November 27th, 2025

​SPEECH – A Strategic Call to Action:
Protecting Children’s Rights in Conflict Zones With Concrete Action Steps for the United Nations and the European Union
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished delegates, honored members of the international community,
Today, we gather not only to speak but to demand action — action for the children whose voices are silenced by war, whose futures are destroyed by violence, and whose rights are ignored by those entrusted to protect them.
Children are not instruments of conflict.
They are the heartbeat of humanity.
And yet, in far too many regions, they are the first to suffer and the last to be defended.
The world does not lack declarations, conventions, or promises.
What it lacks is courageous implementation.
That is why today, with full conviction and responsibility, I present concrete, actionable steps for the United Nations and the European Union — steps that must be taken if we are to claim that children’s rights truly matter.
1. ACTIONS FOR THE UNITED NATIONS
 Establish a Permanent International Tribunal for Crimes Against Children
A dedicated judicial body must be created under the UN to investigate and prosecute crimes specifically targeting children in
conflict zones.
No more temporary tribunals. No more selective justice.
Crimes against children must carry guaranteed, not optional, consequences.
2. Mandatory Sanctions for States and Armed Groups Violating Children's Rights
The UN must implement automatic sanctions for states, militias, or entities documented as:

• attacking schools or hospitals,
• recruiting child soldiers,
• kidnapping or abusing children,
• blocking humanitarian access.

Sanctions must include travel bans, asset freezes, suspension of military aid, and complete diplomatic condemnation.
3. UN Peacekeeping Mandate Reform – Children First
Every peacekeeping mission must include:

• dedicated child protection officers,
• trauma-informed personnel,
• verified protocols to protect schools, shelters, and playgrounds.

Peacekeeping that does not protect children is not peacekeeping — it is administration.
4. A Global Registry of War-Affected Children
The UN should create a centralized digital system documenting:

• missing and abducted children,
• injured and displaced children,
• children separated from their families.

This registry would coordinate reunification and prevent trafficking or disappearance during conflict.
5. Compulsory Corporate Accountability Framework
The UN must require global companies to disclose and eliminate:

• supply chains benefiting from conflict,
• trade with actors violating children’s rights,
• production that directly contributes to destruction of civilian infrastructure.

Those who profit from war must no longer hide behind “business interests.”
2. ACTIONS FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION
 Create an EU Child Protection Task Force for Conflict Zones
This specialized unit would deploy experts in:

• education,
• trauma care,
• physical education and sports development,
• child protection law,
• rapid humanitarian infrastructure.

The EU must be capable of protecting children wherever crises arise.
2. Adopt the “Safe Schools and Playgrounds Directive”
The EU should legally require Member States to:

• protect schools and sports facilities abroad through foreign aid programs,
• rebuild destroyed educational and recreational infrastructure in partner countries,
• sanction any government or corporation complicit in attacks on civilian youth structures.

3. Establish a European Fund for Children in War (EFCW)
This fund would support:

• emergency education programs,
• physical activity and sports projects in conflict regions,
• psychological rehabilitation,
• community rebuilding initiatives led by trained educators and coaches.

Sport and education must be seen as essential humanitarian responses, not afterthoughts.
4. EU Corporate Responsibility Law – No Profit from Children’s Suffering
The European Union must adopt strict legislation requiring companies to prove that:

• they do not support military actors harming children,
• they do not trade materials used to destroy civilian infrastructure,
• they do not profit from forced displacement or wartime labour.

Violation should result in market bans, financial penalties, and public disclosure.
5. Fast-Track Asylum and Protection for War-Affected Children
The EU must create accelerated humanitarian corridors for:

• orphaned children,
• injured children,
• children with disabilities caused by war,
• children who have been abducted or abused.

Protection delayed is protection denied.
A CALL FOR GLOBAL COURAGE
​Ladies and gentlemen,
These actions are not dreams.
They are not slogans.
They are responsibilities.
The world has every tool it needs to protect children — what it lacks is the moral will to use them.
Let us be the generation that finally says:
No more excuses. No more silence. No more empty promises.
Children’s rights are not negotiable.
Children’s lives are not collateral.
And protecting them is not politics — it is humanity.
The time for action is now. Not tomorrow.
Now.
Thank you.
Timo Virtanen
General Manager
World Children & Youth Physical Education Academy
(C.Y.P.E. Academy)