The countries where children suffer most due to internal conflicts

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Although they are too young to understand what is happening, the child population is the most affected by internal conflicts in their respective countries

If they are not scarred for life or even death, are the psychological consequences that accompany them for growth that will cloud their existence. That is why UNESCO every year embarks on different missions to safeguard them.

Leer en español: Los países donde más sufren los niños por conflictos internos

The most sinister face of the armed conflict is the repercussions, often deadly, suffered by minors trapped between bullets and bombs. Physical damage may not always happen, but psychological scars will always be present if children do not receive support. Discrimination due to gender, sexual violations and traumas when witnessing death and destruction are just some of the consequences with which the youngest will be impregnated until the day of their death if they do not receive psychological assistance. Leaving children at the mercy of terror and devastation, we will have the worst possible ending: that the youngest see violence as normal and inevitable.

During the past year, UNICEF reached more than 3.1 million children who were injured in the African territory, especially in the Middle East. Among their humanitarian aid, they gathered missing or forcibly recruited children with their families, gave them psychological support and sent them to school. However, the balance of last year was not satisfactory, because the funds raised were not enough to carry out the multiple humanitarian missions, so this year the organization is insisting a lot on donations. To achieve the proposed goals, they need 3.9 billion dollars; Here you can make your contribution.

Below we present three countries, one per continent, with critical situations where the dignity of children is strongly violated. This selection is not fortuitous, because both we and UNESCO consider that these are the most vital countries according to their continent.

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Venezuela

Last year alone there were 2.4 million refugees who fled Venezuela to neighboring countries. The greatest difficulty that children encounter is the minimal access to education, health and nutrition, let alone housing. These problems were already faced by neighboring countries with their own people, which means that they can not satisfactorily serve the Venezuelan refugees. Not having enough resources to serve both nationals and Venezuelans, there is a strong increase in xenophobia towards refugees. This affects the children a lot, because although they are not exposed to bullets and bombs, they are exposed to hatred and even to the possibility of seeing their parents or relatives physically affected by their nationality.

Ukraine

Since 2014, there has been an intense conflict in eastern Ukraine between Russian, Ukrainian, anti-government and Ukrainian nationalist forces. To this day, this situation is very delicate and children are extremely affected. They do not have access to education safely, their drinking water supply is cut off regularly and they are in constant danger of being shot dead. To escape this ordeal, many families have fled to the west, where Ukraine is safe. This meant leaving behind their lives, their jobs, their properties and almost starting from zero elsewhere. On the other hand, for those who can not yet flee from this disaster, UNICEF has six points of attention in both parts of the conflict to attend to the most needy. From the restoration of educational institutions to the supply of drinking water, the efforts to provide a safe space for children by the organization are enough.

Yemen

Yemen is currently in one of the most savage civil wars of the millennium and has been doing so since 2015 when the Houthis, a fairly large and organized religious armed group, seized the presidential palace in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a. They complain to the official State, supported by the Saudis and the United States, that they are the lackeys of the West and that the levels of corruption are very high, so the Houthis should be the rulers of Yemen to restore their sovereignty and bring welfare to the people. Several entities have declared this situation as the most significant emergency at present, with approximately 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid.

Almost all Yemeni territory, if not the entire country, is under threat of fire. In addition to having no water supply, food or access to education, children are vulnerable to being recruited by either side, killed in indiscriminate bombings or kidnapped and trafficked. It is estimated that for this year, two million children will need food assistance every day.

LatinAmerican Post | Pedro Vergara

Translated from "Los países donde más sufren los niños por conflictos internos"