Children Continue to Bear the Brunt of Conflict in DRC: UN Report

2018-06-27 03:22:02
Editor: Mu Xuequan

UNITED NATIONS, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Children continued to bear the brunt of conflict and were victims of over 11,500 grave violations between 2014 and 2017 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a UN report said Tuesday.

The number of grave violations committed by more than 40 parties represents a 60 percent increase compared to the previous three-year reporting period, the sixth report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the DRC showed.

Although the report attributed the majority of casualties to armed groups, a third were committed by the Congolese security forces over the period under review.

The report also noted that the Congolese armed forces put in place measures to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in their ranks.

However, large scale recruitment and use of children by armed groups continued unabated, it said, adding that the proportion of children used as combatants increased to nearly 50 percent in 2017.