Children in Africa are exposed to violence such as armed conflict, with some children recruited as child soldiers. Photo: Stefanie Glinski/AFP
The United Nations estimates that 500 million to 1.5 billion children worldwide experience some form of violence each year — a figure that may have increased in recent years. Harmful acts against children are often perpetrated by individuals in their immediate environment — parents, caregivers and family members — as well as by strangers, neighbours, friends and peers.
Children with disabilities, girls or those living in countries affected by humanitarian crises face an even greater risk of violence, including child marriages. As children grow into adolescence, they become more vulnerable to gender-based and intimate partner violence.
The situation is even worse in conflict-affected areas, where children experience multiple human rights violations such as sexual slavery and genital mutilation. Armed conflicts not only endanger lives but also devastate economies. Families often lose their livelihoods, forcing children into child labour to help provide basic necessities like food. During such crises, government resources are usually redirected toward immediate emergency responses, leaving minimal investment in critical sectors that support children’s welfare, such as healthcare and education.
In Africa, it is estimated that half the child population has either witnessed or experienced some form of violence — emotional, sexual and physical. In addition, Africa ranks as the region with the second-highest number of armed conflicts globally, with non-international conflicts raging for extended periods in countries such as Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan.
During armed conflicts, children are particularly vulnerable to being separated from or losing their parents or caregivers. Many become internally displaced or are forced to flee to other countries without adult guardians, an experience that significantly increases their risk of abuse.
Living in conflict areas also exposes children to the threat of recruitment by armed groups — either as child soldiers or in supporting roles — placing them in danger of injury, imprisonment or death. Additionally, children exposed to armed conflict face heightened risks of sexual exploitation and similar forms of abuse. These traumatic experiences have lasting physical, psychological and social consequences, making the protection of children in conflict areas an urgent global priority.
The African Union estimates that about 80 million children in Africa are affected by armed conflict — equivalent to one in every three children on the continent. In addition to the direct effects noted above, children living in conflict-affected African countries often have limited or no access to education and healthcare. For example, South Sudan, which has endured more than four decades of conflict, has one of the lowest literacy rates in sub-Saharan Africa. Only 2.3 million of the country’s 6.3 million school-age children are enrolled in school. Displacement further intensifies this problem, as many children from South Sudan are forced to live in refugee camps in neighbouring countries.
The violence children experience during armed conflict can have profound and long-lasting effects well into adulthood. In my job as a trauma counsellor at the Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture, many refugees talk about how the traumatic events they had endured as children continued to affect them. Some had been recruited as child soldiers and were forced to commit violent acts.
Although they had eventually escaped to South Africa, they described living in constant fear as they struggled to rebuild their lives. Some found themselves living in the same communities as other refugees whose families they had been forced to harm during the armed conflict. This made it nearly impossible for the former child soldiers to find peace or heal from their traumatic past.
Target 16.2 of sustainable development goal 16 aims to “end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against, and torture of, children” by 2030. There are less than five years remaining to achieve this goal.
Africa has several policy frameworks to address violence against children in armed conflict areas, including the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. It outlines the obligations of AU member states to safeguard the rights and welfare of all children on the continent, including their rights to life, education, and special protection and care during times of armed conflict.
But, as highlighted by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), one of the persistent difficulties in implementing the African Charter is the lack of adequate resources. Governments frequently prioritise investment in military resources and national security over issues that affect children. Effective implementation of frameworks such as the African Charter is vital to ensuring that children in Africa can meet key developmental milestones and realise their full potential.
As we commemorate Africa Day on 25 May under the AU’s 2025 theme, Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations, we must ask ourselves: how can reparations meaningfully address the needs of children who have been victims of violence in conflict areas?
Reparations for these children must go beyond symbolic gestures. They should include financial compensation for injuries and disruption to education, access to trauma-informed mental healthcare and support for resettlement or reunification with family where possible.
One way to ensure reparations for children affected by armed conflict is through intentional, child-focused planning and budgeting. This principle is at the heart of this year’s Day of the African Child, which will be commemorated on 16 June under the theme Planning and Budgeting for Children’s Rights: Progress Since 2010. The ACERWC selected this theme to evaluate how far AU member states have come in integrating children’s rights into national planning and budgeting processes. It calls on governments to examine and change their budgeting and planning systems to adopt a child rights-based approach.
Children are Africa’s future leaders. Protecting them, especially during times of conflict, is not only a moral and legal obligation but a strategic investment in long-term peace, stability and prosperity on the continent. Governments must ensure that their budgets reflect a commitment to programmes that safeguard the rights and welfare of every child.
Yeukai Chideya is a researcher at the Institute for Life Course Health Research at Stellenbosch University.