Pakistan has told a historic session of the UNSC that the most effective way to protect children and their right to education is to resolve festering conflicts in accordance with the UNSC resolutions, the UN Charter and international law.

Speaking in the council’s debate on “Children, Technology and Education in Conflict” presided over by US First Lady Melania Trump, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said, “Across conflict zones around the world, including situations of foreign occupation, notably Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir, millions of children are growing up amid rubble and chaos, rather than classrooms and calm.”

Schools, he added, have been destroyed, damaged or militarised, teachers displaced and digital networks disrupted. “Education systems— already fragile – have been pushed to the brink of collapse,” the Pakistani envoy said.

At the same time, Ambassador Ahmad said while conflicts persist, we have an obligation to ensure that no child’s future is extinguished by circumstances beyond their control.