Children in the central Sahel – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – are bearing the brunt of a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis. Extreme poverty, climate change and conflict are having a devastating impact on children’s lives across the region. The COVID-19 pandemic adds to these challenges.
In recent years, an escalation in violence has seen a huge surge in conflict deaths, displacement and grave violations against children. Today, 1 in 5 people are in need of humanitarian assistance. 5 million are children.
Today, 13 million children are out of school across the 3 countries. Even before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 4,000 schools had been forced to close due to the escalating violence.
This not only has a devastating impact on children’s learning and future, but also exposes them to greater risk of early marriage, child labour or recruitment by armed groups.
The huge challenges children are facing threaten to have a devastating and lasting impact on their mental health, well-being and development.
Ensuring children are protected, can continue their right to an education and can access the essential mental health support they need to overcome the psychological toll of living through this crisis are essential, lifesaving priorities.
These are also the priorities of a multi-year programme run by Save the Children (STC) with EU support. This programme helps 200,000 girls and boys in the Central Sahel improve their resilience, well-being and learning.
Learn more about EU humanitarian aid in the Sahel: [ Ссылка ]
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