Syria is among the most countries at risk to children

ARK News.. Organization (Save the Children) said that 415 million children around the world have lived in wars and conflicts over the regions in 2018.

According to a report by the organization, the number of girls is relatively lower than that of boys compared to 2017, adding that the percentage of these children has increased since 2010 by 37%.

According to the report, the top ten countries where children were at risk in 2018 were Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Yemen, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and the Central African Republic.

The report pointed out that about 12,125 children in conflict areas were killed or injured in 2018, meaning that this is more than in 2017.

The organization stated that armed groups kidnapped about 2,500 children, 80 percent of whom were male, 44 percent of boys and 17 percent of girls were killed or maimed. While the gender of the remaining 39 percent could not be recorded.

With regard to cases of rape or forced marriage of girls, the report recorded a higher percentage during 2018 than it was previously, in addition to 87 percent of sexual violence cases that include girls in particular.

The organization documented around 7,000 forced conscripts between 2005 and 2018, while about 65,000 children were forced to participate in armed conflict.

"Save the children" organization criticized what it described as the systematic refusal to provide humanitarian aid to children in conflict areas, stressing that the world is watching the growth of extreme violence against children.

The organization's chief executive, Susanna Kruger, said that the senseless "destruction" of children's lives will continue unless all governments and the warring parties now work to support the development of international standards and norms that ensure accountability for crimes committed (against children).

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