UN distributes aid kits for street children in Senegal

By Alaattin Dogru

DAKAR, Senegal (AA) – A UN agency in Senegal distributed aid kits for street children in the country Thursday to help them amid the novel coronavirus.

The West Africa Regional Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement that it sent 1,200 aid kits including bedding, blankets, mosquito nets, towels, clothes and cleaning products to shelters and protection centers in the capital Dakar.

The Senegal government has so far managed to return 2,015 children who have been begging on the streets to their families.

According to UN data, there are more than 30,000 street children in the capital.

As of Friday, the country has reported a total of 2,189 coronavirus cases, 842 of which have fully recovered. The death toll stands at 23.

After originating in Wuhan, China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 188 countries and regions, with Europe and the US currently the worst hit.

The pandemic has killed more than 302,000 people worldwide, with more than 4.44 million confirmed cases, while recoveries have surpassed 1.58 million, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University of the US.