Insurgent and government forces in Somalia together account for some of the highest numbers of children abused in conflicts worldwide, the United Nations secretary-general said on Tuesday.
Somalia is ranked as the world’s leading violator of prohibitions against recruitment and use of children for military purposes, with 2,300 such cases documented last year.
CHILD SOLDIERS AND ABDUCTIONS
Sexual violence against children also occurred more frequently in Somalia than in any of 20 conflict situations globally, UN leader Antonio Guterres said. In an annual report on children and armed conflict, Mr Guterres cited 331 cases in Somalia of rape and other sexual abuses of children.
Somalia likewise led the world in the number of children abducted in 2018. More than 1,600 such incidents were reported for Somalia — more than four times the number recorded for the Democratic Republic of Congo, which ranked as second-worst in the world in child abductions.
Most of the abuses of children in Somalia were carried out by al-Shabaab, Mr Guterres noted. For example, the militant group killed or maimed 437 boys and girls last year.
