Protection of children in armed conflicts in focus at Joint FSC-PC Security Dialogue

Protection of children in armed conflicts was the focus of the 95th joint OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) and OSCE Permanent Council (PC) meeting organized under the Estonian FSC Chairpersonship and the 2025 OSCE Chairpersonship of Finland on 9 July.

"Children living in conflict zones continue to come under attack on a shocking scale. All of these provisions directly concern the OSCE region,” said Ambassador Kaja Tael, Permanent Representative of Estonia to the OSCE and Chair of the FSC.

Participants discussed the grave violations against children in conflict in the OSCE area. They also looked at ways for state institutions, the international community and civil society to effectively work together to tackle the issue.

“In times of war, children are often the most vulnerable, yet their protection is too often overlooked,” said Ambassador Vesa Häkkinen, Finland’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE and Chair of the Permanent Council, highlighting that the war in Ukraine has had devastating consequences for children. He underscored the tools the OSCE offers to assist, such as the Moscow Mechanism, which has documented serious violations of international law and provides clear recommendations for follow-up.

An expert on children rights and child-protection systems, Katre Luhamaa, Associate Professor of European and Comparative Law in the University of Tartu, Faculty of Social Sciences, spoke about principles that can be used for military decision-making to protect the best interest of children during armed conflict. These ranged from the right to protection from violence to educational and psychosocial support.

She emphasized the need for not just addressing the immediate effect but for broader justice measures and rehabilitation, as well as developing trauma-informed policies.

Daria Zarivna, Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and Operations Director of “Bring Kids Back UA”, a Ukrainian humanitarian programme focused on identifying, locating and safely repatriating illegally deported children, shared experiences and lessons learned from working with children in armed conflict. She spoke about how these kinds of experiences and lessons can be used to inform broader international efforts for supporting children in armed conflict.

The panellist-led presentations and discussions concluded with a Q&A session where the experts and participants explored best practices and recommendations on how to effectively protect and rehabilitate children in armed conflicts.