This statistics was given yesterday, even as UNICEF revealed
that over the past five years, the West and Central Africa region has
consistently had some of the highest numbers of United Nations-verified grave
violations against children in armed conflict.
A statement from the UN agency also claimed that since 2016,
the West and Central Africa region ranks first in the world in terms of number
of children verified as recruited and used by non-state armed groups and
victims of sexual violence; second in terms of abduction and as one of the
regions most affected by attacks on schools and hospitals, with more than 1,500
verified incidents.
According to the statement, the data was revealed in a new
UNICEF publication that calls for increased support for efforts to prevent and
respond to grave violations against children, as well as for scaling-up the
documentation of such violations.
It stated: “Since 2016, West and Central Africa has recorded
more than 21,000 children verified by the United Nations (UN) as recruited and
used by armed forces and non-state armed groups, and more than 2,200 children
victims of sexual violence. More than 3,500 children were abducted and more
than 1,500 incidents of attacks on schools and hospitals were recorded.”
It decried that a protracted conflict has been raging in
north-east Nigeria for 12 years now, with thousands of children in the region
killed, maimed, abducted, displaced, and experienced multiple violations of
their human rights.
UNICEF recalled that in 2005, the United Nations Security
Council had passed Resolution 1612 to establish a United Nations mechanism for
monitoring and reporting on the following six grave violations against children
during armed conflict: which include killing and maiming of children,
recruitment and use of children, abduction of children, rape and other forms of
sexual violence committed against children, attacks on schools and hospitals,
and denial of humanitarian access.
It further lamented that since 2005, one out of four United
Nations’ verified grave violations in the world was committed in West and
Central Africa, insisting that last year alone, over 6,400 children (32 per
cent of whom were girls) were victims of one or more grave violations in the
region.
The statement quoted UNICEF Chief of Maiduguri Field Office
in Nigeria, Phuong Nguyen to have said: “Nigerian children – whether they are
the direct targets of violence or collateral victims of conflict – are caught
up in the ongoing insecurity we are seeing across the country. This is
unacceptable.
“This important report shows the extent of the grave
violations of children’s rights in Nigeria and across the West and Central
Africa region – violations that must be ended by all parties to conflict.
Children must have an opportunity to grow, learn, work and contribute to the
healthy future of this country. That can only happen if they are protected from
violence and the worst impacts of conflict.”
Major humanitarian crises continue to unfold across West and
Central Africa. The situation in Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the
Democratic Republic of Congo, and multi-country emergencies, including crises
in the Central Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin region, are having devastating
consequences on children and communities.
It stated that with a surge in armed conflicts and the
COVID-19 pandemic, 57.5 million children in West and Central Africa were in
need of humanitarian assistance, a figure that has almost doubled since 2020.
5.1million of those children in need of humanitarian assistance are in Nigeria.
In response to the spike in children’s unmet essential
needs, including protection, UNICEF stated that it had been working with
governments, local authorities and partners to strengthen the monitoring and
reporting mechanism, support the release and reintegration of children from
armed forces and groups, reunite separated children with their families,
provide medical and psychosocial care for conflict-affected children, and
provide care for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
“Mental health and psychosocial support for children and
adolescents are essential and at the heart of UNICEF’s humanitarian response.
When provided with the necessary care and psychosocial support, access to
schooling and access to livelihoods, children are able to process what they
have experienced and rebuild their lives,” UNICEF Regional Director for West
and Central Africa, Marie-Pierre Poirier stated.
UNICEF called on all partners, including relevant
governments and donors, to intensify efforts to secure adequate financial and
technical resources to ensure that grave violations are reported and verified,
and for support for children affected by conflict.
UNICEF also called on all parties to conflict in the region
to prevent and end grave violations against children, and to ensure
perpetrators are held accountable.
0 comments:
Post a Comment