CHILDREN IN AFRICA ... ARE PERSECUTED, RECRUITED, INJURED AND MARRIED
Hunger, poverty, violence and armed conflicts mean that millions of African children are fleeing - alone or with their families. War is raging in many countries of the African continent: millions of children are living in constant terror in the midst of terror and violence. In countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Somalia, Uganda or Sudan child soldiers are still recruited.
In the countries of western and northeastern Africa, girls are circumcised. Partial or total removal of the clitoris and labia minora is painful, life-threatening, and results in irreparable damage such as incontinence, infertility, or urinary tract infections.
Infibulated girls and women feel strong pain during intercourse. Among the African countries where genital mutilation is widespread are Egypt, Somalia, Djibouti, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone and the north of Sudan.
Millions of African girls are also threatened with forced marriages in many states. The marriage of underage girls is a tradition in many African tribes. Girls in childhood are married as a so-called "child brides" of their parents to a usually much older man and get far too early own children. Many others are forced to child labor.