Studying children in armed conflict: data production, social indicators and analysis (original) (raw)
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THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN INVOLVED IN ARMED CONFLICTS
Elite Project Writers, 2020
More than 1 in 10 children worldwide are affected by armed conflict. The effects are both direct and indirect and are associated with immediate and long-term harm. The direct effects of conflict include death, physical and psychological trauma, and displacement. Indirect effects are related to a large number of factors, including inadequate and unsafe living conditions, environmental hazards, caregiver mental health, separation from family, displacement-related health risks, and the destruction of health, public health, education, and economic infrastructure. Children and health workers are targeted by combatants during attacks, and children are recruited or forced to take part in combat in a variety of ways. Armed conflict is both a toxic stress and a significant social determinant of child health. In this Technical Report, we review the available knowledge on the effects of armed conflict on children and support the recommendations in the accompanying Policy Statement on children and armed conflict.
The Effects of Armed Conflicts on Children, 2023
Armed conflicts continue to inflict profound and long-lasting harm on children across various regions worldwide, with Iraq, Syria, and Yemen standing out as some of the most heavily affected nations. These countries have faced protracted conflicts marked by widespread violence, forced displacement, and severe humanitarian crises. Tragically, children often bear the brunt of these conflicts, suffering unimaginable hardships that irreversibly shape their lives and futures. This book, co-authored by a team of experts, delves into the multidimensional impact of these conflicts on children, offering a critical and comprehensive analysis. The book highlights the unique challenges faced by children in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, presenting a detailed examination of the factors that exacerbate their vulnerability. It aims to underscore the urgent need for coordinated international efforts to protect, support, and rehabilitate affected children, who are among the most innocent and voiceless victims of war. Through this analysis, the book advocates for sustainable solutions to mitigate the consequences of conflict and prioritize the well-being of children in these regions. In these war-torn nations, armed conflict has dismantled communities, destroyed essential infrastructure, and fractured the social fabric. The consequences for children are devastating, ranging from physical injuries and mental health challenges to the loss of educational opportunities and restricted access to healthcare. The book sheds light on these critical issues, emphasizing the compounded effects of these crises on children’s ability to envision and pursue a secure and hopeful future. A significant focus of this book is the recruitment and use of children by armed groups and forces, a harrowing reality in conflict zones. It explores the coercive tactics used to transform children into soldiers, spies, messengers, or human shields, robbing them of their childhood and exposing them to life-threatening dangers. The psychological and physical abuse they endure often leaves deep and enduring scars, perpetuating cycles of violence and suffering. Beyond analysis, the book seeks to inspire action by addressing gaps in legal frameworks, highlighting successful interventions, and proposing practical recommendations to strengthen protection mechanisms for children in conflict zones. By amplifying the voices of those most affected and drawing on international humanitarian and human rights law, this work serves as both a call to action and a resource for policymakers, humanitarian organizations, and scholars dedicated to safeguarding the rights and futures of children amidst armed conflict.
CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT SITUATIONS (A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIA AND DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
This research critically examines children in armed conflict situations (A case study of Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo). The experience of children during war has been remorseful. Numerous provisions of international humanitarian law establish and develop the principle of special protection for children in time of armed conflict. This research identifies the effect of war on children. It analyses the legal protection available to children in armed conflict with special reference to IHL. Altogether, the research recommends some viable options for the Nigerian and Congolese government, international organizations and other key stakeholders and suggests measures as a way forward.
Children suffer immensely in war situations. However they are also ultimate perpetrators as they are recruited often forcefully as child soldiers and porters among other roles. Despite these occurrences, there are domestic and international provisions for their protection, though these instruments are seldom effective in conflict situations. More so, the use of children in armed groups has the potential to make the conflict protract or recur. The paper looks at different aspects of children participation in war from the impact on the children and future implications (memory of conflict), to the reasons why the armed groups use them. The paper recommends a strategic review of policies and legal provisions that echo the changing characteristics of threats and nature of warfare in order to effectively counter the use of children in warfare.
Children's Involvement in War, Historical and Social Contexts
The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, 2007
, a scholar of international development, has just completed a book on the use of child soldiers in conflicts around the world. Her work focuses on Mozambique and Angola and points to aspects of neoliberalism and structural adjustment programs that have disrupted the abilities of families and communities to introduce children to and train them in the responsibilities of young adulthood. Societies with large numbers of children drawn into militias have the usual terrible post-conflict problems, but, in addition, have to reintegrate into useful life a potentially nihilistic generation of young people whose de facto rites of passage have been nothing short of diabolical.-M.S. I n recent decades, children and youths feature centrally as both the targets and the perpetrators of violence. In nearly every war and civil conflict, children are among the principal victims. The situation has worsened in recent years because civil wars and conflicts without clearly defined state actors have grown more prominent, and children suffer more in these "irregular" conflicts. The involvement of young people in warfare is not a recent phenomenon; it is deeply rooted in the history of Western as well as non-Western civilizations. The very term infantry derives from the Italian infante, the child foot soldiers who followed medieval knights into battle. 1 Today, children feature as combatants in conflict zones around the globe, in places as diverse as Angola, Afghanistan, the Balkan region, the Great Lakes