Traumatised children in Ukraine bearing the brunt of conflict
Children in conflicts
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Children in Ukraine are being traumatised by the ongoing conflict and suffering both mental and physical consequences.
At least 140,000 children have been internally displaced by the fighting 鶹APP but that figure is probably 鶹APPmuch higher鶹APP according to United Nations officials who visited the country.
They are missing out on schooling, vaccinations and other medical supplies, clean water and other basic living standards. Returning children to school will only be possible after unexploded mines are cleared from many sites. And children 鶹APP along with women and the elderly 鶹APP are disproportionately bearing the brunt of the ongoing crisis, according to John Ging, Director of Operations, .
Just back from a multi-agency trip to Ukraine and Nigeria, he said: 鶹APPWe saw the first-hand consequences of conflict. Five million people are in need of human assistance, including 3.2 million who are highly vulnerable. Some 1.7 million people have fled their homes and over one million are internally displaced.鶹APP
He said temporary orders to restrict movement of people and goods across the conflict line were severely hampering efforts to get aid to those in need. About 1.4 million people require health care and the centres that are open are struggling to care for the sick who were moved from damaged and destroyed clinics.
A six-year-old orphan who has been displaced from the city of Bryanka, Ukraine Picture: UNICEF/Krepkih
Mr Ging added: 鶹APPWe have witnessed and have also been told of real shortages of basic medical supplies such as cancer drugs, pain killers and even antibiotics.鶹APP He warned of the long-term consequences of the protracted crisis, saying: 鶹APPNo child has been vaccinated since this conflict began and again it鶹APPs the children that are the most vulnerable and are bearing the brunt here.鶹APP
He was accompanied by Afshan Khan, Director at the Office of Emergency Programmes at the UN children鶹APPs fund . Talking about the plight of children in Ukraine, she said 1.7 million of them are bearing the brunt of the emergency, including 140,000 who have been internally displaced. She warned the displacement numbers are likely 鶹APPmuch higher鶹APP because people, particularly children, are hesitant to register as displaced for fear of losing the right to the homes they fled.
She added: 鶹APPChildren living in or forced to flee conflict areas have suffered enormous stress and have witnessed unimaginable violence.鶹APP Holding up two drawings made by children at an orphanage she visited during her mission, Ms Khan added: 鶹APPThese pictures are from children who are obviously traumatised from the fighting.鶹APP
She told how she had visited a bomb shelter where the water and sanitation situation was 鶹APPvery disturbing.鶹APP The children living there had been impacted psychosocially from the violence that they have experienced. But staying in a shelter without clean water and hygiene is also having a lasting impact. Ms Khan said: 鶹APPLiving in those cramped quarters is an experience no child will forget.鶹APP
UNICEF has boosted its vaccination efforts with the planned delivery of 4.8 million polio vaccines, the first batch by the end of April. Also 200,000 families and children have been educated on mine-risk. Ms Khan said that, in addition to expanding school access, the focus must be on children living in institutions, those with disabilities and those infected with HIV/AIDS.
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