"More than a billion children in the world suffer from violence"
The aid organization World Vision has stated that the safety of children is not being respected in armed conflicts in crisis areas of the world. The aid organization has called on the German government to work to improve the conditions of children in these areas.
The list of military conflicts in the world is very long: Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan are among the countries where military conflicts continue to rage. In such situations, children suffer the most and are exposed to harm.
The aid organization World Vision has warned that the safety of children is increasingly neglected in conflicts. “Children are increasingly exposed to the most extreme violence of war,” said Christoph Waffenschmidt, the board chairman of the aid organization.
Waffenschmidt, who presented the aid organization's annual report in Berlin, explained that attacks on children's schools by rebels, terrorist groups, or military forces are no longer taboo and have lost their ugliness.
According to the German news agency, the aid organization announced that 51 percent of schools in South Sudan have been destroyed. Also, 40 percent of children killed in Syria died near their schools.
Thousands of new child soldiers
Christoph Waffenschmidt says of child soldiers in conflict zones around the world: "Children are sexually abused; they are mutilated. Children are used as child soldiers and also as suicide bombers."
More than a billion children around the world are exposed to various forms of violence. In Nigeria, for example, 21 children were used as suicide bombers in 2015, and 6,000 child soldiers were recruited by these groups worldwide that same year.
The aid organization World Vision believes that there are currently 38 crisis zones with dangerous conflicts around the world.
The aid organization is calling for more support for children in crisis and war-torn regions. "These children have been forgotten even by politicians," says Christoph Waffenschmidt, describing the situation.
The aid organization World Vision has called on the German government to stop exporting small arms, support schools for children in crisis areas around the world, and help children who have suffered psychological trauma as a result of violent conflicts.
The aid organization has also called on the United Nations to finally publish the so-called “List of Shame.” The global organization fears threats from the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf and does not publish this list.
These countries have threatened to cut off their aid to UN aid agencies if the Saudi-led coalition's attacks on Yemen are criticized by the UN.
Source: DW
