Lake Chad Basin: Boko Haram Violence Displaces 1.4 Million Children

A UNICEF Report released recently looks at the devastating impact of the Boko Haram insurgency and need for urgent humanitarian assistance.

The United Nations Children’s Fund has in a report issued on August 25, 2016, warned that a major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Africa’s Lake Chad Basin where violence and destruction have caused huge population displacements. Years of violence by Boko Haram in the area has displaced 1.4 million children and left at least one million still trapped in hard-to-reach areas, notes the Report.

The Report titled “Children on the Move, Children left Behind” was released ahead of the September 19, 2016 United Nations Summit on Refugees and Migrants. It looks at the devastating impact of the Boko Haram insurgency on children in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. In effect, an estimated 38 children have been used to carry out suicide attacks in the Lake Chad basin in 2016, bringing to 86 the total number of children used as suicide bombers since 2014.

The report also warns that an estimated 475,000 children across Lake Chad will suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year, up from 175,000 at the beginning of the year. The Report further highlights UNICEF’s role in working with partners to meet the basic needs of children and their families in the conflict-affected areas.

So far this year, the Report also notes, nearly 170,000 children received psychosocial support, almost 100,000 were treated for severe acute malnutrition and over 100,000 took part in learning programmes.