Children in Armed Conflict

2. Children in Armed Conflict

3. OPOSSITE CONCEPTS WAR and CHILDREN

4. WHAT DO WE KNOW War? Children? How Many? Where? Why?

5. FACTS • There are 300,000 children involved in Armed • conflicts in the world. • Child soldiers range in age from 5 to 17. • There are approximately 70,000 children in • Myanmar’sgovernment armed forces. • More than 20,000 children have been abducted • by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) since May • 2002

6. AFRICA • 24 Countries and 121 between militias-guerrillas, • separatist groups and anarchic groups involved • Hot Spots: Central African Republic, Democratic • Republic of Congo, Egypt, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, • Sudan, South Sudan

7. ASIA • 15 Countries and 116 between militias-guerrillas • separatist groups and anarchic groups involved • Hot Spots: North Korea, South Korea, Afghanis- • tan, Myanmar, Pakistan

8. EUROPE • 8 Countries and 63 between militias-guerrillas, • separatist groups and anarchic groups involved • Hot Spots: Chechnya, Dagestan

9. MIDDLE EAST • 8 Countries and 129 between militias-guerrillas, • separatist groups and anarchic groups involved • Hot Spots: Iraq, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Yemen

10. AMERICAS • 5 Countries and 25 between drug cartels, militias- • guerrillas, separatist groups and anarchic groups • involved • Hot Spots: Colombia, Mexico

11. Historical Developments and Changes (1) Children’s Crusade (1212) The leader was a 12-year-old boy named Stephen, who in May 1212 traveled to the court of King Philip Augustus carrying a letter he claimed had come from Christ himself Ordering him to preach for a new crusade. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fRCrnV35hY

12. Historical Developments and Changes (2) • Napoleon 1814 • Children between 14-17 • The "powder monkeys” • Britain 19th Century • USA Independence War • John Cook (15) Willie Johnston (11) U.S. Army receiving the Medal of Honour

13. Historical Developments and Changes (3) • World War II • Both sides: • Nazi Youngsters • Allies resistance

14. New Kind of Wars/ Weak States • Contemporary wars are rarely between states. • Civil and ethnic wars occurring mostly in the developing world. • States affected cannot or will not guarantee the security of their citizens as they do not have a monopoly over the use of force within their borders. • They cannot effectively defend them against crime, and their armies are not equipped to defend their national borders effectively. • Weak states are in many ways a greater danger for their citizens than strong states. • Armies and other security forces are often a major source of insecurity and threat for the population.

15. Children: Victims and Perpetrators

16. The War against Terror • Clash of civilisations • War of the East against the West • Increased fundamentalisation of all major global faiths. Real Reasons behind? • Global conflict over fast-depleting natural resources like oil and water.

17. CHILDREN’S RIGHTS AND WAR • War violates every right of a child - the right to life, the right to be with family and community, the right to health, the right to the development of the personality and the right to be nurtured and protected. • Disrupting the social networks and primary relationships that support children's physical, emotional, moral, cognitive and social development in this way, and for this duration, can have profound physical and psychological implications.

18. CHILDREN’S RIGHTS AND WAR • Many of today's conflicts last the length of a "childhood", meaning that from birth to early adulthood, children will experience multiple, accumulative and IRREPARABLE damages.

19. CHILDREN’S RIGHTS AND WAR (2) Deliberate targeting of civilians, especially children, as a tactic of war

20. Some commanders have even noted the desirability of child soldiers because they are "more obedient, do not question orders and are easier to manipulate than adult soldiers".

21. Follow Up (1) Targeting of children as victims Afghanistan One attack alone killed 70 people, including 52 schoolchildren and five teachers. Of the 110 injured, half were students.

22. Follow Up (2) Targeting of children as perpetrators Used to perpetrate attacks and as human shields by the Taliban and other insurgents Afghanistan:suicide bombers in that country are children aged 11 to 15

23. The other side (3) More than 1,500 Iraqi children are in detention in Iraq accused of making and planting roadside bombs or caught when acting as lookouts or carrying guns. These children are either under administrative detention by US forces, or in Iraqi detention

24. The other side (4) A 2007 report of the Secretary- General notes that “361 and 416 Palestinian children were being held in Israeli prisons and detention centres, including children as young as 12 years. … some children held in detention undergo physical beatings and psychological torture, including threats of sexual violence

25. The other side (5) Thesystematic transfer of Palestinian child prisoners outside the Occupied Palestinian Territory into Israel is in direct violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.” The 2006 report showed that 64 per cent of children’s sentences were on charges of stone-throwing

26. Explanations??

27. Theories of Violence and Aggression (1) • Naturally Violent? • Is the brain implicated in violent or aggressive behaviour? • Genetics? • Antisocial Personality Disorder? • Testosterone? • Feelings of Dominance? • Patriarchalism

28. Theories of Violence and Aggression (2) Political – Failure of social system: poverty, poor educational system, and discrimination – Media influence – Poor Parenting – Discount of genetic basis for fear of creating racism Sociological – Social Learning Theory – Frustration-Aggression Theory – Differential Opportunity Theory

29. The Machel Report (1) First time ever collect information, Established a process of sensitization Created a huge mobilization Challenged the world to recognize that "war affects every right of the child." 1996

30. MAIN FACTORS (2) • Vestiges of colonialism • Persistent economic, social and political crisis • Economic restructuration and adjustments • Demands for immediate cuts in budget • Deficits and public expenditure

31. MAIN FACTORS (3) • Governments have fomented inequalities and grievances • Personalization of power and leadership • Manipulation of ethnicity and religion to serve personal or narrow group interests • Battles fought from village to village or street to street • Intense trade of weapons/ cheap weapons: A47 = one chicken

32. Map of Current Recruitment 2012

33. Dr Miriam Estrada-Castillo Professor miriam.estrada@rwi.lu.se