UNICEF: Boko Haram Violence Has Displaced over 1.4 Million Children

A sharp increase in attacks by the armed group commonly known as Boko Haram has uprooted 500,000 children over the past five months, bringing the total number of children on the run in northeast Nigeria and neighbouring countries to 1.4 million,  Unicef said in a statement.

“Each of these children running for their lives is a childhood cut short,” said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa. “It’s truly alarming to see that children and women continue to be killed, abducted and used to carry bombs.”

In northern Nigeria alone, nearly 1.2 million children – over half of them under 5 years old – have been forced to flee their homes. An additional 265,000 children have been uprooted in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Together with governments and partners in all four affected countries, UNICEF has scaled up its lifesaving operations to thousands of children and their families affected by the violence. Since the beginning of the year,

• Over 315,000 children have been vaccinated against measles;
• More than 200,000 people have received access to safe water;
• Almost 65,000 displaced and refugee children have had access to education and are able to continue their learning thanks to the delivery of school materials;
• Nearly 72,000 displaced children have received counselling and psychosocial support;
• Almost 65,000 children under 5 have received treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

However, funding remains scarce. UNICEF has received only 32 per cent of the US$ 50.3 million required this year for its humanitarian response across the Lake Chad region. As a result of this shortfall, over 124,000 children affected by the conflict have yet to be immunized against measles, more than 83,000 still lack access to safe water and more than 208,000 are out of school.
“With more refugees and not enough resources, our ability to deliver lifesaving assistance on the ground is now seriously compromised,” said Fontaine. “Without additional support, hundreds of thousands of children in need will lack access to basic health care, safe drinking water and education.”