Children most affected in Somalia's endless conflict

NAIROBI, Kenya - Somalia has been ranked as one of the countries where children face a host of challenges due to endless conflicts, which subject them to danger and other challenges, that make life difficult for them when growing up.

In a report published by the United Nations, the Horn of Africa nation is closely followed by Congo, Afghanistan, and Syria with the four accounting for nearly 60% of all violations among the entries on its annual blacklist of countries where children suffer grave abuses.

The country plunged into a serious civil war in 1991 after the ouster of military dictator Siad Barre, further subjecting thousands of women and children to vulnerable conditions. Thousands of them have either died or displaced in the conflict.

Besides the political intrigues and clan animosity, Somalia is also struggling with violent extremism. Al-Shabaab militants control vast of the country's central and southern areas, further targeting children for recruitment to the group.

"Children can no longer be the last priority of the international agenda nor the least protected group of individuals on the planet," Virginia Gamba, U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict, told reporters Monday at the report's launch. "We need to give children an alternative to violence and abuse. We need peace, respect for children's rights, and democracy."

Gamba said the most widespread violations in 2020 were the recruitment and use of children by security forces and armed groups and the killing and maiming of children.

"We are extremely alarmed at the increase in the abduction of children by 90% compared to previous years, as well as the increase in rape and other forms of sexual violence, registering an increase of 70% compared to previous years," she added as quoted by the Voice of America.

More than 3,200 children were confirmed abducted in conflict situations in 2020, and at least 1,268 were victims of sexual violence, the report said.

Of the worst offenders, Gamba said Somalia had the "most violations by far," primarily perpetrated by al-Shabab terrorists. In Afghanistan, she said the Taliban was responsible for two-thirds of violations, and the government and pro-government militias the rest.

However, human rights groups have criticized the report over the years, saying that double standards apply to the creation of the blacklist and that some countries escape accountability.

"We strongly urge the (U.N.) Secretary-General to reconsider his decision and hold parties to conflict all over the world to the same standard," Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said in a statement.

"Secretary-General (Antonio) Guterres is letting warring parties implicated in the deaths and maiming of children off the hook by leaving Israel, the Saudi-led coalition (in Yemen) and other violators off his 'list of shame,'" said Jo Becker, children's rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "His repeated failure to base his list on the U.N.'s own evidence betrays children and fuels impunity."

Somalia is set to hold indirect elections in the coming weeks after stakeholders agreed on various matters that had been raised by political leaders. President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo is facing a reelection challenge from seasoned politicians, among them former Presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

GAROWE ONLINE