Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla has voiced his concern that the world is witnessing a dangerous trend of an increase in the number of children being recruited and involved in terrorism-related activities. He said greater accountability and sincere efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice by governments from whose territory such entities operate.

Addressing the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) high-level open debate on children and armed conflict on Monday evening through video conferencing, Shringla said the COVID-19 pandemic has further negatively impacted children in situations of armed conflict, including by hampering their access to education, health and social services, according to a report by ANI.

"It has made them susceptible to grave violations, particularly through recruitment and abduction. It is, therefore, important that states keep child protection concerns at the core of their pandemic response measures and recovery plans," he said.

" We are witnessing a dangerous and worrying trend in global terrorism and that is an increase in the number of children that are being recruited and involved in terrorism-related activities. Terror groups take advantage of the fact that children are the most susceptible to manipulation. School closures due to the pandemic have provided an even greater opportunity to these terrorist groups to target children, including through online avenues, for radicalization and indoctrination in violent extremist ideologies," he said.

"We believe that there is a need for a more coordinated approach in implementing the child protection and counter-terrorism agendas. States need to demonstrate greater political will to hold the perpetrators of terrorism and their sponsors to account, and to fulfil the Council's child protection obligations," he said.(SAM)