President,

In recent years, digital technologies have developed rapidly and various applications have been rolled out quickly, bringing complex impacts on children in armed conflict. Digital technologies can empower children’s development and education, but may also be used to violate their rights. China supports the Security Council in taking timely measures in light of evolving circumstances to strengthen the protection of children in armed conflict. We therefore voted in favor of the draft resolution just adopted. We appreciate the efforts made by the penholder. At the same time, we also note that some legitimate concerns raised by certain Council members were not fully reflected, and there remains room for improvement in the text.

Children are the most innocent victims of armed conflict. China urges the parties to conflict to cease hostilities and violence as soon as possible, fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law, protect the safety of children, and refrain from using digital technologies to commit violations against children. We support the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and other UN child protection mechanisms in strengthening collaboration and coordination, strictly in accordance with their respective mandates and within existing resources, so as to continuously improve the effectiveness of the protection of children in armed conflict.

We should harness the potential of digital technologies in conflict settings and promote technological tools such as distance learning, online platforms, and mobile devices to overcome the temporal and spatial limitations of traditional classrooms, safeguard the right to education of children in armed conflict, and improve children’s digital literacy. At the same time, the development and application of digital technologies should fully respect the sovereignty and ownership of the countries concerned, uphold a people-centered approach and the principle of technology for good, promote inclusive and universally beneficial development, strengthen systematic regulation of digital service providers, ensure the security of products and data, and prevent risks of misuse and privacy breaches.

China stands ready to work with all parties to continue amplifying the positive effects of digital technologies and make greater efforts to protect the safety of children in armed conflict and promote their rights and interests.

Thank you, President.