A new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that children in West and Central Africa have become the most recruited by armed groups with the highest number of victims of sexual violence in the world.
For five years, the region has seen an increasing number of new and protracted conflicts with more than 21,000 children recruited by government forces and armed groups. There were also more than 2,200 victims of sexual violence and more than 3,500 abducted, making it the region with the second highest number of abductions in the world, according to the report.
Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa stated that the volatile region, trapped behind conflict, has the highest numbers of children who suffered from recruitment and use by armed groups.
“Whether children in West and Central Africa are the direct targets or collateral victims, they are caught up in conflict and face violence and insecurity. The grave violations of their rights perpetrated by parties to the conflicts are unacceptable. They have an adverse impact on their capacity to learn, work, build meaningful relationships and contribute to the development of their communities and countries”.
Marie-Pierre Poirier
Grave Violations in West and Central Africa in 2020
Since 2005, when the UN established a system to monitor and report on grave violations against children, such as recruitment, abduction, rape and attacks on schools and hospitals, 1 out of 4 United Nations verified grave violations in the world was committed in West and Central Africa. Last year alone, over 6,400 children, 32% of whom were girls, were victims of one or more grave violations in the region.
According to UNICEF, more than 57 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance, a number that’s doubled since last year as a result of conflict and coronavirus.
The situation in the DRC is alarming as it registered the world’s highest percentage of children being recruited and used by armed groups. Children are in an extremely vulnerable situation in the DRC but UNICEF is equally concerned about the position in other countries.
“The DRC still represents 71 percent of all recruitment and use (of children in armed conflicts). But you can see that Mali and Central African Republic represent the fastest increase in the last year”.
Marie-Pierre Poirier
Addition of three new contexts
Some countries have been a concern for nearly a decade or more. This year, three new contexts were added to the UN’s annual report on children and armed conflict, including Cameroon, Burkina Faso and the Lake Chad Basin.
UNICEF calls on all parties to conflicts in the region to prevent and end grave violations against children, and to ensure that all perpetrators are held accountable and for aid groups to increase the documentation of violations. It also highlighted the need to prevent and respond to them, not just providing health and education but also psychological support.
The agency needs more than $92 million for child protection in emergencies across West and Central Africa, more than half of which is not yet funded.
