NEW YORK — The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Monday addressing how digital technologies are used to commit violations and abuses against children in armed conflict.
The resolution, penned by Greece, also stressed the need to provide children with digital literacy so they can identify online risks and help prevent violations before they occur.
The measure urged member states to improve domestic compliance with their obligations under international law to end and prevent violations and abuses against children, including those committed, facilitated or amplified through digital technologies.
Greece chaired the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in 2025.
Speaking before the vote, Greece’s UN envoy Aglaia Balta said the Council must not stay silent on the digital dimension of grave violations.
“The question before us is not whether the Council should address the digital dimension of grave violations, but whether it can afford to remain silent while others exploit it,” she said.
Balta stressed that the resolution reinforces the existing framework by ensuring it captures violations regardless of the means used.
“Recruitment through a smartphone is still recruitment. A mandate that cannot see where violations begin is a mandate that falls behind,” she said.
Describing the text as a starting point, Balta said: “This resolution does not close the chapter on this urgent issue; it opens it. It is a seed, one that must grow as digital technologies reshape every aspect of human life, and above all, the lives of children.”
“Thirty years ago, the international community resolved that children caught in war would no longer be invisible. Today, we must make sure they do not vanish in the digital space,” she added.
Vanessa Frazier, UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, welcomed the decision, following the 15-member Council’s unanimous approval of the draft resolution.
“I would like to thank the members of the Security Council and the international community for their continued engagement and support on the issue of children affected by armed conflict,” Frazier said.
“Today’s resolution provides an important step to better respond to the needs of boys and girls, including by strengthening efforts to ensure their safety and well-being in an increasingly digital world and ensuring that every child can benefit from digital opportunities without being exposed to harm,” she added.
Source: Saudi Gazette