War Child Statement: Government Withdrawal from Multilateral Systems Harms Children

These systems are not abstract institutions. They show the world how children are harmed in conflict and work to protect them: by monitoring grave violations, sustaining education during emergencies, and ensuring access to mental health and psychosocial support.

Weakening these systems reduces accountability, funding, and access to care that these children rely on. Recent disengagement by the Government of the United States and the Government of Israel from UN bodies has immediate ripple effects on humanitarian financing, predictability, and programme continuity. Cuts or uncertainty in funding disproportionately affect child-focused services, which are already chronically underfunded and stretched in many crisis settings.

War Child works in close partnership with UN agencies and UN-led coordination mechanisms to deliver protection, education, and mental health support for children affected by conflict. In the contexts where we work, these systems enable safe access, coordination, quality standards, and accountability. When they weaken, fewer children are reached and essential services are disrupted.

Children’s rights are not negotiable. They must never be treated as instruments of political bargaining or undermined by unilateral national interests. The UN and its protection mechanisms were established in the aftermath of the Second World War to ensure the world would never again turn away from widespread suffering and atrocities.

At a time when conflict is spreading and humanitarian needs are at historic highs, children’s rights must not be pushed to the side. They need sustained cooperation that protects and endures.