Gaza: War has made children violent, sad and bereft after two years of relentless war
More than nine in 10 children in Gaza now display signs of aggressive behaviour linked to more than two years of war between Hamas and Israel, welfare agencies have reported.
They warn that children’s sense of stability and security has been “eroded” as key everyday services have collapsed.
And they insist that young Gazans will need “sustained, long-term efforts to recover”.
According to child safety partner assessments conducted in September, 93 per cent of youngsters exhibited aggressive behaviour and 90 per cent were violent towards younger children.
The development comes as the Israeli authorities announced the reopening of Zikim crossing, following a two-month closure.
Sudan war leaves families desperate and running out of time
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, issued an urgent appeal on Thursday to help the people of Sudan who it says are running out of time as communities are cut off from aid.
The agency highlighted the plight of families who have fled fighting and mass reported atrocities in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. The city was overrun by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces last month, after a 500-day siege.
“Children are hungry, parents are desperate…They need protection, safety and humanitarian access,” UNHCR said online on X.
It comes as UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned reports of mass atrocities against civilians in El Fasher along with worsening violence in the Kordofans.
He was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the annual joint African Union and UN Conference in New York.
“The flow of weapons and fighters from external parties must be cut off. The flow of humanitarian aid must be able to quickly reach civilians in need. The hostilities must stop. I call on the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to engage with my Personal Envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, and take swift, tangible steps toward a negotiated settlement.”
Mr. Guterres’s renewed appeal to the warring parties to engage with the UN comes amid more than two and a half years of fighting in Sudan, which erupted between rival militaries amid a breakdown in transition to civilian rule.
More than 1.7 million children impacted by Super Typhoon Fung-wong
To the Philippines where the strongest typhoon to make landfall this year has impacted a staggering 1.7 million children – and more than five million people overall.
After slamming into the island nation on 9 November with winds of around 185 kilometres per hour (or 115 miles per hour) leaving at least six dead, Super Typhoon Fung-wong hit homes, schools and access to health services across 16 regions, UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, reported on Thursday.
The archipelago has already been exhausted by multiple climate-related and geophysical shocks this year. Just days ago, more than 200 people died in the Typhoon Kalmaegi disaster.
“Children and their families are barely climbing out of one crisis before another strikes, pushing them back to zero,” said UNICEF Philippines Representative Kyungsun Kim.
The agency is carrying out joint assessments with the authorities and partners to determine the highest needs.
In addition to providing life-saving support, UNICEF prioritises child-centred climate policies, climate-resilient social services and mobilising climate financing to safeguard communities from natural shocks.
Daniel Johnson, UN News
Source of original article: United Nations (news.un.org). Photo credit: UN. The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of Global Diaspora News (www.globaldiasporanews.com).
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