UNSC ARRIA FORMULA: RED HAND DAY 2026: SAFE EDUCATION TO PREVENT THE RECRUITMENT AND USE OF CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT
Statement delivered by H.E. Ms. Beth Delaney, Chargé d'affaires, Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations
24 February 2026
President, colleagues,
This year marks 30 years of the UN’s Children and Armed Conflict mandate.
Yet the recruitment and use of children continues to rise.
This is unacceptable.
It deprives children of their fundamental rights and robs them of their futures.
We can and we must do better.
Today, Australia makes two key points.
First, UN peace operations remain essential to preventing recruitment and supporting accountability.
Australia is proud to endorse the Vancouver Principles and continues to push for strong, well-resourced child protection mandates in peace operations.
We must ensure peace operations, where mandated, have the tools and political backing to continue to monitor, report, verify and address grave violations.
Second, education is one of the most effective shields against recruitment, and one of the most powerful tools for reintegration.
But attacks on schools are increasing, and girls remain disproportionately denied access to education.
In conflict affected and fragile contexts, girls are 2.5 times more likely to be out of school than boys.
When schools are targeted and access to education is denied, children become more vulnerable to recruitment, exploitation and violence.
Australia calls on parties to ensure schools remain safe, civilian spaces, and commitments such as the Safe Schools Declaration are translated into concrete action on the ground.
On Red Hand Day, Australia stands with survivors, advocates, and communities working to end the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.
We urge the UN and all parties to conflict, to prioritise the protection of education, safeguard schools as civilian spaces, and ensure every child has access to safety, learning and hope.
Children deserve more than survival. They deserve a future. And we have a responsibility to make it possible.
Thank you.