A total of 268 abducted children were released during October, the UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (HACU) said in a situation report for the period 24 October-6 November. Some 54 of these children have been reunited with their families and 24 remain in interim care in the Western Area of Freetown.
UNICEF has registered 4,341 missing children in the Western Area since January while 2,661 remain unaccounted for, the report said.
The Makeni branch of the Catholic relief organisation CARITAS, which runs a centre for former “child soldiers” and abducted girls and aims to reintegrate them into society, has assisted 490 children between 20 July and 9 November, MISNA said on Wednesday.
HACU reported that another NGO, the Child Protection Network, has re-started a foster family programme in Port Loko and Lungi, north of Freetown and in Daru in the east, under which family homes serve as emergency reception centres for demobilised child soldiers.
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