The conflict has since spread to the centre of the West African country, as well as neighbouring Sahel states Burkina Faso and Niger, inflaming ethnic tensions along the way. But nonetheless she said that children in Burkina Faso and Niger have also been murdered, sexually abused, kidnapped, or pressed into armed groups. – ‘Traumatising experiences’ –“We cannot help but be struck by the scale of violence children are facing,” said UNICEF’s regional director for West and Central Africa Marie-Pierre Poirier, in a statement. And more than eight million children between the ages of six and 14 — about 55 percent of the children who fall within that bracket — are not in school. The report said that 59 percent of its humanitarian projects for children in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are underfunded.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 28, 2020 15:56 UTC