A/HRC/37/47 conduct. By using the different avenues of public awareness, political advocacy and direct engagement, parties may display greater receptiveness to improving their conduct and reducing violations against children. Those prevention efforts are at the heart of the Special Representative’s goals of protecting the rights of children. III. Progress and challenges in addressing grave violations against children in armed conflict A. Denial of humanitarian access and its impact on the human rights of children 10. In recent years, the denial of humanitarian access to children in armed conflict has become a more prevalent violation and in 2016, 994 incidents were verified by the United Nations. Almost half of those incidents took place in South Sudan, which suffered a 100 per cent increase in incidents as compared with 2015. In 2017, humanitarian access continued to be regularly denied in numerous situations. For example, in the Syrian Arab Republic in the early part of the year, parties to the conflict used besiegement as a method of warfare, depriving nearly 650,000 persons of access to food and other essential commodities, including life-saving and life-sustaining medical items. Deliberate bureaucratic impediments and restrictions by the Government, in addition to a fragile security situation and access limitations imposed by armed groups, further prevented the delivery of humanitarian assistance. In South Sudan in 2017, humanitarian actors continued to be harassed and assaulted and came under attack as they conducted their activities. In one incident in Central Equatoria, six humanitarian actors were fired upon and killed as they attempted to reach populations in need. Humanitarian access in Rakhine State in Myanmar was also very limited during the reporting period. In March, for instance, travel restrictions for civilians cost the life of a 2-year-old child, as the child’s parents were unable to obtain a “village departure certificate” in time to allow for his transfer to hospital. In early 2017, across the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, 182,000 children had no access to assistance, owing to a significant reduction in the humanitarian space to operate, caused by the fragile security situation. In Yemen, restrictions on the import and movement of aid around the country exacerbated the direct impact of conflict on children. At the time of writing in December, in addition to the world’s worst cholera outbreak that affected children throughout 2017, the United Nations estimated that nearly 400,000 children were suffering from acute malnutrition. 11. Such instances, which were also observed in other country situations, point to a trend of the politicization of the provision of humanitarian access for the delivery of aid, even when it is intended for children. As the Secretary-General noted in his report on the protection of civilians, humanitarian action must remain distinct from political or military objectives (S/2017/414). That principle is especially salient when assistance is intended to provide relief for children who are vulnerable to malnutrition and disease. In that regard, the Special Representative notes that the Human Rights Council has recently called upon States to respect, protect and fulfil the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, with special attention paid to groups in vulnerable situations.2 It is clear that children affected by conflict experience heightened levels of vulnerability and protection of their right to food, water and sanitation should be prioritized. 12. Furthermore, when humanitarians are denied access to one of the most vulnerable strata of the population, children with disabilities, it is especially egregious, as they and their families face almost insurmountable obstacles to reaching much-needed assistance by other means. Unaccompanied children fleeing conflict-affected areas without family members or trusted adults who can take care of them face similar challenges in accessing humanitarian services. The challenge of undertaking journeys that are required to reach 2 See Council resolution 35/23. 5