Sierra Leone’s First Lady Calls for Global Action on Children in Conflict at UN Security Council
By Ibrahim Joenal Sesay
(232news)
The chamber of the United Nations Security Council became a powerful platform for child advocacy as the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone addressed the Council during its 10113th meeting, on the 2nd March 2026 calling for urgent global action to protect children affected by conflict.
Attending in her capacity as President of the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD), the First Lady Madam Fatima Maada Bio described the moment as both symbolic and necessary.
“The protection of children must sit at the very heart of global security discussions,” she told Council members. “Peace is not only measured by the absence of war, but by the safety, dignity, and future of every child.”
The high-level session, focused on maintaining international peace and security with special emphasis on children, technology, and education in conflict settings, was convened during the one-month presidency of the United States. The invitation was extended by the First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump, who placed children in conflict at the forefront of the Council’s agenda.
Highlighting the realities across Africa and other conflict-affected regions, the Sierra Leonean First Lady spoke of destroyed schools, displaced families, and disrupted dreams.
“Across conflict zones, classrooms are reduced to rubble, families are uprooted, and childhood itself is placed at risk,” she said. “For many children, education the foundation of hope has become a distant possibility rather than a guaranteed right.”
She drew attention to OAFLAD’s flagship initiative, Building Resilience for Women and Children in the Face of War and Climate Change, noting that armed conflict and climate-related emergencies are interconnected crises that disproportionately affect women and children.
“When communities fracture and schools close, girls are often the first to be left behind,” she stated. “We must ensure that crisis does not determine a child’s destiny.”
The First Lady also underscored the transformative potential of technology to bridge educational gaps for displaced and conflict affected children, particularly in refugee camps and remote communities.
“Technology can reconnect children to learning when traditional systems fail,” she said. “Digital platforms can carry lessons across borders, across displacement, and across instability.”
However, she cautioned that innovation must be accompanied by protection mechanisms to safeguard vulnerable children from exploitation and abuse.
“Technology must be a shield, not a threat,” she warned. “In fragile settings, digital exposure without safeguards can open doors to trafficking, exploitation, and violence. Protection must advance alongside innovation.”
Concluding her address, she called on global leaders to treat child protection as a matter of international security rather than charity.
“Protecting children is not an act of goodwill it is a global security imperative,” she affirmed. “The future of peace depends on what we do today for the youngest among us.”
The session reinforced growing international recognition that safeguarding children particularly girls in conflict settings is essential to building sustainable peace worldwide.
