DAKAR, 28 February 2018 - “All of us at UNICEF are deeply saddened and shocked by the killing of our colleague, along with five other education workers, who were attacked on February 25 while travelling in the northwestern region of the Central African Republic, near Markounda, a remote area near the Chadian border.
“We strongly condemn this senseless act against aid workers who were there to improve the lives of the most vulnerable populations.
We offer our deepest condolences to the families and the colleagues of the victims.”
Notes for editors:
According to the information available, the victims, who were all Central African nationals, were a UNICEF education consultant, two officials from the Ministry of Education and three members of the national NGO Bangui Sans Frontières, a UNICEF partner. They were travelling to Markounda where they were to start a training for community teachers.
Over 7,000 people have sought refuge in Markounda over the past months, in order to shelter from violence.
UNICEF and partners have set up Temporary Learning Spaces for 2,000 crisis-affected children in Markounda. The training was organized for community teachers who were to start teaching in those Temporary learning spaces.
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone.
For further information, please contact:
Donaig Le Du, UNICEF Central African Republic, +236 70 00 97 06; dledu@unicef.org
Thierry Delvigne-Jean, UNICEF West and Central Africa, +221 33 831 0862; tdelvignejean@unicef.org
Anne-Isabelle Leclercq Balde, UNICEF West and Central Africa, +221 77 740 69 14, aleclercqbalde@unicef.org