Armed conflict threatens children through killing, injury, recruitment, displacement, family separation and loss of education and health care.
Armed conflict threatens children through killing, injury, recruitment, displacement, family separation and loss of education and health care.
WHRF focus area. Children experience conflict differently from adults and require specific protection. Harm can include killing and maiming, recruitment or use by armed actors, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access.
The effects continue beyond an immediate attack: interrupted education, disability, trauma, statelessness, family separation and poverty can shape an entire life. Responses should prioritize children’s best interests, dignity, participation and safe reintegration.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child applies in peace and war. International humanitarian law and the UN children-and-armed-conflict framework provide additional rules for protection, monitoring and accountability.
WHRF approaches this issue through independent research, public-interest analysis, non-partisan advocacy and cooperation with credible human-rights actors. This page identifies a focus area; it does not claim that WHRF currently operates a field programme or provides direct services in a particular country.
Contact WHRF if your organization has relevant evidence, expertise or a responsible partnership proposal.
Last reviewed: 20 October 2026.
