(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM)) Around 800,000 children have been forced to flee their homes as a result of the conflict in northeast Nigeria between Boko Haram, military forces and civilian self-defence groups, according to a new report from UNICEF.
Released one year after the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, "Missing Childhoods, the impact of armed conflict on children in Nigeria and beyond", reveals that the number of children running for their lives within Nigeria, or crossing over the border to Chad, Niger and Cameroon, has more than doubled in just less than a year.
"The abduction of more than 200 girls in Chibok is only one of endless tragedies being replicated on an epic scale across Nigeria and the region," says Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
He added, "Scores of girls and boys have gone missing in Nigeria € abducted, recruited by armed groups, attacked, used as weapons, or forced to flee violence. They have the right to get their childhoods back"
The figures come as UNICEF draws attention to the devastating impact of the conflict on children across the region using the hashtag #bringbackourchildhood. UNICEF is also working with partners to provide safe water and life-saving health services, restore access to education by creating temporary learning spaces, and deliver therapeutic treatment to malnourished children.
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