Increasing Violence Against Children Worries UNICEF

Increasing Violence Against Children Worries UNICEF

Adeboye   12:32:00   No comments:

The United Nation’s International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed deep concern over rising levels of violence against children in Nigeria.

The international agency stated that the nation has witnessed, and continues to witness grave violations of children’s rights such as killings, abductions, sexual violence and use in suicide bombings by Boko Haram.

The organisation noted that in the North East for instance, more than 1.2 million children have been displaced; more than half of them below the age of five.

“It’s time to take action – renewing efforts to end violence against children,” it said.

UNICEF in statement issued by Ijeoma Onuoha Ogbe, Communication Officer, Media and External Relations, UNICEF Enugu, noted that the theme of the just celebrated 2016 Children’s Day, “Protect the rights of the child in the face of violence and insecurity: End child marriage” helps to shed a much needed light on the plight of children.

UNICEF stressed that even those living away from the crisis in the North East are also at risk of violence, especially as it concerns herdsmen-farmers related bloody clashes.

Read More

Unicef: 75m Children Deprived Of School

Unicef: 75m Children Deprived Of School

Adeboye   10:11:00   No comments:

Some 75 million school-age children in crisis areas around the world are in desperate need of educational support, according to a new report by Unicef.

One in four children aged 3-18 – 462 million – live in countries affected by humanitarian crises, the report says.

In Syria, five years of civil war have left 6,000 schools out of use, while in Eastern Ukraine the conflict damaged or destroyed one in five schools.

Refugees are five times more likely to be out of school, the report says.

During times of conflict, girls are two-and-a-half times more likely to be out of school than their male peers, it adds.

The report comes ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul on May 23 and 24.

A new emergency education fund, called Education Cannot Wait, will be launched at the summit.

The fund aims to raise nearly $4 billion over five years to reach 13.6 million children in need of education in emergencies, Unicef said.

According to the charity, children from the poorest communities who miss school for more than a year are likely to never return, reports the BBC.

“During crises, children are particularly at risk of missing out on their education, yet schools provide a safe space and a vital routine for children during times of major upheaval,” the report says.

“Education gives children the building blocks to rebuild their lives and, eventually, their country.”

Earlier this year, campaigner Malala Yousafzai called for more to be done to educate millions of Syrian refugee children displaced by the conflict.

They risk becoming a “lost generation”, warned Ms Yousafzai, who was shot in the head in 2012 by Taliban gunmen for campaigning for education for girls in Pakistan.

Read More