The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
OHCHR press conference: UN Global Study On Children Deprived Of Liberty
Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (20 Nov), the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) launched a report recognizing that more than seven million children worldwide are suffering in various types of child-specific institutions, immigration detention centres, police custody, prisons and other places of detention.
The ‘UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty’ aims to provide recommendations for law, policy and practice to safeguard the human rights of the countless children placed in detention centres, which are very often, adult facilities, according to the independent expert leading the report, Manfred Nowak.
To decrease their risk of violence, rape and sexual assault, he emphasized that “States should establish special child justice systems, that means special child courts, special child detention facilities where they are separated from adults.”
He also insisted that States train “special police officers, for instance, with a particular expertise in how to deal with children in conflict with the law.”
The report recognizes that migration-related detention of children cannot be considered as a measure of last resort and is never in the best interests of the child and, therefore, should always be prohibited. Nevertheless, the data collected by the study indicate that, around the world, at least 330,000 children are detained for migration-related purposes per year.
At least 77 States are known to still detain children for such reasons, while at least 21 States do not, or claim not to do so. Nowak admitted that “the United States is one of the countries with the highest numbers” and according to him, there are still “more than 100,000 children in migration-related detention in the United States of America.”
At the same time, the report indicates that Mexico has also made extensive use of detention of children in immigration processes, while giving an overview of global data. According to the study, precise data on the immigration detention of children at a global scale is hard to come by owing to the major differences in how child migration and the detention of children are defined, observed and measured from place to place.
The UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty also compiled the interviews of “274 children from 22 different countries.” Nowak stressed that "child participation was a very important aspect of the preparation of the Global Study.”
According to the report, the most important reason for the large number of children in detention is the lack of adequate support for families, caregivers and communities to provide appropriate care to children and encourage their development.
The study also found that the number of children detained in the context of armed conflict and national security has increased sharply, driven by aggressive counterterrorism measures that include detention and prosecution of children for online activity, including posts to Facebook and Twitter.
According to the study, children with disabilities are significantly overrepresented in detention in the context of administration of justice and institutions. Nowak highlighted the need to “de-institutionalise.” He emphasized his call for children to “grow up in families - or family settings, and not in institutions,” saying that institutions are where the children “are in fact deprived of liberty, where there is strict discipline, there is a lot of violence, there is no love etc.”
1. Wide shot, exterior shot, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, Room III
3. Wide shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Manfred Nowak, Independent Expert leading the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty:
“States should establish special child justice systems, that means special child courts, special child detention facilities where they are separated from adults, but also special police officers, for instance, with a particular expertise in how to deal with children in conflict with the law.”
5. Med shot, photographer
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Manfred Nowak, Independent Expert leading the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty:
“The United States is one of the countries with the highest numbers: we have more than 100,000 children in migration-related detention in the United States of America. So that’s far more than all the other countries where we have reliable figures.”
7. Wide shot, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Manfred Nowak, Independent Expert leading the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty:
“Article 37(b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is very, very clear. It says that the detention of children shall only be a measure of last resort, and only if absolutely necessary for the shortest appropriate period of time. That means, in principle, children should not be deprived of liberty, and States should look to find non-custodial solutions, and usually they are available.”
9. Med shot, journalists
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Manfred Nowak, Independent Expert leading the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty:
“We interviewed 274 children in 22 different countries. We also tried to invite children to the regional consultations to speak about their experiences. For us, child participation was a very important aspect of the preparation of the Global Study.”
11. Med shot, cameras
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Manfred Nowak, Independent Expert leading the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty:
“So our main conclusions are fairly clear with respect to institutions: de-institutionalise. Children should live, or grow up in families - their own families, foster families, family-type settings, and not in institutions where they are in fact deprived of liberty, where there is strict discipline, there is a lot of violence, there is no love etc.”
13. Wide shot, journalists, panel
14. Close up, Manfred Nowak
15. Wide shot, Panel
16. Close up, journalist writing
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNDRR , IFRC , WHO
Nepal: Flooding disaster “not over” as humanitarians work around the clock
While search and rescue efforts continued Friday following flash floods and mudslides in northern Nepal, UN humanitarians are taking stock of the devastation amid concerns over more flooding to come.