Cameroon celebrates African Child's Day

For long, too long African children have suffered from the scourges of conflict. Virtually every conflict in Africa has had as its collateral victim, children.

We have seen what war can do to children in the war in Sierra Leone, in the Congo, in Chad, in Libya, in South Sudan where, just this week it was being reported that some 80 Ethiopian children abducted by rebels in South Sudan had been freed and were being returned to their legitimate families in Ethiopia.

The situation in Cameroon is near dramatic, reaching dimensions never seen before, especially with the huge influx of refugees from the Central African Republic into the eastern parts of Cameroonian territory at the height of the civil war in that country.

Even with the appearance of some light at the tunnel, coming with the elections of constitutionally-accepted officials and an accepted government, the strife situation is far from over in the East Region where many CAR citizens, in search of security, continue to live in very precarious conditions.

The situation in the Far-North Region is no better, given that the Boko Haram insurgency is still to be fully defeated even if many notable advances have been made by way of reducing their nefarious presence in the area which led to the generalized fleeing of local people in search of safety whenever they were attacked.

Obviously, the most affected populations were the younger ones, mostly those of school-going age who have had to abandon classes in the search of safety from deadly attacks.

The Day of the African Child is being commemorated today under the theme of conflict. It fits very well. Many organizations notably UNICEF and Plan Cameroon have been very active on the ground and can be acclaimed for having helped hold down what could have been a humanitarian catastrophe.

These bodies have helped in the areas of health and access to healthcare which are often critical in the management of huge human movements as is the case in the areas under attack by Boko Haram.

These bodies however need more government support, even simply by increasing field involvement or funding; because in a strife situation, no franc is ever so small. Moreover, a synergy of government, working hand-in-glove with these non-State actors can give a very efficacious response to the most urgent needs of the children, the principal victims of this strife situation.