UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP)— Young people are facing an unprecedented wave of violence and sexual abuse driven by war, climate change, hunger, and displacement, the United Nations’ (UN) special representative on violence against children has warned.

“Children are not responsible for war. They are not responsible for climate crisis. And they are paying a huge (price),” said Najat Maalla M’jid, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children.

“Violence against children has reached unprecedented levels, caused by multifaceted and interconnected crises,” she said.

M’jid, a pediatrician from Morocco, will on Thursday present a damning report to a UN meeting showing that brutal violence against children is rife, and that technology is facilitating crimes against young people as never before.

“Ending violence is possible, and it makes economic sense,” M’jid told AFP, stressing that many people globally are committed to ending the scourge.

“The problem is how we can support them, to put all these (solutions) at scale.”

But the situation is dire, her stark report shows.

Over 450 million children lived in conflict zones as of the end of 2022, 40 per cent of the 120 million displaced people at the end of April were children, and 333 million children live in extreme poverty.

That is compounded by more than 1 billion children who are at high risk of being affected by climate change, which M’jid calls a risk multiplier.

Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-19 year olds, with 46,000 people between the ages of 10 and 19 taking their lives every year.

Child marriage is a widespread scourge, M’jid warns, with as many as 640 million victims of the practice.

As many as 370 million women and girls were subject to rape or other sexual violence during their childhood, according to a separate report by Unicef.

“Children could be victim of child exploitation, online or offline. They could be victims of child labour, of slavery, of many things… also of children in armed conflict,” M’jid said.

She warned that with fighting and lawlessness becoming embedded in several societies globally, such as Sudan and Haiti, “violence becomes normal.”

“When your children are experiencing violence since their early childhood, seeing only that… how are you going to deal with all this?”

Violence against children has a ripple effect, damaging their mental health, impairing their education and stymying their productivity later in life, the report argues.

“Even if you look at it from the perspective of the cost, it is 11 per cent of the national GDP in some countries,” M’jid warned.

The solution lies in a coordinated approach to public spending, involvement of business and civil society, and engaging children themselves, she said.

But squeezed budgets and the rise of conservative policies on sexual health and reproductive rights risk holding back efforts to combat violence against children, M’jid warned.

“The issue of the far-right wing and conservatism in many countries will also set back some forms of action regarding sexual reproductive health (and) gender issues,” M’jid said.

“We are facing a very difficult moment,” she added.

“These children will be the parents of the future generation.”