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Unicef estimates that the children of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are victims of armed conflicts and will live in a situation of extreme food insecurity in the coming months.
Due to the intensification of fighting in certain West African countries, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) estimates that nearly 10 million children in three countries, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, will need humanitarian aid. urgent; a figure that has doubled compared to that registered in 2020.
Burkina Faso, for example, a country that suffered two military coups last year, is a territory where numerous acts of jihadist violence are committed, which have spread beyond its borders.
“Armed conflicts increasingly affect children, who are victims of intensifying military confrontations or non-state armed groups,” said UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Marie Pierre Poirier, in a statement.
schools closed
“The year 2022 was particularly violent for the children of the central Sahel. All parties to the conflict must urgently end the attacks against them, but also against their schools, health centers and homes,” it continues.
According to the institution, armed groups opposed to the educational system administered by the State burn and loot schools, but also threaten, kidnap or execute teachers. More than 8,300 schools have closed their doors in the three countries, because they have been targeted, or because parents are internally displaced or do not send their children out of fear.
Information compiled by the United Nations in Burkina Faso shows that the number of children killed tripled in the first nine months of 2022. Most of them succumbed to gunshot wounds during attacks on their communities, or were victims of explosives.
with AFP
