KINSHASA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- More than 43,000 children work in mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), UNICEF reported here Thursday on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the convention on the children's rights.

The child laborers include 20,000 in the southeastern province of Katanga, 12,000 in the central province of Kasa-Occidental and more than 11,000 in the central-south province of Kasa-Oriental.

According to UNICEF, a growing number of children are living and working in the DRC towns. Among them, more than 8,000 have been identified in Kinshasa alone since the beginning of 2009, and more than 1,400 have been integrated either in families or in communities with the help of partners.

UNICEF disclosed that out of the 2 million displaced people in the country, more than 100,000 are children, whose childhood, education and other rights are threatened.

The United Nations welcomed the national strategy put in place by the DRC government to tackle the violence faced by girls and women, demanding similar measures be taken against the recruit of children in the armed groups.

UNICEF said it remains convinced that the respect of children's rights will make everybody to start paying attention to the fundamental needs of children, including education, the prevention of HIV/AIDS and the reduction of infant mortality.