"Children in conflict zones around the world have come under attack at a shocking scale throughout the year, UNICEF warned today, with parties to conflicts blatantly disregarding international laws designed to protect the most vulnerable," the statement said.
Children living in the hotspots across the globe have been killed, recruited for fight, raped, forced to marry, abducted and enslaved, UNICEF added.
"Rape, forced marriage, abduction and enslavement have become standard tactics in conflicts from Iraq, Syria and Yemen, to Nigeria, South Sudan and Myanmar," the UN agency stressed.
READ MORE: Congolese Fighters Convicted for Mass Rape of Children, Crimes Against Humanity
According to the statement, about 850,000 children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo were forced to leave their homes, at least 135 children were used as suicide attackers by the Boko Haram terrorist group in Nigeria and Cameroon, over 1,700 and 19,000 people became children recruits in Somalia and South Sudan, respectively, over the course of 2017.
The UN's fund calls on all parties to conflict to adhere to their obligations under international law to stop violations against children and the targeting of civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, as soon as possible.
