Security Council Resolution 2832 (2026) [on Protection of Children in Armed Conflict From Violations and Abuses Committed, Facilitated or Amplified Through Digital Technologies]

Calls upon all parties to armed conflict, who are recruiting or using children in violation of the international obligations applicable to them, including through digital technologies, such as social media platforms, to immediately halt such recruitment, use or re-recruitment of children;

Calls upon Member States to integrate into national child protection systems measures to reduce the risk of digital technologies being used to commit, facilitate or amplify violations and abuses against children, including, where appropriate, safe reporting and accessible, child-sensitive mechanisms to identify and provide appropriate services to children, survivor- and victim centred support, and safeguarding measures to prevent harm and re-victimisation and protect children from all forms of exploitation, and further encourages regional and international partners to assist Member States as appropriate, upon request;

Encourages Member States and relevant United Nations agencies as well as regional and international partners to strengthen coordination, cooperation, and investment in support of distance learning facilities, digital literacy and education in armed conflict and facilitating children’s access to digital infrastructure, technology and relevant skills, appropriate to their educational level, developmental and learning needs, and with psychosocial support and peer networks, including during the reintegration process, while working to prevent stigmatization and further encourages capacity-building support and assistance to developing countries, to close the digital divide across and within regions, while continuing to provide alternatives for those not reached by digital solutions, including low-connectivity solutions and recognizing that digital solutions should complement and not replace in-person child protection responses and education in conflict- affected settings;

Encourages Member States to ensure, when feasible, that teachers and educators are equipped with the competencies required to leverage technology in education, have access to digital resources and ensure that children affected by armed conflict, including children formerly associated with armed forces and armed groups, build digital literacy and resilience in order to reduce vulnerability to risks stemming from the digital environment, including through early identification of risks and appropriate child protection mechanisms and further encourages, where feasible, the production, adaptation and dissemination of safe and accessible digital resources in the education process to promote digital competencies, with the support of conducive policy and legal frameworks;

Encourages the Secretary General, in coordination with his Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, UNICEF, and relevant United Nations entities and child protection actors, in line with their respective mandates and subject to the availability of resources, to gather information and collect emerging lessons learned and best practices on the risks and benefits digital technologies present for the protection of children affected by armed conflict, including with regard to ending and preventing the recruitment and use and other violations and abuses committed, facilitated or amplified through digital technologies, and strengthening children’s digital literacy and safety, and, as appropriate, to reflect such lessons and practices in relevant reporting;

Calls on Member States to take appropriate measures consistent with obligations under international law to protect children in situations of armed conflict from violations and abuses committed, facilitated or amplified through digital technologies, encourages that the impact on children is put at the centre of digital policy-making and new initiatives related to the protection of children in armed conflict, including innovations that remain functional in low-connectivity and low-resource environments, and further encourages Member States, where appropriate, to fully consider the specific needs and well-being of children in relevant digital initiatives with safeguards for privacy and data protection;

Urges Member States to take action, consistent with applicable international law, against recruitment and use of children in armed conflict through the digital environment, including to prevent the use of children in malicious activities in the digital sphere, as well as the use of digital technologies for activities that may expose children to violations and abuses and to take appropriate measures to improve domestic compliance with obligations under international law, to end and prevent violations and abuses against children, including recruitment, use and re-recruitment, abduction and rape and other forms of sexual violence, where committed, facilitated or amplified through the use of digital technologies, while noting that girls are at a higher risk of being subjected to violence facilitated or amplified through the use of digital technologies;

Calls upon Member States to enable national and regional research initiatives on the use of digital technologies in armed conflict in a manner that promotes affordable and accessible benefits for all, and assess benefits and risks of digital technologies for children, to prevent and mitigate harm caused to children through digital platforms and digital tools, including on mental health and well-being and safeguard the protection of children from violations and abuses, including by leveraging digital technologies;

Calls upon Member States to prevent recruitment and use and other violations and abuses against children in armed conflict by considering, where appropriate, fostering partnerships between governments and private sector with substantive safeguards to prevent harm, exploitation and abuse, and measures that may be taken to encourage providers of digital services that have children as end users or otherwise affect children, to design safe products that limit the exposure of children affected by armed conflict to inappropriate or harmful content or contact, including by adopting effective age assurance mechanisms and restricting access to violent or harmful content, to prevent, to the extent possible, the use of their products by parties to armed conflict to commit recruitment and use and other violations and abuses against children and to cooperate with the relevant child protection mechanisms to protect children in the digital environment;