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This page will cover a speech on Human Rights and Armed Conflicts and their relationship. Speech topics like this one are part of the academic curriculum where a student’s English speaking, confidence, and general awareness skills are assessed. Given the global economic turmoil, armed skirmishes, and climate change, topics such as human rights become more significant.
Contents
Short Speech on Human Rights and Armed Conflicts
Ladies and gentlemen, dear classmates,
Today, I stand before you to speak about the critical issue of human rights in armed conflicts—an area of grave concern today across the globe.
In 2024–2025, armed conflicts claimed at least 48,384 lives, mostly civilians, representing a 40 % rise over the previous year. Child and female fatalities soared by 337 % and 258 % respectively, especially in Gaza, where explosive weapons caused catastrophic damage. These figures underline an urgent failure to protect non‑combatants.
In Ukraine, civilian casualties rose month after month. In March 2025, 164 killed and 910 injured—a 50 % increase from February. In April, figures climbed further: 209 killed and 1,146 injured, making it the deadliest month since late 2024. Most victims died near frontlines in Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv and Dnipro, as a result of drones, missiles and loitering munitions.
Children are disproportionately affected. A United Nations report described 2024 as “one of the darkest years” for children in conflict, citing widespread attacks on schools and hospitals, denial of humanitarian access, birth‑registration gaps and targeted violence against girls and disabled children. In Myanmar, from July 2020 to December 2023, UN verified 5,141 grave violations against children including recruitment, killing and abduction—mostly by the military.
In Sudan’s Darfur, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) executed a drone strike on a maternal hospital in El Fasher in January 2025, killing at least 70 people, including children. The ICC has now presented evidence of mass war crimes in Darfur, including starvation tactics, ethnic cleansing and attacks on civilians and humanitarian aid workers in more than 30 million people affected.
In Syria’s Sweida province, July 2025 sectarian violence between Druze and Bedouin clans cost hundreds of lives, displacing thousands. Syrian authorities have launched a committee to investigate alleged war crimes and violations of civilian protections.
These crises reflect a broader global breakdown in international humanitarian law and human rights protections, as outlined by the UN Secretary‑General’s 2025 report warning of rising atrocity crimes, impunity, and weakening norms.
As students and researchers, our role is to study these facts, support accountability, and advocate for enforcement of international laws—like the Geneva Conventions and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We must push for humanitarian corridors, protection of civilians, and justice for victims.
Thank you for your attention. Let us remember: each number here represents a human life—and our responsibility is to learn, speak out, and demand global change.
Long Speech on Human Rights and Armed Conflicts
Good morning, respected teachers and dear friends. Today, the honour of giving a speech has fallen to me, and I am really happy that I will be able to speak about one of the most important topics of our time: human rights in armed conflict. There are millions of women, children, and the elderly suffering right now in ways we can scarcely begin to imagine. They are in conflict and often at war. Conflict and war are occasions of severe and widespread human rights violations.
In heated times of war, it is all too easy to lose sight of human rights. Human rights aren’t a luxury good – they don’t just apply when things are stable and going well. Human rights are the foundations of societies, the standards by which we try to treat others with justice, dignity, and equal concern.
At times of war, they are easily cast aside, and civilians are all too vulnerable to suffering and exploitation. There are the wounds of war that scar the bodies and psyches of civilians and combatants from Syria to Yemen, where women and children comprise a disproportionate number
of casualties: bombed, forced to flee from their homes, and raped and subjected to sexual degradation; and the elderly, the disabled and other marginalised groups are hardly immune to the violence and devastation.
People’s voices are silenced by the sound of bullets and the clash of arms. But you can draw hope from the fact that, even in the darkest of times, some people continue to work on behalf of human rights.
All over the world, everyday people work for human rights in the cracks that emerge in walls of oppression. They provide care to those in need, catalogue atrocities, and plead the cause of voiceless people in the name of justice. Their resolve and kindness stand as bright lights amid darkness, testaments to the fact that all people deserve to coexist in dignity.
Let us re-commit ourselves to human rights in armed conflict to enhance the protection of civilians; to stand with those suffering, lifting their voices in solidarity and demanding accountability for perpetrators of violence; and build a world where everyone, everywhere, can enjoy their rights and live with dignity and safety, whatever the circumstances.
As Nelson Mandela put it, ‘To call a person an animal is to dehumanise him. And to dehumanise a person is to disregard his human rights.’ We shouldn’t stand idly by while this happens. So let’s all work hard, cooperate, and respect each other’s human rights to build a peaceful tomorrow.
Thank you!’
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Importance of Human Rights
- Dignity and Respect:
Human rights uphold the inherent dignity and worth of every individual regardless of race, gender, religion, nationality, or any other status.
- Freedom and Liberty:
They ensure freedoms such as speech, religion, assembly, and association, enabling individuals to express themselves and participate in society without fear of persecution.
- Equality and Justice:
Human rights promote equality before the law and ensure equal treatment and protection for all, regardless of socioeconomic status or background.
- Protection from Discrimination:
They safeguard against discrimination and prejudice fostering inclusive societies where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
- Safety and Security:
Human rights protect individuals from arbitrary arrest, torture, and other forms of abuse, ensuring their safety and security.
- Health and Well-Being:
They guarantee access to healthcare, education, housing, and other essential services necessary for decent standards of living.
- Empowerment and Participation:
Human rights empower individuals to participate in decision-making processes that affect their lives promoting democratic governance and accountability.
- Peace and Stability:
By promoting social justice and equality, human rights contribute to building peaceful and stable societies, reducing conflict and violence.
- Global Solidarity:
Human rights foster solidarity among nations and peoples, promoting cooperation and mutual respect in addressing global challenges such as poverty, climate change, and humanitarian crises.
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FAQs
Ans: War crimes – serious violations of international humanitarian law that include wilful killings, direct attacks on civilians, torture, the use of prohibited weapons, the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or others who have been captured, surrendered, or injured, and crimes of sexual violence.
Ans: An armed conflict is said to exist when there is an armed confrontation between the. armed forces of states (international armed conflict), between governmental authorities and organised armed groups, or between such groups within a state (non-international armed conflict).
Ans: Armed conflicts significantly affect society, cripple economies, lead to political damage, and affect the credibility of a country or region.
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