A/HRC/34/44 I. Introduction 1. The present report covers the period from December 2015 to December 2016 and is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 70/137, in which the Assembly requested the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to submit a report to the Human Rights Council on the activities undertaken in fulfilment of her mandate, including information on her field visits and on the progress achieved and the challenges remaining on the children and armed conflict agenda. II. Progress and challenges in addressing grave violations against children in armed conflict 2. The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council 20 years after Graça Machel presented her findings on the impact of armed conflict on children (A/51/306) to the General Assembly, which through its resolution 51/77 subsequently created the mandate of the Special Representative. The Assembly also requested in its resolution that an annual report containing relevant information on the situation of children affected by armed conflict be transmitted to the then Commission on Human Rights. The anniversary thus provides an important opportunity to take stock of the longer-term achievements since the first report and to highlight to the Human Rights Council areas where progress is still required in order to enhance the protection of children and of their rights during armed conflict. 3. Despite the advances that have been achieved in those two decades, the basic rights of children were regularly violated during the reporting period. In the Middle East, in addition to the direct impact of current conflicts on children, with thousands being killed, maimed, and recruited and used, there were rapidly developing and evolving humanitarian crises that were of serious concern at the time of writing, in December 2016. In Iraq, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that over half a million children and their families were trapped in Mosul with food and medicine running out and clean water in short supply. In a similar vein, in the Syrian Arab Republic, it was estimated that, at the end of the reporting period, nearly 500,000 children were living in besieged areas and were completely cut off from sustained humanitarian aid. In Yemen, intense conflict has resulted in a lack of food and water, which has put one and a half million children at risk of acute malnutrition. 4. The Central African Republic was also a particular concern in 2016, and in the latter part of the reporting period the situation deteriorated significantly. Clashes between exSéléka factions in November in the east of the country resulted in many civilians, including children, being killed or wounded, and in over 11,000 persons reportedly being displaced. These clashes have added to the tension and violent outbreaks that have been ongoing throughout the reporting period. The prevailing insecurity led to the suspension of humanitarian activities in certain areas of the country, gravely compromising the right of children to health and well-being. 5. With the resumption of fighting between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition in July 2016, children in South Sudan have also continued to bear the brunt of a devastating ongoing conflict. In the three years since the start of the hostilities, children have had their right to life, survival and development violated on a daily basis, and at the time of writing there was little end in sight to the conflict. 3