UN Security Council on Wednesday held an open debate, entitled "Children and Armed Conflict."

In his address at this event, Ambassador Mher Margaryan, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations (UN), particularly noted that the ongoing blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan since December 2022, and in violation of the International Court of Justice ruling, has caused particularly severe humanitarian consequences for children, making it impossible for schools and preschools to operate, healthcare services to be provided, and causing a dire need for food, medicine, and other vital goods.

Ambassador Margaryan noted that Azerbaijan obstructs the entry of UN organizations into Nagorno-Karabakh and the comprehensive assessment of the needs of the local population, stressing that the ongoing blockage of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan and the latter’s blockade of around 30 thousand children and their families in Nagorno-Karabakh is a serious violation of their rights, and called on the international community take steps to prevent the further deterioration of the living conditions of children living in Nagorno-Karabakh.

He emphasized that the United Nations, its Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for children and armed conflict, as well as the Security Council “have a distinct responsibility to prevent grave violations and to safeguard the physical security of children, whose rights and safety must be respected and protected at all times, in all parts of the world, including in Nagorno-Karabakh.”