UNICEF
The girls' disappearance is "only one of endless tragedies being replicated on an epic scale across Nigeria and the region," says Manual Fontaine, UNICEF director for West and Central Africa.
The crisis in the country's northeast, fueled by conflicts between Boko Haram, military forces, and civilian self-defense groups, has forced 800,000 children to flee their homes in search of safety. Many of the displaced find shelter in host communities desperate for basic supplies, clean water, and health and nutrition services.
Haunted by memories of violence and atrocities, the children struggle to forget watching their parents and siblings be slaughtered, or seeing their homes burn to the ground. "They have the right to get their childhoods back," Fontaine says.
At many of the camps, UNICEF uses drawing during psycho-social therapy sessions to help the escaped children open up about what they've seen and endured, and what they miss most. A new awareness campaign, #BringBackOurChildhood, has celebrity Snapchat users recreating the images in the app. You can check out their renditions here.
With permission, we're sharing some of the children's original drawings.