This brief - a supplement to the Stop the War on Children 2020: Gender matters report - highlights the situation of children in conflict zones in West and Central Africa with a focus on gender. It explores how girls and boys are all increasingly affected and exposed to conflict in different ways (e.g.: recruitment into armed groups, sexual violence) and how 4 out of the 6 grave violations perpetrated against children are increasing. With Africa having the highest absolute number of any region and three West and Central Africa countries included in the list of the top ten worst conflict-affected countries to be a child, the brief urges decision makers to urgently take the necessary measures to protect children from the horrors of war and to hold perpetrators of violations against children to account.
