Andorra Elevates Child Protection in Conflicts as Foreign Policy Pillar at UN and OSCE

Andorra's Foreign Affairs Minister Imma Tor has made child protection in armed conflicts a central pillar of the country's foreign policy, addressing the issue at the UN Human Rights Council's 61st session in Geneva, underway since Monday, and via a recorded statement to an OSCE meeting in Vienna on Thursday.

Speaking in Geneva amid a surge in global armed conflicts, Tor condemned rising forced recruitment of children, abductions, and sexual violence against minors. She called for stronger international tools to prevent harm, protect victims, and ensure accountability. Andorra actively supports the UN's Prove It Matters campaign, led by the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, aimed at ending impunity for grave violations.

At a parallel ministerial event on Ukraine, Tor drew attention to children killed, injured, displaced, or illegally deported in the war. She reaffirmed Andorra's backing for the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children and President Zelenskiy's Bring Kids Back initiative, pushing for justice, reconstruction, and lasting peace.

In her plenary remarks to the Human Rights Council, Tor underscored Andorra's dedication to human rights promotion and effective multilateralism grounded in international law. She described the council as a vital UN pillar amid mounting threats to rights and human dignity, reaffirming commitment to the UN Charter and the universal, indivisible nature of all rights.

Gender equality emerged as a cross-cutting priority, with Tor praising work by the Equality Observatory and Andorran Women's Institute to weave gender perspectives into education, combat workplace bias, promote work-life balance, and boost women in decision-making roles. She noted the imminent ratification of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, while advocating multilingualism to ensure equitable global participation. Tor welcomed UN translation services and a new Friends of Multilingualism Group initiated by the International Organisation of La Francophonie.

Ahead of Andorra's Universal Periodic Review on 5 November 2025, the government has accepted 108 recommendations and pledged to implement them alongside relevant institutions and civil society.

During the Geneva session, Tor signed an agreement establishing diplomatic ties with Democratic Republic of Congo Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, whose full title includes Cooperation International, Francophonie and Diaspora. She also met International Committee of the Red Cross vice-president Gilles Carbonnier, UN High Commissioner Volker Türk, San Marino Secretary of State Luca Beccari, and Rwanda's counterpart.

In Vienna, marking four years since Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Tor expressed Andorra's full solidarity with Kyiv. She decried the "excessive death and destruction," demanded an immediate end to hostilities, and denounced deliberate attacks on civilians and infrastructure—particularly energy facilities exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in winter—as gross violations of international humanitarian law. Tor highlighted the war's toll on children, stressing Andorra's coalition role in securing their safe return as a matter of justice and humanity. The conflict has steered Andorra toward "active neutrality" rooted in international law and multilateralism, with pledges for Ukraine's reconstruction, accountability, and peace via OSCE frameworks, the Helsinki Final Act, and UN Charter principles. She aligned with EU positions and urged fuller OSCE dialogue to achieve just, durable peace.