Sudan is most dangerous place for children – poll

LONDON – Sudan, Uganda and Congo are the world’s three most dangerous places for children due to wars that have brought death, disease and displacement to millions, a Reuters poll of humanitarian experts showed yesterday.

The UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) says 1,8 million children have been affected by a three-year conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur region, where they risk being recruited as fighters and are especially vulnerable to disease and malnutrition. “It is a traumatised population and you can see it in the children’s faces,” said Hollywood actress and Unicef goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow, who last month visited camps for some of the 2,5 million displaced by Darfur’s war.”Everyone has lost family, seen villages burn, seen relatives raped, been raped.”Reuters AlertNet, a humanitarian news Web site run by Reuters Foundation, asked more than 110 aid experts and journalists to highlight the most dangerous places for children.After Sudan, they chose northern Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Somalia, India, the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Myanmar.Unicef says more than 2 million children worldwide have died as a direct result of armed conflict in the past decade, and about 20 million have been forced to flee their homes.More than a million have been orphaned or separated from their families.”The most dangerous places are those conflict zones where children are actively recruited into the fighting forces, and the current worst offender …is Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army,” said Gareth Evans, head of the International Crisis Group think tank.- Nampa-Reuters”It is a traumatised population and you can see it in the children’s faces,” said Hollywood actress and Unicef goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow, who last month visited camps for some of the 2,5 million displaced by Darfur’s war.”Everyone has lost family, seen villages burn, seen relatives raped, been raped.”Reuters AlertNet, a humanitarian news Web site run by Reuters Foundation, asked more than 110 aid experts and journalists to highlight the most dangerous places for children.After Sudan, they chose northern Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Somalia, India, the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Myanmar.Unicef says more than 2 million children worldwide have died as a direct result of armed conflict in the past decade, and about 20 million have been forced to flee their homes.More than a million have been orphaned or separated from their families.”The most dangerous places are those conflict zones where children are actively recruited into the fighting forces, and the current worst offender …is Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army,” said Gareth Evans, head of the International Crisis Group think tank.- Nampa-Reuters