‘Global worsening conflicts expose children to violence’
The year 2014 has been one of horror, fear and despair for millions of children as worsening conflicts across the world see them exposed to extreme violence and its consequences, forcibly recruited and deliberately targeted by warring groups.
According to the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Anthony Lake, “This has been a devastating year for millions of children.”
“Children have been killed while studying in the classroom and while sleeping in their beds; they have been orphaned, kidnapped, tortured, recruited, raped and even sold as slaves. Never in recent memory have so many children been subjected to such unspeakable brutality,” he said
The organisation contends that as many as 15 million children are caught up in violent conflicts in the Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, the State of Palestine, Syria and Ukraine – including those internally displaced or living as refugees. Globally, an estimated 230 million children currently live in countries and areas affected by armed conflicts.
Hundreds of children kidnapped
It said in 2014, hundreds of children had been kidnapped from their schools or on their way to school. Tens of thousands have been recruited or used by armed forces and groups. Attacks on education and health facilities and use of schools for military purposes have increased in many places.
In the Central African Republic, 2.3 million children are affected by the conflict and up to 10,000 children are believed to have been recruited by armed groups over the last year, and more than 430 children have been killed and maimed – three times as many as in 2013
In South Sudan, an estimated 235,000 children under five are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Almost 750,000 children have been displaced and more than 320,000 are living as refugees. According to UN verified data, more than 600 children have been killed and over 200 maimed this year, and around 12,000 children are now being used by armed forces and groups.
The sheer number of crises in 2014 means many were quickly forgotten or attracted little attention. Protracted crises in countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, continue to claim more lives of young ones.
25th anniversary of CRC
“It is sadly ironic that in this 25th anniversary year of the Convention on the Rights of the Child when we have been able to celebrate so much progress for children globally, the rights of so many millions of other children have been so brutally violated,” said Lake.
“Violence and trauma do more than harm individual children – they undermine the strength of societies. The world can and must do more to make 2015 a much better year for every child.
For every child who grows up strong, safe, healthy and educated is a child who can go on to contribute to her own, her family’s, her community’s, her nation’s and, indeed, to our common future.”
Threats to children’s health
It said this year had also posed significant new threats to children’s health and well-being, most notably the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, which had left thousands of children orphaned and an estimated five million out of school.
Despite the tremendous challenges children have faced in 2014, there has been hope for millions of children affected by the conflict and crisis. In the face of access restrictions, insecurity, and funding challenges, humanitarian organisations, including UNICEF, have worked together to provide life-saving assistance and other critical services such as education and emotional support to help children growing up in some of the most dangerous places in the world.
