Celebrity English actor Orlando Bloom visited children displaced by the Boko Haram terrorist attacks and are now camped in Diffa southeast of Niger.
The UNICEF Ambassador experienced firsthand the humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad Basin where Boko Haram violence has caused huge population displacements.
“As a father, it is hard for me to imagine how many of these children are caught up in this conflict. During my trip I have heard dreadful stories about children fleeing on foot, leaving everything behind, including the safety of their homes and classrooms,” said Bloom, who first travelled to see UNICEF’s work in 2007.
The 40 year old said that he saw the depth of the pain and suffering the kids are going through. “This is not something any child should experience.”
Hundreds of thousands of children across the region have been forced from their homes, are out of education and at risk of malnutrition. 2.3 million People are now displaced in Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon according to UNICEF.
There are at least 160,000 children among the 240,000 internally displaced persons in Diffa.
“So many children in Niger and across the Lake Chad region have been uprooted by this crisis,” said Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa. “They have suffered unimaginable violence and abuse, they have lost their families, their homes and missed out on years of education. What these children need most is an end to the violence, and until that is possible, we must do all we can to support them in rebuilding their lives.”
During his time in Niger, Bloom also visited Bosso on the border of Nigeria
“This visit has been extremely moving. Every single child I met is affected by this conflict and in desperate need of basic services such as clean water, psychological care and education to help them recover from the atrocities they have suffered and witnessed,” he said. “They deserve a childhood.”
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