On Their Annual Day African Children Remain Extremely Vulnerable (NEWS BRIEF)

A young boy in Burundi. CREDIT: HUMNEWS(HN, June 16, 2011) As the Day of the African Child is commemorated across the continent today, millions of young people face deadly threats, ranging from pneumonia and malaria to HIV and AIDS and domestic violence.

There are thousands of children under 18 languishing in jails from Nigeria to Burundi - either housed with adults or incarcerated without trial or proper legal representation.

The best laid plans of donors and governments have, in some instances, have failed to reach targets.

For example, despite the distribution of millions of bed nets, for example, in many African countries - including Nigeria and Burundi - malaria will be far from eradication by the UN goal of 2015.

In countries such as Lesotho, almost one in four people are living with HIV and an estimated 17 percent are aged 15-24.

In Africa, sexual violence is a daily reality for girls. A recent Swaziland study documents that about one third of adolescent girls under the age of 18 have stated that they have been victims of sexual violence by boyfriends, husbands and/or male relatives. Most of the violence takes place in the home, or close by in neighborhoods or at school.

There are bright spots on this day that deserve acknowledgement. The incredible efforts of such institutions as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has translated into the near eradication of polio in the four remaining endemic countries: Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

And across the continent, more children are receiving free primary education than ever before.

In Burundi, a visionary project operated by CARE and funded by the Nike Foundation has provided micro credit, small business grants to adolescent girls who have fallen into poverty due to early pregnancy and other reasons.

- HUMNEWS correspondent in East Africa