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 The United Security Council urged today countries and non-State actors to allow children access to education and healthcare during and post-conflicts.

In a debate in New York which included Secretary-General António Guterres, the Council said that it is “gravely concerned by the scale and severity” of human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law committed against children in some countries, including terrorism, mass abductions, and sexual slavery, which can cause displacement and affect access to education and healthcare services.

As the UN press service reported, through a statement agreed by all 15 of its members, the Council also noted that children's international human rights continue to be violated “with impunity” in some countries, and stressed that the best interests of children, as well as their needs and vulnerabilities, be considered when making any decisions related to children in war zones.

Addressing the Council's day-long debate, the Mr. Guterres said children around the world are suffering “enormously and unacceptably,” resulting in “global shame.”

“If we leave the next generation traumatized, seething with grievances, we betray those we serve and we betray ourselves,” he said in the open debate of the Council.

He pointed to his latest report on the issue, which included a record high number of child casualties in Afghanistan, a doubling of verified cases of recruitment and use of children in Syria and Somalia, and widespread sexual violence against children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan and other countries.