Brussels, 4 June 2026
On the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, the International Federation for Rights and Development (IFRD) reaffirms its commitment to the protection of children affected by armed conflict, occupation, forced displacement, and grave human rights violations across its areas of work in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa (MENA).
Children continue to pay the highest price for conflicts they neither create nor control. Across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as along migration routes into Europe, children face killing, injury, displacement, family separation, arbitrary detention, deprivation of education, and severe psychological trauma. These violations undermine not only the rights of individual children but also the future stability and development of entire societies.
IFRD remains particularly concerned by the devastating impact of ongoing hostilities on children in Palestine, Sudan, and other conflict-affected parts of the Middle East and North Africa, where civilian populations continue to bear the consequences of violence, siege, displacement, and humanitarian collapse. We are equally concerned about the vulnerability of refugee and asylum-seeking children arriving in Europe, many of whom face uncertainty, exclusion, and barriers to the protection to which they are entitled under international law.
The rights of children are non-negotiable. International humanitarian law and international human rights law require all parties to armed conflicts to ensure the protection of children and civilian populations. Attacks on civilians, schools, hospitals, shelters, and humanitarian infrastructure must cease immediately, and all allegations of violations against children must be independently investigated.
On this occasion, IFRD calls for:
- The protection of all children from the effects of armed conflict and occupation;
- Unhindered humanitarian access to children and families in conflict-affected areas;
- Accountability for grave violations committed against children;
- Increased support for education, healthcare, and psychosocial services;
- Stronger protection mechanisms for refugee and migrant children in Europe;
- Greater international efforts to address the root causes of violence, displacement, and instability.
Children are not parties to conflict. They must never be treated as collateral damage. Their rights, dignity, and future must remain at the centre of all humanitarian, political, and peacebuilding efforts.
On this International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, IFRD honours the memory of every child whose life has been lost to violence and stands with all children who continue to endure the consequences of war, displacement, and human rights abuses.
International Federation for Rights and Development (IFRD)
Brussels, Belgium
4 June 2026
The International Federation for Rights and Development (IFRD) is an independent Belgium-based human rights organization working in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa to promote human rights, accountability, and human dignity.
