Children Paying the Ultimate Price: Record 520 Million Exposed to War in 2024 as Grave Violations Surge

The world’s children are bearing an escalating toll of war. In 2024, approximately 520 million children—roughly one in five globally—were living in areas engulfed by armed conflict. According to Save the Children, this marks the third consecutive year of record exposure to war-zones.

The charity verified 41,763 grave violations against children last year—an increase of about 30 per cent compared with 2023—meaning on average 78 children every day were killed, maimed, abducted, forcibly recruited or sexually abused.

Growing up amid gunfire and shelling has collateral damage: children in conflict zones face disrupted schooling, hunger, displacement and lifelong psychological trauma. “This disproportionate rise in grave violations reveals that beyond exposure to conflict, there is also a deep erosion of the international norms and protections designed to shield children from harm,” said Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children.

More than 60 state-based conflicts were active in 2024, while less than 2 per cent of global security spending went towards peacebuilding and peacekeeping. By contrast, military expenditure reached a record high of US $2.7 trillion—a rise of over 9 per cent in the year.

Regionally, Africa now has the highest number and share of children living in conflict zones, with 218 million affected—surpassing the Middle East for the first time since 2007. The highest incidence of grave violations was recorded in the occupied Palestinian territory, where one in three children killed or maimed in war was Palestinian. Other countries where more than half of all violations occurred include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Somalia.

These figures raise urgent questions about the international community’s ability to protect children in war. The gap between military focus and child-protection spending is evident—and growing.