The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has called on all parties to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to protect children.
UNICEF made the call following renewed violence in the country’s eastern region.
Development Diaries reports that thousands of people have been displaced from the towns of Rutshuru and Kiwanja near DRC’s border with Rwanda and Uganda.
It is estimated that about 40,000 people have been displaced in Rutshuru territory alone in the past week, with about 6,500 people fleeing to Uganda.
According to UNICEF, many of those displaced are children, some unaccompanied, travelling on foot or by overladen motorcycles towards the city of Goma and other nearby areas.
‘The latest fighting is having a devastating impact on children and their families’, said UNICEF’s Goma Office head, Jean Metenier.
‘They have been forced to flee their homes with only their most essential possessions. While some displaced people can live with family members thousands of people have been rendered homeless.
‘That is why UNICEF is working around the clock to provide assistance to children and their families’.
UNICEF and partner non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are providing access to safe water and sanitation, child protection, essential emergency household goods, medicine, nutrition and emergency education to displaced families as they move to safer locations.
More than 5.6 million people have been displaced in the country since the conflict broke out, making it the largest population of internally displaced people in Africa and among the largest worldwide.
Source: UNICEF
Photo source: UNHCR/Guerchom Ndebo