US Concerned Over Half A Million Kids Out Of School In Anglophone Regions

The United States of America has once more expressed its desire for peace to return to the restive North West and South West regions.

In her remarks at a UN Security Council briefing on children and armed conflict, Cherith Norman Chalet, Acting Deputy Permanent Representative of the
U.S. Mission to the United Nations noted that the most vulnerable people during armed conflicts are children.

“Beyond country situations on the Children and Armed Conflict agenda, we are deeply concerned that at least 600,000 children in Cameroon have not been able to safely attend schools in the country’s English-speaking regions for more than three years,” she said.

This, she went on, “is a stark reminder that mediation requires follow-through to prevent children from once again falling prey to the deadly cycles of violence”.

The UN Security Council, she specified, “has a duty to speak out on behalf of children, for they are our future, and our hope. But to realize a future of greater safety and prosperity for all children, there must be meaningful action. This is what makes the Children and Armed Conflict agenda so critical, and we are grateful for the opportunity to discuss its implementation today”.

To achieve this, she recommends engaging with armed groups in friendly discourse.
“By engaging with armed groups, building trust, and offering alternatives to violence as allowed by our mandate, the UN and other regional organizations – including the AU and the EU – can create new possibilities for sustainable peace,” she stated.

This is not the first time the US is expressing interest in the raging conflict that has left thousands dead. Despite the Major National Dialogue, fighting continues to rock the restive regions on a daily basis.

MMI