The United Nations Children Emergency Fund, (UNICEF), yesterday, disclosed that over the past five years, the West and Central Africa regions have consistently had some of the highest numbers of unverified grave violations against children in armed conflict.
The data was contained in a new UNICEF publication that called 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. This is even as it further disclosed that in Nigeria, there have been 25 attacks on schools so far this year, with 1,440 students abducted.
According to UNICEF, Nigerian children continue to suffer the impact of the crisis. A protracted conflict has been raging in the North-East region for 12 years now. It said thousands of children in the region have been killed, maimed, abducted, displaced, and experienced multiple violations of their human rights.
In Nigeria, there have been 25 attacks on schools so far this year, with 1,440 students abducted”, the report further 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, said Phuong T. Nguyen, UNICEF Chief of Maiduguri Field Office in Nigeria.
UNICEF called for all partners, including relevant governments and donors, to intensify their 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. It 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.
