WCC News: Children in war are more than a security crisis, warn African church leaders

Across Africa, churches are stepping up aid for children affected by civil wars and conflicts, as crises rise on the continent. As lightning illuminates the sky behind them, a man speaks during a nighttime prayer vigil for peace in Nakubuse, a small village near Kuron in South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria State. The region has been plagued by cattle raiding and child abduction in recent years. The Catholic Church-sponsored Holy Trinity Peace Village, centered in Kuron, has worked for years to foster reconciliation and peace between the region's pastoralist communities. Photo: Paul Jeffrey/WCC 25 August 2026 Displaced into camps, the children are targets for recruitment by armed groups, who turn them into child soldiers, messengers, spies, cooks, porters, guards, and informants. Rev. Angele Wilson Dogbe, All Africa Conference of Churches director of the regional office in Lomé, Togo, said churches are deeply alarmed and concerned about the situation. “The (conference) therefore sees the situation not simply as a security crisis, but fundamentally as a child protection, education, human rights, humanitarian, and peacebuilding crisis,” said Dogbe. The cleric said poverty, displacement, insecurity, or the desire to protect themselves, their families, and communities, are driving the children into armed groups. “We must therefore avoid seeing children associated with armed groups simply as perpetrators. They are, first and foremost, children whose rights have been violated and who require protection, rehabilitation, and reintegration,” said Dogbe. Some of the deadliest conflicts are occurring in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and northern Nigeria. Many of the children are dying on battlefronts, while others have suffered kidnapping or abduction. Millions of others are displaced and out of school. Abdalla Ali Kori, general secretary of the Sudan Council of Churches, said the war has made it difficult for the council to respond, despite many children suffering the brunt of the war. “I hear from Khartoum that they have recruited many children, small children, and sent them to the war,” said Kori.  “Everything is in disarray. People are on the run. The people were scattered, but it's visible that the children are seriously affected.” Suganya Kimbrough, World Vision Somalia programme development and quality assurance director, said Somalia’s prolonged conflict was robbing children of their childhood, driving them from classrooms into hunger, and then from hunger into conflict. “As families collapse under the weight of this crisis, children are being pulled out of school, pushed into forced labour, and made vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups,” said Kimbrough. “This is not just a hunger crisis; it is a childhood crisis, and it demands the world's urgent attention. Children are the future of Somalia, and that future is being eroded right before our eyes.” According to Rev. Dr Uzoaku Williams, assistant general secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria, after over 15 years of insurgency, banditry, and communal clashes, large numbers of children are living in camps with limited access to food, healthcare, and education. “There are still reports of school abductions, recruitment into armed groups, and children growing up in camps knowing nothing but conflict,” she said, explaining that the situation remains critical, particularly in the northeast, northwest, and parts of north-central Nigeria. Williams said the churches in Nigeria were offering relief and protection; running support centers for internally displaced persons; providing food, shelter, and medical care; and helping reintegrate children exiting armed groups. “We also engage in interfaith dialogue to build safer communities. We jointly developed a code of conduct in ending violence against children with support from UNICEF,” said Williams. The cleric said the problem has received international attention, but the funding for its programs was not enough or sustained. “What is missing most is sustained psychosocial support, protection for schools, justice for perpetrators, and including children’s voices in peace processes,” said Williams. The churches—as first responders—stress that every child is created in the image of God and must be protected. The denominations, among other efforts, are providing shelter, food, education, healthcare, and psychosocial support, while helping prevent trafficking and exploitation. “We believe the church's response must be both diaconal and prophetic, serving children directly while also addressing the conditions that allow violence against them,” said Dogbe. She said that, despite the crisis receiving global attention, its scale and severity were beyond the available resources. “The challenge is particularly acute in forgotten or protracted conflicts where children may remain displaced or out of school for years,” she said. Learn more about the WCC's Churches’ Commitments to Children See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland