Every child has the right to safety, dignity, protection, and a childhood free from conflict.
The Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict (SRSG CAAC) reports that around 250 million children are living in conflict-affected countries. Children affected by armed conflict are deprived of their childhood and basic human rights. Despite the protections that should be afforded by international law, conflict places children in situations of extreme vulnerability and risk. All too often, they are drawn into hostilities, either directly as child soldiers or indirectly by being forcibly displaced, detained, killed, maimed, abducted, injured, or exploited. As a result of poverty, discrimination, or avenging past sufferings, children of any age and sex are recruited by governmental forces, paramilitaries, or rebels.
DCI works to protect the rights of children affected by armed conflict and prevent grave violations against them. It promotes children’s protection, participation, rehabilitation and reintegration, while supporting their role as actors of change and peace.
DCI’s long-term objective is to defend children’s rights not to be recruited or used in hostilities, and, where they are, to secure their rehabilitation and reintegration into society. Children should be enabled to develop their potential as responsible members of society and actors of change and peace during and post-conflict.
Our Work
Our Role
DCI works to:
- Enhance Socio-Legal Defence Centres (SLDCs) to respond to the immediate needs of children in armed conflict in selected countries, promoting the rights of child victims of recruitment, as well as working on prevention of all grave violations in the context of armed conflict, ending their criminalisation, promoting their rehabilitation/reintegration, preventing, and ending their detention
- Advocate for rehabilitation and reintegration in communities of children associated with armed forces
- Work on children’s empowerment as peace-building actors in war-torn societies
- Fight against impunity in the case of grave violations and ensure all perpetrators are treated according to international law
- Promote evidence-based reporting of armed conflict situations impacting children, and work towards the improvement of international monitoring, reporting, and accountability mechanisms
- Promote initiatives and campaigns to ensure that the views of children from countries in armed conflict are heard and taken into account at the national, regional, and international level
International Level
At the international level, DCI continued to chair the Geneva-based NGO Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, coordinating NGO inputs ahead of the 2026 Annual Discussion on the Rights of the Child and the corresponding resolution on children affected by armed conflict.
DCI also supported children from Lebanon, Palestine, and the DRC to participate in the first-ever child consultation on a Human Rights Council resolution, enabling children from conflict-affected contexts to share lived experience on the impact of armed conflict. The resolution on the rights of the child: realising the rights of the child affected by armed conflict, was adopted by consensus following sustained NGO advocacy to secure strong language on participation, accountability, and child-sensitive justice.
At the Human Rights Council, DCI advocated, including through children’s testimonies, for universal birth registration, robust reintegration programmes for children formerly associated with armed groups, thorough investigation of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and an end to attacks on, and the military use of, schools. These priorities mirror the resolution’s focus on accountability, reintegration, and long-term recovery for children affected by armed conflict.
DCI partnered with nongovernmental organisations like Child Rights Connect to found the Child Rights Connect Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, and was elected its co-convener in 2017 with War Child Holland, and convener as of 2020. DCI is also an associated member of the Watchlist on Children Affected by Armed Conflict.
National Level
Across conflict-affected contexts, DCI combines direct support, child participation, documentation, and advocacy to protect children and advance accountability for violations of their rights. This integrated approach helps ensure that children affected by armed conflict are not only assisted in the short term, but also recognised in justice, protection, and policy responses.
