Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Sudan + 8 more

Factbox - Dangers facing children in worst 10 hotspots

July 11 (Reuters) - Following is a rundown of the 10 worst places to be a child according to a Reuters poll of humanitarian experts released on Tuesday. The countries are listed according to how many votes they received.

DARFUR, SUDAN: An estimated 1.75 million children are living in and around camps. Girls risk being raped when they go to search for firewood. Boys are recruited to fight in armed groups. One aid agency found 15 percent of children in camps had "physical or emotional disability" due to atrocities they had experienced and more than a third of children were working.

NORTHERN UGANDA: Some 935,000 children are living in camps, uprooted by 20 years of civil war. Lord's Resistance Army rebels have kidnapped an estimated 25,000 children to use as soldiers and sex slaves. Thousands of child "night commuters" walk miles each evening to avoid being abducted while they sleep.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Although the country's war officially ended in 2003, hundreds of children die daily from hunger, disease and violence. The government estimates a 10th of fighters are children. United Nations peacekeepers stand accused of sexually exploiting children, giving them food for sex.

IRAQ: Shootings and bombings have killed, injured and orphaned thousands of children. The biggest cause of death is illness transmitted through unclean water. Nine percent of young children are acutely malnourished, more than double the number at the end of Saddam Hussein's rule.

SOMALIA: Fifteen years of conflict has uprooted hundreds of thousands of people. The worst drought in a decade has left around 1.7 million people in need of help. Nearly a quarter of children die before their fifth birthday. Clan militias enlist boys to fight. Female genital mutilation is widespread.

INDIA: It is being hailed as a future economic powerhouse, yet 1.2 million children under five die from malnutrition every year. Child labour is outlawed, but rights groups estimate up to 115 million children are forced to work.

AFGHANISTAN: One in four children don't see their fifth birthday. Children are at risk from insurgent and military operations, but disease is the main killer -- an estimated 600 under-fives die each day, mostly from preventable illnesses. In 11 provinces 80 to 99 percent of girls do not go to school. A fifth of primary school children do some form of work.

PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: More than 700 children have been killed in the uprising. Nearly a third of families have a child suffering symptoms of psychosocial distress. Many teenagers in overcrowded rundown cities and refugee camps see few better opportunities than joining an armed faction. Some 285 children were in Israeli detention as of September 2005.

MYANMAR: Up to 70,000 children make up a fifth of Myanmar's army, according to rights activists who say many boy soldiers are forced to commit atrocities against ethnic minorities. Rebel groups are accused of using child fighters. A government campaign against ethnic minorities has left thousands of children displaced in the jungle and refugee camps.

CHECHNYA: Some 99 percent of Chechens live below the official Russian poverty line. Around 95,000 internally displaced people live in camps. Thousands of children have died or lost limbs after stepping on mines or touching unexploded ordinance.

(Sources: UNICEF, WFP, Human Rights Watch, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, Christian Children's Fund)