A major upsurge in violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo that has displaced at least 400,000 people in North Kivu since the beginning of the year is exposing children to unacceptable levels of violence, said the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Friday.

At-risk children must receive further protection to avoid more deaths, the agency added.

In the latest incident on Wednesday highlighting the spillover of the conflict into South Kivu province, an explosion in the town of Minova seriously injured four children who required hospital treatment.

Schoolchildren bombed

“It is tragic that at a busy time of day when many children were returning home from school, this explosion from a bomb maimed four innocent children,” said Katya Marino, UNICEF Deputy Representative to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “The town is already under incredible strain with massive numbers of new arrivals of internally displaced people.”

More than 95,000 newly displaced people, half of whom are children, arrived in Minova in February as the conflict in North Kivu expanded.

Over the past week, UNICEF and local partners distributed essential household supplies in Minova to more than 8,300 newly displaced families. The area is now increasingly difficult to access with assistance, either by road or boat.

UNICEF has been assisting children affected by the conflict there with a package of basic but essential services since 2023 while supporting community-based networks to refer and protect children caught up in the fighting between numerous rebel groups and government forces.

Source: UN News

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147876