Afghanistan accounts for 27 pc of child casualties globally since 2005: UNICEF

Over 28,500 children have been killed in conflicts since 2005 in Afghanistan, which accounts for 27 per cent of all verified child casualties around the world.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report released on Friday, Afghanistan has the highest number of verified child casualties in the past 16 years, reported Tolo News.

"Afghanistan, for example, has the highest number of verified child casualties since 2005, at more than 28,500 - accounting for 27 per cent of all verified child casualties globally," read the press release of UNICEF.

Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and northern Ethiopia are the places where children have paid a devastating price as armed conflict, inter-communal violence and insecurity continued, said the release.

"Year after year, parties to the conflict continue to demonstrate a dreadful disregard for the rights and wellbeing of children," said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

"Children are suffering, and children are dying because of this callousness. Every effort should be made to keep these children safe from harm," Fore said.

UNICEF has called on "all parties to the conflict" to take concrete measures to protect children, reported Tolo News.

"Ultimately, children living through war will only be safe when parties to the conflict take concrete action to protect them and stop committing grave violations," said Fore.

"As we approach the end of 2021, I call on all parties to the conflict to end attacks against children, uphold their rights and strive for peaceful political resolutions to war," added UNICEF Executive Director.

According to the statement, the UN has verified 266,000 cases of grave violations against children in more than 30 conflict situations across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America over the past 16 years.

The statement said that these are only the cases verified by UN-led monitoring and reporting mechanisms, meaning that the true figures may be far higher, reported Tolo News.

UNICEF further added that so far there is no data available about grave violations against children in 2021, but in 2020, 26,425 grave violations against children were verified by the UN.

( With inputs from ANI )