Conflict threat to 24 million children

VIOLENCE and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa threaten the lives of over 24 million children, most of them in Yemen, Iraq and Syria, the UN’s agency for children said yesterday.

From cholera in Yemen to attacks on hospitals in Syria and the tens of thousands of children trapped in Iraq’s major city of Mosul, Unicef said the violence was depriving children of essential health care.

Water and sanitation services have been compromised, causing water-borne diseases to spread, while health care and nutritious food are insufficient to meet children’s needs, it said.

“Violence is crippling health systems in conflict-affected countries and threatens children’s very survival,” said Geert Cappelaere, Unicef ’s director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Yemen tops the list, with 9.6 million children in need, he said. – AP