Kenya crisis leads to more child abuse: aid group

By Peter Apps

LONDON (Reuters) - Kenya's children run increasing risk of physical and sexual assault and face worsening food shortages in the aftermath of recent bloodshed, aid agency Save the Children said on Thursday.

A disputed Dec 27 election sparked widespread violence that killed 1,000 people and displaced some 300,000. The aid group said over half of those were likely to be children, who were by far the most vulnerable.

"We have spoken to many children who have been victims of violence and abuse and spoken to many more who have witnessed it," said Save the Children emergency coordinator Matthew Wingate. "Some have been raped, many beaten up. All are struggling with the trauma of what they have experienced."

The group said conditions in the displaced camps were worsening despite a lull in violence.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement on Thursday to end the crisis. Save the Children said quick action was needed to prevent further problems.

Violence has already hit the country's economy and agriculture sector, but Wingate said that with planting season approaching there was a risk of a wider food crisis if people were not able to return to home and normality.

Many children had been unable to attend school, he said, with many teachers fleeing and school buildings used to house the displaced.

"In a culture where when children drop out of school they find it very difficult to get back in this is a very serious problem," he said.