Launch of the 2025 "Stop the War on Children" Report.
Stop the War on Children 2025 - Security for Whom?
Organized by: Save the children, Norway, Belgium, Uruguay, South-Africa and Group of Friends on CAAC Vennegruppen for barn og væpnet konflikt
Statement by Mr Tormod C. ENDRESEN, Ambassador - Permanent Representative to the UN and other International Organizations Norway.
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25. november 2025
Thank you to Save the Children for bringing us together today, and to all cosponsors – Belgium, Uruguay, and the Group of Friends on Children and Armed Conflict – for your strong commitment to protecting children affected by conflict.
Norway is proud to have funded the report that is being launched today, although the reality it reflects is grim.
The report reveals that amid record highs in global military expenditure in 2024, children are less safe now than at any point in the past two decades. They are not soldiers, yet they are on the frontlines.
We live in a time where the geopolitical situation is complicated. Commitments to international law and humanitarian norms are being eroded and there is more pressure on security than before.
In parallel, there are increasing humanitarian needs, and unprecedented pressure on funding – influencing so many of the ongoing reform discussions. Donors like Norway are being expected to step up when others step down, while also having to prioritize. Doing less with less, and hyper prioritization are the new buzz words.
At the same time, Norway alone cannot cover the gap left by other donors. That being said, I want to be absolutely clear: protecting children will remain one of our highest priorities in all our humanitarian efforts
I want to draw your attention for a minute to what is happening in Nairobi today. The 5th Conference on the Safe Schools Declaration is currently taking place, 10 years after it was adopted in Oslo. This is a global commitment to protect students, teachers, and schools during armed conflict, which now has been endorsed by more than 120 States. Additional states joined the Declaration just this month, indicating positive trends that are worth highlighting.
Protecting education from attack goes hand in hand with what we are talking about here: giving children the safety and hope they deserve.
Practical frameworks such as the declarations on Safe Schools and also on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA), can help us in the efforts to find solutions to protecting children from the consequences of armed conflict.
Building our work on good evidence and data that reflect reality, such as this important Save the Children report, will be a key part of this.
Thank you.