April 2026, World: Human Rights Council adopts resolution on the rights of the child affected by armed conflict
The Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution on the rights of the child affected by armed conflict during its sixty-first session. The resolution reaffirms that armed conflict severely undermines the full enjoyment of children’s rights, including their rights to identity, nationality, family relations, education and protection from violence.
The Council highlights the scale of the crisis, noting that hundreds of millions of children are affected by conflict and face grave violations, including recruitment, abduction, sexual violence and denial of humanitarian access. It emphasizes that children separated from families or born in conflict settings face heightened risks of lacking birth registration and legal identity, increasing their vulnerability to statelessness and exclusion.
The resolution calls on States and all parties to armed conflict to uphold international humanitarian and human rights law, ensure family tracing and reunification, and provide access to birth registration and civil documentation, including for children born of conflict-related sexual violence. It also underscores the importance of child-sensitive justice, accountability, and long-term reintegration and recovery.
CHIP welcomes this resolution, which reinforces the protection of children’s right to identity in conflict settings and highlights the need for inclusive, accessible and rights-based systems to prevent statelessness.
