West and Central Africa

There are 70 million adolescent girls in West and Central Africa. Many, if not all, deprivations that girls experience are compounded from their early years through adolescence and into adulthood and are based on common root causes such as restricted access to key social, cultural and political entitlements that are fundamental to the…

NEW YORK, 1 December 2023 – Nearly 98,000 adolescent girls aged 10-19 were infected with HIV in 2022 – or 1,900 new infections every week – according to UNICEF’s latest Global Snapshot on Children with HIV and AIDS , released ahead of World AIDS Day. While total infections among girls aged 10-19 have almost halved since 2010 – from 190,000 to 98,…

A major AIDS epidemic is still underway in western and central Africa. Over one quarter (26%) of all children living with HIV globally are in this region, and 4 in every 10 (38%) new infections in children occur there. There have been important gains in the past decade but there are persistent gaps that need focused action. This snapshot provides…

This documentation identifies, maps, reviews, and assesses effective and scalable interventions implemented in West and Central Africa over the past five years that aimed to reduce primary and middle school dropout, especially by girls; increase access to alternative learning pathways, and/or help adolescents develop employability skills. June 2023

The current food and nutrition crisis is driving up acute malnutrition amongst pregnant and breastfeeding women in the worst affected countries. This alarming increase is happening as the converging impact of poverty, conflict, and climate change continues to deepen the nutrition crisis amongst adolescent girls and women. UNICEF’s new report:…

The adolescent boys pushing the cart had been forced to make a pit stop.  Heavy-laden with wood stacked more than twice their height, one tyre had gone flat and needed to be fixed before the journey could resume on foot.  The combined strength of Fleuri Miabe and his 15-year old cousin was all they had and used to push their load along the narrow…

Twenty-five years ago, more than 30,000 representatives of governments, women’s movements and NGOs from 200 countries pushed for and witnessed the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) at the World Conference on Women in Beijing. Key areas of urgent action for systemic change across social, economic, political and…, Stories: Issues facing girls in the region, UNICEF Sierra Leone 2017 UNICEF Niger 2020 Display caption Show Original Caption Display caption Show Original Caption October 2020, Forging forward for adolescent girls in West & Central afriCa 2 | FORGING FORWARD FOR ADOLESCENT GIRLS IN WEST & CENTRAL AFRICA FOREWORD an historic anniversaryTwenty-five years ago, more than 30,000 representatives of govern-ments, womens movements and NGOs from 200 countries pushed for and witnessed the adoption of the Beijing…

West and Central Africa today is the home of the forgotten girl. She may be Fatima in Western Cameroon, who at 12 years old can be found hiding behind her mother, about to be forcibly married to a 22-year-old man. Or 15-year-old Umu, hiding her pregnancy so she can finish high school in Sierra Leone. Or 10-year-old Sanya in Northern Nigeria,…, The staggering statistics released today in this data brief are sounding a loud cry,  , picto One third of adolescent girls have given birth before the age of 19, and 6% before age 15 — the highest rate in the world. Adolescent birth rates are greatest among the poorest households and adolescent pregnancy is a major cause of death among 15-19-year-old girls. picto With four in ten girls married before age 18, child marriage is one of…, The future doesn’t have to be one of crushed hopes  , The acceleration of gender-responsive and transformative interventions during adolescence can achieve more equitable outcomes that can persist into adulthood. Adolescence provides a second window of opportunity - a chance to catch up and redress earlier negative experiences, as well as to ensure that previous investments are not lost during a time…,  , Reaping the benefits for nations, societies and crucially, for girls themselves,   According to projections, the adolescent girls’ population in West and Central Africa will grow to almost 81 million by 2030. Investments through these six evidence-informed strategies will transform the lives of adolescent girls and allow nations, societies and crucially girls themselves to reap the benefits.   Scale up integrated programming…

West and Central Africa is on the cusp of a population shift that has the potential to transform the region. In 2019, adolescents—persons aged 10-19—constituted 23 per cent of the population in West and Central Africa—the highest proportion of any region in the world alongside Eastern and Southern Africa. According to projections, this population…

The nutritional situation of children under 5 years in the Sahel countries remains worrying and may worsen further during the lean season due to poor rainfall recorded in 2017.  This year, 1.6 million children are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition, which is a 50 percent increase from 2012, the Sahel’s last major nutrition crisis.…

NEW YORK/DAKAR/GENEVA/JOHANNESBURG/KINSHASA, 11 May 2018 – At least 770,000 children in the Kasai region in the Democratic Republic of Congo are suffering from acute malnutrition, including 400,000 children who are severely malnourished and at risk of death – UNICEF said in a report released today. The children’s agency went on to warn that unless…

When horrific violence erupted across the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2016, hundreds of thousands of people ran for their lives. They were forced to abandon their homes, villages and, in some cases, older or ailing family members. Many of those who had to flee were children. The most fortunate children and families…