Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Somalia’s Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab insurgents are increasingly threatening civilians to force them to hand over young children for “indoctrination and military training”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday. The rights watchdog said an aggressive campaign to recruit children had begun in mid-2017, with the jihadists …
Read More »Apple urged to study iPhone addiction in children
New York, United States | AFP | Two large shareholders urged Apple to study whether iPhones are proving addictive for children and that intensive use of the smartphones may be bad for their mental health. “There is a growing body of evidence that, for at least some of the most frequent …
Read More »36,000 child migrants need aid in Libya: UN
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Around 36,000 child migrants, including 14,000 who are unaccompanied, need help in Libya, a major transit hub for migrants trying to reach Europe, UN agencies said Monday. Out of about 400,000 migrants in Libya, nine percent are children, the UN children’s agency UNICEF and the International …
Read More »UN says life terms for DRCongo child rapists a ‘major advance’
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo Saturday hailed as a “major advance” life sentences served this week on a provincial lawmaker and ten militiamen convicted of raping young girls. The group were jailed for life on Wednesday in the east of the …
Read More »Dozen DR Congo child rapists handed life sentences
Bukavu, DR Congo | AFP | A dozen militiamen in eastern DR Congo were jailed for life Wednesday for raping about 40 children, including a baby, in what was judged a crime against humanity. The defendants were said to belong to a militia group called “Djeshi ya Yesu” — meaning “Army …
Read More »‘Ending Child Marriage can generate $3 billion in annual benefits for Uganda’
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Ending child marriage today could generate $ 3 billion per year for Uganda by 2030, says a new report published by the World Bank. In contrast, the perpetuation of child marriage would lead to lower educational attainment for girls and their children, higher population …
Read More »Sudan armed groups still deploy child soldiers: UN
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | The United Nations said Wednesday that some armed groups fighting in Sudan still deploy child soldiers, but acknowledged Khartoum’s efforts to prevent child recruitment into its forces. Olof Skoog, chairman of the UN Security Council’s working group on children and armed conflict, said armed groups including …
Read More »BOA inculcates a saving culture among children
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Bank of Africa in partnership with I profile have this week concluded a 30 day long program dubbed ‘Koin Challenge’ aimed at instilling the culture of saving in children. The program saw participation of 13 schools in Kampala and Sembabule districts with over 320 participants …
Read More »UN says 11 million Yemen children desperately need aid
Amman, Jordan | AFP | More than 11 million children in war-torn Yemen are in desperate need of humanitarian aid, the United Nations children’s fund warned on Sunday. “Today it is fair to say that Yemen is one of the worst places on earth to be a child,” said Geert …
Read More »DR Congo court suspends trial over mass rape of children
Bukavu, DR Congo | AFP | The trial of 18 suspected militiamen over the kidnapping and rape of some 40 girls in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been suspended after a defendant demanded the recusal of two judges, a judicial source said Friday. The demand was made by a …
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