UNICEF: Mediterranean Sea migration has claimed 289 children this year

UNICEF: Mediterranean Sea migration has claimed 289 children this year

An estimated 11,600 children have traveled a migration route across the Central Mediterranean so far this year, with at least 289 children who have died or disappeared while making the dangerous crossing. Most of them were traveling alone or separated from their parents, according to UNICEF, the United Nations children’s…

Laureen Fagan

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times

First vaccines through COVAX arrive in Ghana

First vaccines through COVAX arrive in Ghana

Ghana on Wednesday became the first nation to receive coronavirus vaccines through the global COVAX initiative, a partnership supported by UNICEF in West Africa. “The shipments also represent the beginning of what should be the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history,” said UNICEF in a statement. “The COVAX…

UNICEF warns of increased food insecurity in African nations

UNICEF warns of increased food insecurity in African nations

UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, warns that some 10.4 million children – all in countries on the African continent with the exception of Yemen – face severe food insecurity and malnutrition in the coming year. The affected nations include Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), northeast Nigeria, the…

UNICEF says 1.3 million need aid in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions

Officials with UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency, warned Friday that conditions in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions continue to deteriorate with 1.3 million people now needing humanitarian aid. The armed violence and attacks have forced 450,000 people from their homes, about half of them internally displaced children, said UNICEF spokesman Toby…

New app will help to reunite families in South Sudan

In April, partner agencies Save the Children and UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, marked a milestone in South Sudan as they reached 6,000 children reunited with their families – families torn apart for years by the ongoing civil war and displacement. Now, they have a new digital tool to continue…

Africa’s air pollution is a deadly and growing problem

As the United Nations marks World Environment Day, this year’s theme focuses on air pollution – and that’s a significant challenge on the African continent. A recent study from NASA in the United States found some 780,000 premature African deaths per year were linked to air pollution from different causes….

Nigerian military ups pressure against NGO Amnesty

The Nigerian army has asked citizens to tune in Tuesday morning to an interview with its public relations spokesman, one day after the country’s military again accused an international NGO of collaborating with Islamic extremists and destabilizing the nation. Brig. Gen. Sani Kukasheka Usman’s media message followed his statement on…

Nigeria reverses UNICEF suspension tied to Boko Haram suspicions

The Nigerian military says it has lifted a suspension against UNICEF, the United Nations children’s relief agency, imposed earlier because of allegations that the agency was collaborating with Boko Haram terrorists and training spies in the country’s northeast. In a statement issued late Friday, military spokesman Onyema Nwachukwu said that…

UNICEF calls for release of abducted students in Cameroon

The United Nations agency for children is calling for the immediate release of more than 80 people, including students, abducted from a school in one of Cameroon’s Anglophone regions late Sunday. The overnight attack at a Presbyterian school in the Nkwen district of Bamenda was confirmed by government spokesman Issa…

Nigeria confirms Boko Haram killed ICRC aid worker

Nigerian officials confirmed the death of an aid worker held by Boko Haram on Monday, a day after the extremists aligned with Islamic State threatened to kill her within 24 hours. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, condemned the death of Hauwa Mohammed Liman, above, and extended Nigeria’s…

Another 200 child soldiers released in South Sudan

Another 200 children were released by armed groups in South Sudan this week, bringing the total of such releases to 806 this year. They came primarily from the SPLA-IO opposition group, with eight of them associated with the National Salvation Front (NSF). “Every a time a child is released and…