Landmines, airstrikes, snipers – in cities across the world, children's lives and futures are irrevocably changed by urban warfare. Urban warfare causes a staggering number of deaths and injuries among civilians. It disrupts families, destroys homes, and displaces whole communities. It cuts off access to health care, education, electricity, water, and sanitation. The immediate and long-term effects of urban warfare on children's health, safety, and development, cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, such consequences have rarely been thoroughly assessed for children as a distinct group within the population.
This event reviewed the distinct risks that children face during war in cities and provided concrete recommendations for parties to the conflict, relevant authorities, and those providing a humanitarian response for preventing and mitigating harm to children and for responding to the impact of urban warfare on them.
The event featured a keynote speech by Sarah Epprecht, ICRC Director of Protection and Essential Services, and was moderated by Filipa Schmitz Guinote, Head of Diplomatic Strategy at ICRC, along with the following panellists:
- James Denselow, Head of Conflict and Humanitarian Policy and Advocacy, Save the Children
- Cordula Droege, Chief Legal Officer and Head of Law, ICRC
- Manuel Fontaine, Special Adviser, Executive Director's Office, UNICEF
- Alexandra Jackson, Global Adviser on Child Protection, ICRC
- Alma Taslidzan, Disarmament and Protection of Civilians Advocacy Manager, Humanity and Inclusion
Want to take a deep dive? Find the full event recording here to unpack all the substance from this event!
- International sign language interpretation was provided at this event. -
