Thank you, Mr. President,

We commend Panama and the co-sponsors for convening this important meeting and we thank today’s briefers for their thorough and sobering interventions.

Colleagues, we all know:
Education is a fundamental tool for prevention: When schools are safe, they are protective environments that shield children from exploitation, recruitment, and abuse. But when schools are attacked, occupied, or destroyed, the consequences extend far beyond the classroom.

Deliberate attacks on schools are not incidental byproducts. They are often strategic acts aimed at destabilizing communities and weakening prospects for peace.

The Security Council took a decisive step in addressing this reality through Resolution 1998, which sent a clear signal and unequivocal message: schools and hospitals are not legitimate targets, and those who attack them must be held accountable.

Germany had the honor of chairing the Council when it adopted this crucial resolution in 2011 and the implementation remains a priority for us.

Because when education is attacked, this creates precisely the conditions in which recruitment by armed actors thrives. So preventing recruitment begins with safeguarding access to quality education.

At the same time, our commitment must extend to those children who have already been recruited or exploited in armed conflict. Their reintegration into education is essential for sustainable recovery and long-term peace.

Colleagues, the interventions speak to the urgent necessity for all of us to continue and reinforce our work.

In this vein, we are happy to continue to support the work of UNICEF, the Special Representative, and I would like to mention that we ware starting a new initiative together with Save the Children in the Sahel region to reduce recruitment by strengthening community-based child protection, support safe reintegration and enhance the institutional environment.

Because, dear colleagues,

When we protect schools, we protect childhood.
When we invest in education, we invest in peace.

I thank you!