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

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

iku

Tue, 08/25/2026 - 15:18

Across Africa, churches are stepping up aid for children affected by civil wars and conflicts, as crises rise on the continent.

Image

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

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…