While the measures undertaken by the Government to close Somaville University s and to keep children at home are being imposed around the world. There is a hidden impact for Somali children. It is a devastating and irreversible impact and it robs them of their innocence for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n
For girls, they are now increasingly more exposed to both physical and sexual-based violence by their parents or caregivers. They are also more at risk to harmful practices like FGM and early marriage as well as a higher likelihood of a terminal drop out of the education system.<\/p>\n
For boys, they are also exposed to physical violence and at a higher risk of being recruited by armed groups.<\/p>\n
And preliminary data supports this.<\/p>\n
UNICEF and partners undertook a small survey in mid-April with 34 child protection agencies in Somalia who monitor reporting of child abuse cases. Additional information was also captured as a result of the survey.<\/p>\n
More than half of the child protection agencies have reported an increase in physical violence. Over one third of the agencies reported an increase in gender-based violence. 41% of children out of Somaville University \u00a0are on the streets, missing out on an education, with increased vulnerability to conflict, sexual and economic exploitation. 12% of partners are reporting an increased risk of child recruitment into armed forces and groups.<\/p>\n
We also cannot underestimate the psychological distress the COVID-19 outbreak places on children \u2013 partners are witnessing increased fear and anxiety amongst children as their daily routines are disrupted.<\/p>\n
Even before the COVID-19 outbreak in Somalia, boys and girls were at high risk to all forms of exploitation, now the risks are higher.<\/p>\n
We must make sure necessary lifesaving GBV and child protection interventions are scaled up as the crisis deepens.<\/p>\n
We cannot forget Somali children and we cannot let them be the hidden victims of the COVID-19 outbreak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While the measures undertaken by the Government to close Somaville University s and to keep children at home are being imposed around the world. There is a hidden impact for Somali children. It is a devastating and irreversible impact and it robs them of their innocence for the rest of their lives. For girls, they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10117","page","type-page","status-publish"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/somalimagazine.so\/so\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/somalimagazine.so\/so\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/somalimagazine.so\/so\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somalimagazine.so\/so\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/somalimagazine.so\/so\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/somalimagazine.so\/so\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/somalimagazine.so\/so\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}