million.

The focus then was the flooding of many areas in Pakistan. “Pakistan’s catastrophic floods have already claimed the lives of 615 children. Right now, almost 10 million children are now in need of immediate, lifesaving support. It is a staggering number; indeed the scale of need is daunting. And with a heavy heart, I must state that more children will die in the coming days and weeks if urgent action is not taken.”

"The situation on the ground is unlike anything we have seen before. With winter looming, needs will only increase. Some families have now been living in derelict makeshift tents for more than eight weeks. Some have only tattered rags to shield themselves from the scorching sun. Children are surrounded by pools of stagnant water poisoned with fertilizers and feces, and swarming with diseases and viruses, sometimes meters away from where they sleep.”

"More than seven million children and women now need immediate access to nutrition services, while nearly four million children lack access to health services. 7.6 million children are more exposed to protection risks and two million children are out of school as a direct result of the floods,” UNICEF said.

Analysts say there is little improvement in the last one year as Pakistan goes through its political and economic turmoil. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was in Paris last month asking for more funds and urging the Western world “to treat Pakistan fairly.”