UNICEF: Use of children as soldiers in armed gangs in Haiti has increased by 70%

The United Nations Children's Organization UNICEF has announced that the number of children enrolled in armed groups in Haiti has increased by 70 percent in the past year.

The increase, which according to Unicef ​​has never been witnessed, also shows that the protection of children has deteriorated to an alarming level while there is an increase in unrest in the Caribbean nation.

Recent estimates by the UN children's agency show that children now comprise up to half of all members of armed gangs, and the recruitment of these children into these gangs is fueled by entrenched poverty, lack of education and the collapse of essential services in the country. Haiti.

The Executive Director of UNICEF, Catherine Russell, has said: "children in Haiti are trapped in a vicious cycle and are enrolled in armed gangs that increase their desperation, and the number continues to increase. Chaos and threats have become part of everyday life".

The UNICEF statement continued to explain that the situation in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, is very frightening, with 1.2 million children living under the constant threat of armed violence.

It is estimated that 25 percent of all 703,000 internally displaced persons are children, living in poor conditions and facing many threats.

In addition, UNICEF has warned that sexual violence and rape are rampant, while the reports of the Office of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflicts show that, in this year alone, there has been a tenfold increase in the number of children facing sexual violence.../