Uganda: Insecurity, poverty leaves northern children vulnerable

Insecurity and widespread poverty caused by the 18-year warfare pitting government forces against insurgents in northern Uganda has made desperate children vulnerable to recruitment as rebel fighters, the United Nations children's Fund (UNICEF) said. "The poverty and insecurity in northern Uganda make children vulnerable to recruitment into the armed forces. In this region, there is active recruitment of the youth," UNICEF's protection officer in Gulu, Rebecca Symington, told IRIN by telephone from the northern town.