Maputo — Over 400,000 children are currently displaced due to the terrorist attacks that have been plaguing parts of the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, since October 2017.
The data were revealed on Wednesday by the national director for children in the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, Angélica Fulano. She was interviewed by Radio Mozambique, on the occasion of International Children’s Day.
“Due to the difficult moments that the children went through before they arrived in the regions where they are accommodated now, there is a specific follow-up that is being carried out to discover the psychological impact of the war on the children”, she stated, stressing that “we know that in war zones there are negative events that mark children for the rest of their lives.”
“Right now”, she explained, “we are carrying out permanent monitoring actions to help these families, providing social assistance to them”.
“After the humanitarian assistance that took place when the attacks were still very intense, social welfare provision was extended so that the affected families could have a minimum for their livelihood in their new areas of residence”, said the director.
She also revealed that a series of actions are also under way to stop child labor, one of the evils that still affects a considerable number of children.
Since October 2017, Cabo Delgado has been the victim of attacks and atrocities committed by terrorists that have already caused the death of more than 3,100 people, as well as displacing more than 850,000 people, causing a humanitarian crisis.
The attacks, many of which were accompanied by atrocities, included beheadings and the destruction of public and private infrastructures.
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