Children are not the cause of conflicts, but they are still directly affected by them. In West and Central Africa, children are particularly dependent on humanitarian aid.
According to a forecast by the UN Children’s Fund Unicef, around 46.7 million children in West and Central Africa will be dependent on humanitarian aid in the coming year. In particular, ongoing conflicts and a tense security situation in several countries put the children at risk, Unicef said in the Senegalese capital Dakar.
“Children do not cause conflicts, but they are unable to stop them,” said Unicef Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Felicité Tchibindat. She cited Burkina Faso, Mali and the Central African Republic, among others, as examples of countries where children suffer from conflict, ethnic violence and displacement. The highest number of cases of child rights violations in the world are recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country also has one of the highest numbers of internally displaced people in the world.
But children in the region are not only exposed to violence and conflict. More than a third of the almost 1.9 billion US dollars (around 1.7 billion euros) that Unicef asked for in a donation appeal goes to the fight against malnutrition. The Sahel region is particularly badly affected by drought.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
