India dropped from UN report on kids and armed conflict

New Delhi: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has removed India from the list of countries that need attention over the impact of armed conflict on children following active representation and engagement by the Centre.

India was mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General on 'Children and Armed Conflict' since 2010 along with other countries like Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Lake Chad basin, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Philippines for alleged recruitment and use of boys by armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir; detainment of boys by Indian security forces in J&K for their alleged association with armed groups, or on national security grounds; children killed and maimed by Indian security forces, including by the use of pellets; unidentified perpetrators, crossfire between armed groups and unidentified perpetrators, and crossfire and shelling across the Line of Control.

The Union ministry of women and child development engaged with the United Nations to exclude India's name from the list. An inter-ministerial meeting was held in November 2021 between senior government officials and a special representative of the Secretary-General for children.


The meeting led to an agreement to appoint a national focal point to identify priority national interventions to enhance protection of children, and a joint technical mission to hold inter-ministerial, technical-level meetings with the UN to identify areas of enhanced cooperation for child protection. These interventions have finally led to removal of India from the list.