Wednesday, May 17 2006 10:53 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: Facing a funding shortfall of close to 70 per cent for its operations in Uganda, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has appealed for more than US$ 36 million to aid nearly a million youngsters displaced in the strife-torn country.

Displacement, poverty and heightened violence due to the 20-year-old 'child-centred' armed conflict between the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) continue to spur a severe humanitarian crisis, UNICEF said in its latest donor update.

The rights of children and women to basic healthcare, safe water, primary education, protection and shelter remain largely unfulfilled, it said.

The conflict has uprooted about 1.7 million people, including 935,000 children, from their homes into more than 200 camp settlements.

UNICEF said that the LRA uses boys and girls as fighters and porters, with children often subjected to extreme violence shortly after abduction and many girls allegedly allotted to officers in a form of institutional rape.

"Of an estimated 25,000 children abducted by the LRA since the start of the conflict, some 1000 are child mothers who conceived while in captivity," UNICEF said.

Of the more than US4 53 million sought by the agency for purposes ranging from health and nutrition and education to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, UNICEF said it received less than US$ 17 million till the end of last month.