UNICEF declares 2014 ‘devastating year' for millions of children trapped by conflict

8 December 2014 – Never in recent memory have so many children been subjected to such unspeakable brutality, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today, as 2014 has been “devastating” for some 15 million children caught up in violent conflicts around the world.

“This has been a devastating year for millions of children,” said Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director, in a press release issued by his organization.

“Children have been killed while studying in the classroom and while sleeping in their beds; they have been orphaned, kidnapped, tortured, recruited, raped and even sold as slaves,” Mr. Lake said. “Never in recent memory have so many children been subjected to such unspeakable brutality.”

As many as 15 million children are caught up in violent conflicts in the Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and in the Occupied Palestinian territories – including those displaced in their own countries or living as refugees outside their homeland, according to UNICEF.

And an estimated 230 million children live in countries and areas affected by armed conflicts, it said.

Yet, UNICEF said: “The sheer number of crises in 2014 meant that many were quickly forgotten or captured little attention.”

“Protracted crises in countries like Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, continued to claim even more young lives and futures,“ it said.  Read More