Conference promises better future for children at war
WINNIPEG, MB - Some of the world's most powerful people met in Winnipeg September 10-17 to discuss one of the world's most disturbing issues: children and war.
Co-sponsored by the government of Canada and UNICEF, the International Conference on War-Affected Children brought together government ministers from more than 120 countries, representatives from 70 non-government organizations and a small international delegation of young people.
A litany of horrors emerged as ministers from numerous countries stood to describe how violent conflict has affected their children. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, said foreign affairs minister Jadranko Prlic, children have been brutally expelled from their homes, exposed to shelling, and have suffered lack of food, medical help and education. "Many of them experienced the trauma of losing family members and witnessing violence on a daily basis."
In Rwanda, "children have committed genocide," said secretary of state Odette Nyirmilimo. In her country, children are mutilated, orphans, heads of households, pregnant from rape, and left alone by parents in prison. "All these have been traumatized and our society is facing every new example of aggression, [including] rape of very young children."
Articulate and earnest
The young people themselves gave one of the most articulate and earnest presentations to the international gathering. "We have lost our homes and schools," they said in a joint statement to the ministers. "We have been abused, tortured and raped. We have come to the consensus that children are the most affected by war."
The youth listed five areas that need the most assistance:
• Education - Tens of thousands of children are denied education because of wars.
• Building peace - "War destroys everything," said the youth: "our communities, our homes, our schools, our families, our health and our souls."
• Refugees - "Without refuge children are likely to be hurt, maimed, killed or manipulated into [taking part in combat]."
• Tools of destruction - "We must prohibit the production and distribution of weapons, including small arms and land mines."
• Violation of children's rights - "Children are orphaned, sexually abused, forced into armies and prostitution. We need counseling and we need to know our rights. We demand that no person under the age of 18 be recruited or forced into combat."
While government representatives wrangled over recommendations, delegates from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) drafted their own documents, calling for politicians to take stronger action in preventing children from being victims of war and from taking part in war.
Some delegates expressed cynicism that this was just another conference where talk would not lead to action. Others expressed frustration and impatience that too little is being done: although there are numerous reports of abuses of international law, too often those reports don't lead to changes.
Some of the themes that emerged over the conference focused on banning the use of soldiers under 18; the treatment of girls, who are more likely to be the victims of rape and slavery during war; and the restriction of small weapons and ammunition. In some countries, said Kathy Vandergrift, chair of the NGO portion of the conference, "you can get an AK-47 for the price of a chicken."
Named and shamed
Many of the delegates were also adamant that those who violate children's rights "must be named, shamed and held accountable."
"Accountability came up again and again," said Maria Minna, minister for international cooperation who co-hosted the government portion of the conference with foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy. "Accountability means ending impunity."
Graca Machel, who four years ago prepared a study for the United Nations on war-affected children, said there hasn't been enough monitoring of countries that sign the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. "We still have governments who pretend the convention doesn't exist," she said in an impassioned speech after a 37-hour trip from Johannesburg. "We have governments who even have signed the convention [and ignore it]. Am I lying?"
Accountability of governments is one thing; sometimes accountability of individuals presents thorny problems, noted Minna, who related the story of a girl named Susan from northern Uganda. Susan was abducted into the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and forced to kill a boy who had tried to escape or be killed herself. In fear she killed the boy, and still dreams about him. "Should we hold her responsible?" Minna asked.
One of the positive outcomes of the conference was a deal brokered between Sudan and Uganda, with Canada and Egypt as negotiators. Sudan agreed to return Ugandan children abducted into the LRA and trained in Sudan with support and weapons from the Sudanese government.
Despite frustrations, most delegates tried hard to be positive about the conference. "Canada has chosen to be their brother's keeper and to be their brother's children's keeper," said Shirley Gbujama, minister of social welfare, gender and children's affairs in Sierra Leone, where bloody and prolonged civil war has caused horrific circumstances for children.
For the NGOs gathered, the conference meant the formation of an international network that will work hard at improving their own practices and pressuring governments to carry out the conference's objectives.
The role of NGOs includes practical things like making sure children know where there is a safe place, says Vandergrift, as well as addressing root causes of war, such as poverty, and talking with them about their rights. "How do we make sure that all kids know what their options are?"
NGOs are restricted by political stonewalling, however. One of the themes that came out the most clearly, for example, the banning of soldiers under 18, was weakened when the wording on a document was changed from "should sign" an optional protocol to "should consider signing."
"How do you hold a government accountable for considering?" asks Vandergrift. "Some governments use wording to not be held accountable. To weaken the protection of children. That has to stop."
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