Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office written question – answered at on 3 September 2025.
Gavin Williamson
Conservative, Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo on the (a) recruitment and (b) use of child soldiers.
Hamish Falconer
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is deeply concerned about the reported increase in human rights violations against children resulting from the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including the recruitment and use of children. According to the UN Secretary General's 2025 Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), in 2024, the UN verified the recruitment and use of 2,365 children in the DRC. We have been clear, including at the UN Human Rights Council on 16 June, that the recruitment and use of children in the conflict in the DRC is unacceptable. The UK continues to call for all children recruited by armed groups to be handed over to child protection actors. All parties to conflict have an obligation under international law to protect children. UK humanitarian programming in eastern DRC delivers life-saving emergency assistance, strengthens community resilience, especially for women and girls, and provides essential nutritional support to children.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
