UN Security Council urges action against digital abuses targeting children in conflicts

The UN Security Council on Monday condemned violations of international law involving the recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts and called for stronger measures to protect them from abuses facilitated by digital technologies, while promoting their safe use for education and child protection.

Unanimously adopting Resolution 2832 (2026), the Council also condemned the re-recruitment of children, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, abductions and attacks on schools and hospitals.

The Council called on member states to place children’s needs at the centre of digital policymaking and demanded that parties to armed conflicts immediately end violations against children, including their recruitment and use through digital technologies.

The resolution encouraged the UN Secretary-General, in coordination with his Special Representative, UNICEF and relevant UN bodies, to gather information and lessons learned on the risks and benefits of digital technologies in protecting children affected by armed conflicts and strengthening their digital safety and literacy.

It also called for measures consistent with international law to prevent the exploitation of children in harmful online activities, with particular attention to the growing risks of technology-facilitated violence against girls.