‘10,200 schools closed in Nigeria, seven other African countries over conflicts’

From Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

NO fewer than 10,200 schools are closed in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Niger, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad as a result of conflict, a global body, Save the Children international, has said.

In its latest report, entitled: “Stop the War on Children 2020: Gender Matters”, the organisation noted that Africa had the highest number of children in conflict globally with 170 million children living across the continent in conflict zones.

This figure, according to the organisation, was equivalent to one in every four African children – the highest absolute number of any region in the world.

“Whilst fewer children are living in conflict affected areas, those who do, run the highest risk of falling victims to serious violence since records began,” said Vishna Shah, Regional Head of Advocacy, Campaign for West and Central Africa at Save the Children, in a statement in Abuja.

The report said available data also revealed that in conflict situations, girls were far more likely to be raped or fall victim to other forms of sexual abuse than boys.

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It noted that 87 percent of all verified cases involved girls and 15 percent of the sexual violence targeted boys.

It indicated that successive generations of children across the continent have grown up knowing nothing other than conflict, including in the three West and Central Africa countries that are included in the list of the top 10 worst conflict-affected countries to be a child – DRC, Mali, and Nigeria.

Shah said: “The increasingly protracted nature of conflicts has changed the risks that children face, and the effects of this are wide-ranging.

“Particularly in Sahel countries, schools are targeted. This is serious enough when we know that children living in a context of humanitarian crisis consider education as a priority.

“Children have nothing to do with the causes of armed conflicts, yet we are the ones most affected by it – exposed to hunger and disease, displaced, tortured, killed, sexually-abused, deprived of education, trafficked, separated from parents, recruited as child soldiers. When will children’s suffering end? Leaders should understand that if we are not heard today, we cannot speak tomorrow.”