Some 55,000 more people – including 28,600 children – have fled their homes in the Central African Republic since the start of the year, meaning an estimated 687,400 people are now displaced in the country, according to UNICEF.
The UN Children’s Fund said that the already precarious humanitarian and security situation continues to deteriorate, leaving more than 350,000 children out of school and without access to basic services such as health. Almost half of all children in the country are not fully immunised and 41 per cent of children aged under five are suffering from chronic nutrition.
In a statement issued over the weekend, Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF’s regional director for West and Central Africa, said children were “paying the highest price” for the surge in violence.
“All actors should stop violence against children now,” she said. “The world must not forget the children of the Central African Republic. Protection of children should come first.”
At least 2.5 million people in the country, including 1.3 million children, are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance in the CAR, according to UNICEF. But organisation reports that only 15 per cent of its 2018 humanitarian appeal for the country has been funded to date with an additional $US48 million still needed.
As well as providing basic health care and support for victims of sexual violence and abuse, UNICEF is providing children with access to temporary learning spaces within camps.
