Central African Republic sees highest displacement since 2014, UNICEF says

UNICEF said it was also concerned about the impact of recent displacements on host communities who were already extremely fragile due to years of conflict and instability.

CAPE TOWN, April 28 (ANA) – An estimated 738,000 people, half of them children, are now internally displaced across the Central African Republic (CAR) as a result of ongoing violence and insecurity, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said.

In a statement on Tuesday, the agency said this was the highest level of child displacement in the country since 2014 and warned of mounting risks for children, including exposure to sexual and physical violence, recruitment and use by armed groups, increasing rates of malnutrition and limited access to essential services.

UNICEF said it was also concerned about the impact of recent displacements on host communities who were already extremely fragile due to years of conflict and instability.

“We are extremely concerned about the fate of the thousands of children who, after seeing their lives turned upside down by conflict and violence, may now experience the additional trauma of being forced to join and live among armed actors, to engage in combat, putting both themselves and the lives of others at extreme risk,” UNICEF representative in CAR Fran Equiza said.

“These frightening events can leave an indelible mark on children’s and families’ lives and are an unacceptable violation of their fundamental rights.”

The latest estimates show that at least 168,000 children had no choice but to flee their homes due to widespread violence in the run-up to and following general elections last December. Around 70,000 of them have not been able to return.

Many have been separated from their families and are at greater risk of being abducted, threatened or forced to join armed forces and groups. Such recruitment and use of children remains the most frequent child rights’ violation in CAR, accounting for 584 out of a total of 792 cases documented in 2020.

UNICEF said it had received unverified reports of child recruitment continuing over the first four months of 2021.

It said its efforts in the Central African country included the deployment of mobile protection teams to reach vulnerable children, including those located in remote areas. UNICEF and its partners are also working to provide children with mental health and psychosocial activities.

Since 2014, UNICEF and its partners have contributed to the release of more than 15,500 children, 30 percent of them girls, from armed forces and groups. But approximately one in five of these children has not yet been enrolled in reintegration programmes mainly due to funding constraints.

“To keep children out of harm’s way and help them build the future they deserve, we need the collaboration of all,” Equiza said.

“We renew our call to all parties to the conflict and groups to facilitate the immediate release of all children in their ranks and to protect every civilian, especially children and women from violence, in line with their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law.”

– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa