UN warns of surge in attacks on children with albinism

A child in East Africa with albinism faces a specific, documented danger: being targeted for body parts believed, without evidence, to bring wealth or good fortune. The UN's Independent Expert on Albinism has reported that this danger is growing.

The Independent Expert described a surge in attacks against children with albinism across East Africa, characterising the incidents as "stunningly vicious" in severity. The report placed the pattern of violence in the context of witchcraft-related beliefs — harmful superstitions that assign magical properties to the bodies of people with albinism.

The UN office confirmed that children are disproportionately targeted. Their visibility in schools and communities, combined with inadequate protective infrastructure in many areas, makes them particularly exposed, according to the Independent Expert's findings.

The report did not isolate a single country. The concern spans a region where, according to previous UN documentation, people with albinism have faced killings, abductions, and the exhumation of graves for body parts — a practice that has continued across multiple decades despite national and international condemnation.

What the UN has called for

The Independent Expert has consistently pressed governments in the region to treat attacks on people with albinism as hate crimes rather than isolated incidents of violence. Classifying them as such, the Expert has argued, would strengthen prosecution and signal state commitment to accountability.

The UN body has also called for sustained investment in early warning systems, community-level protection networks, and the education of law enforcement. Previous reporting by the office noted that conviction rates in cases involving attacks on people with albinism remain low, and that many incidents go unreported entirely.

Persistent myths — that body parts from people with albinism carry supernatural power — continue to drive demand for attacks. The Independent Expert has stated that dismantling these beliefs requires long-term public education, not only criminal sanction.

For the families of children with albinism in affected areas, the threat shapes daily decisions: whether a child attends school, whether they move freely in their community, whether they are kept home when rumours circulate. The UN's renewed alarm places that daily calculus on the international record.