Nigeria: Foundation Urges Humanitarian Agencies on Africa Child Right’s Promotion

STAND Foundation has urged humanitarian agencies in the Africa continent to keep working to promote, protect and enforce the rights of children, creating a conducive environment for their future.

In a statement released by the Executive Director of the foundation, Ms Olusayo Adeleyein in commemoration of the African Child, with the theme “Humanitarian Action in Africa; Children’s Rights First”

According to her, Whenever humanitarian crises occur, they leave tears, turmoil and destruction in their wake. When communities are affected in this manner, it is the children, who are most vulnerable that are most affected. From Uganda to Sudan to North East Nigeria, the story of hopelessness and despondency is the same.

“Humanitarian crises often result in the violation of the rights of these children and the interruption of their normal way of life coupled with living in poor and undesirable conditions- poor health care, disrupted academic calendars, poor nutrition, physical and sexual assault and child labour, She said.

She further noted that the children among Internally Displaced Persons living in various camps in the North East region of Nigeria give a face to the damaging effects of humanitarian crises on children. They are malnourished, exposed to the harshest of living conditions, molested, abused and deprived of every right written in the book.

While urging the Humanitarian agencies, she said that all those responsible for the protection and enforcement of the rights of children across the African continent should keep working to promote and protect these rights while ensuring that appropriate measures are put in place to create a conducive environment for them to thrive and compete favorably with their counterparts all over the world.

“These children are not the cause of these humanitarian crises and should not be made to bear the brunt of the action or inaction of a few. In taking action during humanitarian crises therefore, we must give their interests priority and ensure that all actions for intervention puts them and their rights above all others. We owe it to them, We owe it to the continent, We owe it to the world, she added.