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PAPER E7PEACE EDUCATION
case study of areas where conflictsof different kinds have led todisplacement, violence or persistentsocial turmoil
CHILDHOODIN CONFLICTSETTINGS
Syrian children are seen at a tent schoolmade by volunteer teachers at Harnabushi
refugee camp in Idlib Province [AnadoluAgency]
Picture Source: Aljajeera
OVERVIEW
KEY TOPICS
Kashmir Syria
Nigeria
What is Childhood? Childhood in Conflict Settings
What are Grave Violations?Case studies:
1.2.3.
SOURCES AND REFRENCESINTERNET SITES1.
Website: UNICEF, Childhood Under Threat: State of the world's children 2005
2. ARTICLES/PRESS RELEASE
Mannaan, Anub. Education Paralysis in Kashmir: Need to protect the future. ORF. SEP 20 2019Hunter, Elaine. Toxic stress spells disaster for many children in Syria and other conflict countries. Their World.AUGUST 03, 2017Watt, Evan. Seven years of Syrian conflict leaves thousands of children and young people with disabilities. Their World. MARCH 12,2018UNICEF Media Team. No end in sight to seven years of war in Syria: children with disabilities at risk of exclusion. MARCH 12, 2018AUDU BULAMA BUKARTI. Nigeria’s Child Veterans Are Still Living a Nightmare. Foreign Policy. 15 AUGUST 2019
3. PAPERS/REVIEWSPrasad, A N, and P L Prasad. “Children in Conflict Zones.” Medical journal, Armed Forces India vol. 65,2 (2009): 166-9.doi:10.1016/S0377-1237(09)80134-2Isokpan, Aisosa Jennifer, & Durojaye, Ebenezer. (2016). Impact of the Boko Haram insurgency on the child's right to education inNigeria. PER: Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad, 19(1), 1-43. https://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2016/v19n0a1299CHILDREN AND CONFLICT IN A CHANGING WORLD. MACHEL STUDY 10-YEAR STRATEGIC REVIEW
WHAT IS CHILDHOOD?Childhood means much more than just the space between birth and the attainment of adulthood.
It refers to the state and condition of a child’s life, to the quality of those years.
It is the time for children to be in school and at play, to grow strong and confident with the love and
encouragement of their family and an extended community of caring adults. It is a precious time in
which children should live free from fear, safe from violence and protected from abuse and
exploitation.
In 1989 , the Un i ted Nat ions Genera l Assembly adopted the Convent ion on the
R ights of the Ch i ld .The Convent ion is the f i rs t in te rnat iona l human r ights t reaty
to br ing together the un iversa l se t o f s tandards concern ing ch i ld ren in a un ique
inst rument , and the f i rs t to p resent ch i ld r ights as a lega l l y b ind ing imperat ive .
THE CONVENTIONDEFINED
CHILDHOOD AS ASEPARATE SPACE
FROM ADULTHOODAND RECOGNIZED
THAT WHAT ISAPPROPRIATE FOR
AN ADULT MAYNOT BE SUITABLE
FOR A CHILD.
THEY CALLED ONGOVERNMENTS TO
PROVIDEMATERIAL
ASSISTANCE ANDSUPPORT TO
FAMIL IES AND TOPREVENT
CHILDREN FROMBEING SEPARATED
FROM THEIRPARENTS.
THEY RECOGNIZEDTHAT CHILDREN ARE
THE HOLDERS OFTHEIR OWN RIGHTS
AND ARETHEREFORE NOT
PASSIVERECIPIENTS OF
CHARITY BUTEMPOWERED
ACTORS IN THEIROWN DEVELOPMENT.
Source: UNICEF
CHILDHOOD UNDER THREATEver since the convention came into being the concept of childhood has never been stronger, clearer or
more detailed. Yet childhood remains under threat. In the last decade there has been more than 30
wars going on around the world. In the case of an occurrence of any kind of conflict children become
inextricably a part of the experience of conflict and how it pans out. UNICEF released a report on 31
December 2019 that was titled “2019 concludes a ‘deadly decade’ for children in conflict, with more than
170,000 grave violations verified since 2010”.
As a result of conflict in several regions, the advances made in the fullfillment of children’s rights –
such as reductions in child mortality rates, increased net primary school enrolment, lower numbers of
orphans, and important strides in creating a protective environment for children – appear at risk of
reversal from three key threats: poverty, armed conflict and HIV/AIDS. Other threats to children’s
survival and development persist because of poverty, armed conflict and HIV/AIDS.
Poverty is the root cause of high rates of child mortality and morbidity. The rights of over 1
billion children – more than half the children in developing countries – are violated when
they are severely underserved of at least one or more of the basic goods and services that
would allow them to survive, develop and thrive.
Hundreds of thousands of children are caught up in conflict as soldiers; many are forced to
become refugees or internally displaced persons, suffer sexual violence, abuse and
exploitation, or are victims of explosive remnants of war.
Worldwide, AIDS is already the leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 49; in 2003
alone, 2.9 million people died of AIDS and 4.8 million people were newly infected with the
HIV virus.
Source: UNICEF
GRAVE VIOLATIONS
Killing and maiming of children
Sexual violence against children
Recruitment and use of children byarmed forces and armed groups
Attacks against schools orhospitals
Abduction of children Denial of humanitarian access forchildren
The grave violations against the rights of a child as listed by the UNITED NATIONS Convention onthe Rights of the Child are:
Source: UNCRC
CHILDHOOD IN CONFLICT SETTINGS
The nature of war has changed dramatically. Its horrors are no longer experienced only by soldiers
fighting on front lines and battlefields. Wars are being fought not between countries but within them. In
addition, children are being deliberately recruited as combatants. Coupled with the rapid social change
which often precedes or accompanies war, armed conflict leads to a breakdown in the family support
systems, which is so essential to a child's survival and development. During crisis government
protection and community support systems also slip away. As a result, children are being denied the
protection promised to them in the ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’.
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.
Reference: AN Prasad
04C
HIL
DH
OO
D I
N C
ON
FLIC
T S
ETT
ING
S
Case Studies
KASHMIR SYRIA N IGERIA
KASHMIRTHE IMPACT OF CONFLICT ON EDUCATION
Even before the abrogation of article 370, long breaks due to strikes and curfews havebeen a recurring feature in Kashmir. As per data compiled by the Jammu and Kashmirpolice based on media reports, since 1990 Kashmir has lost significant working daysdue to conflict. There is a high academic cost student pay due to long periods ofclosure. Even in the context of non-conflict, studies show that there is a decline inachievement scores (particularly in reading and math) on returning to the classroomafter a long break.Education in times of conflict can be a sustainable tool for achieving post conflict peaceand providing stability and normalcy to the region. It is also a means of instilling hopeand positivity as well as offering opportunity to the youth who are surrounded byviolence. One of the major challenges of education in situation of conflict is the discontinuities itcreates. These impact students’ academic performance as well as their psycho–socialdevelopments.
Source: Mannaan, Anub
Breaks in education faced by the children of Kashmir are unpredictable, surrounded byfear, trauma and lack of stimulating activity. All these factors are severely detrimentalfor learning and development and is unsettling for students, making it tougher toreorient themselves in regular school routine.The most tangible impact of long closures is the pressure on institutions to complete
the prescribed syllabus in shorter time periods. However, we need to understand that
learning is not just a function of information gathering, it is reliant on many factors such
as parent’s education, environmental stimulation, nutrition and peers amongst
others. Children are not empty containers that can be filled with information; they are
inquisitive, meaning-making individuals who learn through the process of interacting
with their environment rather than ‘remedial classes’.
Education needs to be holistic development of the child that goes beyond basic literacy.
In an environment of conflict even the goal of basic literacy for all cannot be met. It is
important to reiterate that education matters and its effective use can break the legacy
of violence and mistrust.
SYRIA IMPACT OF V IOLENCE AND DISPLACEMENT ON CHILDDEVELOPMENT
After 9 years of increasing conflict and violence, the Syrian civil war now constitutes the
largest displacement crisis in the world, with more than 6 million people who have been
internally displaced.
The Syrian crisis remains first and foremost a protection crisis. Grave violations of
children’s rights – recruitment, abductions, killing and maiming continue
unabated. Unexploded weaponry is a deadly threat for millions of Syrian children, while
around 5 million children still require some form of humanitarian assistance.
Refugee children, particularly those who are out of school, are vulnerable to many risks -
including isolation, discrimination and different forms of exploitation. That includes
early marriage, child labour and recruitment by armed forces or criminals.
Exposed to periods of prolonged fear, chronic neglect or abuse, poverty and hunger, a
child’s "stress response" will go into overdrive - with devastating consequences. A
young child’s brain architecture begins to change, leading to physical and mental health
issues later on in life. Doctor M.K. Hamza of the Syrian American Medical Society
(SAMS) describes the unprecedented psychological trauma experienced by Syria’s
children as “human devastation syndrome”. He believes their suffering actually exceeds
the definition of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sami was at home in Syria when he went outside to play in the snow with his cousins. "A
bomb hit. I saw my cousin’s hands flying in front of me," he said. "I lost both my legs.
Two of my cousins died and one also lost his legs.” Sami, originally from Dera’a in
southern Syria, is now 14 and living as a refugee in Jordan. He is just one of more than
1.5 million Syrian people who are now living with permanent, war-related impairments -
including 86,000 whose injuries have led to amputations.In conflict, children with
disabilities are among the most vulnerable.
They often require specialised treatment and services. As children, their needs differ
from those of adults. Without access to services, schools and assistive products like
wheelchairs, many children with disabilities face a very real risk of exclusion, neglect
and stigmatisation as the unrelenting conflict continues.
UNICEF says lack of access to proper medical and psychological care has prolonged or
worsened injuries and disabling conditions among children. Children with disabilities are
exposed to higher risks of violence and face difficulties accessing basic services
including health and education.
NIGERIA IMPACT OF INSURGENCY ON CHILD SAFETY
Armed conflict affects the entire populace but it makes a special impact on children as
a vulnerable group. They are made to pay the price for a war that is not of their making,
hence losing out on the beauty of childhood as they to grow up among families and
communities torn apart by armed conflicts, or even partake in the conflicts as child
soldiers.
They are exposed to human rights violations as the conflict affects the provision of
services, including food, health, education and infrastructure, and also affects adults
who are significant to the children, such as fathers, mothers and siblings.
Often children are separated from families and loved ones, left to face the harsh effects
of conflict as refugees or internally displaced persons, and suffer from hunger and
disease as a result of the tactics of the combatants to disrupt the supply of food.
Some children have been killed, abducted, forcefully recruited, and internally displaced,
while others have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. The Boko Haram insurgency
has affected millions of families across West Africa’s Lake Chad region. Children have
been abducted, killed, even used as suicide bombers. Entire villages have been left
without electricity, clean water, health care, schools — or simply burned to the ground.
The terrorist group Boko Haram wants to institute an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria and is
in particular opposed to western-style modern education, which they say lures people
away from following Islamic teaching as a way of life. Boko Haram targeted schools
because of their opposition to Western education, which the militants believe corrupts
the values of Muslims.
On April 14, 2014 276 schoolgirls from a rural secondary school in the town of Chibok
were abducted. The girls’ plight drew worldwide attention. Today, 112 of the young
women remain missing. The lives of the girls who survived are far from normal. Boko
Haram pledged to kill them if they returned to school.
Guards watch their building and follow them whenever they leave. On campus they have
a 24/7 support system: 11 student affairs “aunties” who live in the dorms, a nurse, and a
walk-in psychologist’s office. Some have bullets and shrapnel still lodged in their
bodies. One has a prosthetic leg. Other walks with a cane. Most spent nearly three years
in captivity and wrestle with lingering trauma. The girls kidnapped in Chibok in 2014
represent a small fraction of the number of people taken by Boko Haram.
Non-state armed groups embroiled in the decade-long conflict against Boko Haram
recruited more than 3,500 children between 2013 and 2017 in Nigeria’s northeast,
according to UNICEF.The war against Boko Haram saw kids drafted by both sides.
Although the group often targets children, the abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok took
the international spotlight. While acknowledging the full weight of female suffering,
responding to the trauma of boys cannot continue to be a major blind spot for those
seeking to counter the insurgency without negative consequences for Nigeria’s ability to
move beyond the conflict.
The CJTF was created in 2013 by the communities worst affected by Boko Haram. Its
volunteers spend most of their days on the road going house to house in search of the
group’s fighters, and their nights in the Sambisa Forest—Boko Haram’s stronghold.
While Boko Haram’s exploitation of children is common knowledge, the CJTF’s use of
young people is rarely discussed. But thousands of children have passed through its
ranks.
Insurgents by 2017 had destroyed almost 1,400 schools, killed nearly 2,300 teachers,
and displaced 19,000 more. The group’s extreme opposition to secular education its
codified into its own name, a mix of Hausa and Arabic that means “Western education
is forbidden.” Its attacks, and the fear and insecurity they have triggered more broadly in
the Lake Chad region, have led to the closure of more than half of all the schools at its
epicenter of operations in northeastern Nigeria, leaving an estimated 3 million children
in need of emergency educational support.
GRAVE VIOLATIONS IN NIGERIA
Recruitment and Use of Children: verified cases of the recruitment and use of children
reached 1,947 (1,596 boys, 351 girls) in 2018.
Detention: In 2018, 418 children were deprived of liberty for their or their parents’ alleged
association with Boko Haram.
Killing and Maiming: verified a total of 432 children killed (175) and maimed (257) in
Nigeria.
Sexual Violence: 46 girls were verified victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
Attacks on Schools and Hospitals: 5 attacks verified on schools and 10 attack on
the hospital.
Abduction: 180 children abducted.
Denial of Humanitarian Access: 33 incidents of denial of humanitarian access were
verified, a sharp increase compared to 2017 (5).
REHABILITAION EFFORTSIT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE DEVISE SOLUTIONS TO ENSURE THAT THE VARIOUSDETRIMENTAL IMPACTS OF , THE DISRUPTION OF NORMALCY IN THE L IVES OFCHILDREN ARE MIT IGATED TO A CERTAIN EXTENT; WHILE AT THE SAME T IMECREATING SYSTEMS TO REHABIL ITATE CHILDREN WHOSE L IVES , HEALTH AND
WELL BEING HAVE BEEN ADVERSELY EFFECTED BY CONFLCIT
The solutions for decline in the quality of education in Kashmir would need to be
adaptable to the deep uncertainties and constantly changing dynamics in the region.
There is a need to mitigate the risk of long distance travel which can be done by
assigning teachers from within the localities to conduct classes in their neighbourhood;
and/or creating satellite schools within walking distance from home. Teachers need to
be specially trained to deal with the needs of the children and understand the demads of
their context.
Children who witness violent brutalities, the horrors of war and physically carry a
reminder on their bodies need physical as well as mental aid.
1.
2.
ATTACHED BELOW ARE L INKS TO VARIOUS INTERVIEWS AND DOCUMENTARIESTASK: WATCH THEM AND COME UP WITH SUGGESTIONS/PLANS FOR
REHABIL ITATION EFFORTS FOR CHILDREN IN CONLFICT ZONES
Rehabilitation for Syrian Children Traumatized by War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zi7xTahpQE
Protecting Children in Conflicts: The UN and What You Can Do
https://youtu.be/ccLtq65NNgc
Education in conflict zone
https://youtu.be/5IA2E3NwX0k
Community recovery from conflict through music: Ruha Devanesan at TEDxMontreal
https://youtu.be/xFglvuL6Nuc
Helping Children Recover From Trauma | Mental Health in Violence & War
https://youtu.be/aVCRBE-7S9c
"Children of War" Documents Rehabilitation of Former Child Soldiers
https://youtu.be/EHoltpPBqcg
A new beginning! Nigerian gov't starts rehabilitation of rescued Chibok girls
https://youtu.be/0zhlx---xfI
CONCLUSION
The effects conflict 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 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.
Please give your responses to the following questions/statements:
What are the possible long term effects of conflict on children?
What are the factors that have rendered international humanitarian laws ineffective in the
case studies mentioned above?