This paper builds upon an earlier policy paper written for the coalition and published in child soldiers newsletter june 2002. Findings on the worst forms of child labor sierra leone u. It is widely known that expresident taylor supported the united revolutionary front ruf, which abducted and forcibly recruited children as soldiers in sierra leone. The case of sierra leone context the civil war, ddr, transitional justice and the postconflict situation the civil war in sierra leone started in march 1991 when ruf forces, headed by foday saybana sankoh,1 attacked the countrys eastern border town of bomaru, in the kailahun district, from. A long way gone has been heralded as one of the most important war stories of our generation. The disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of child. They are distributed free of charge in pdf format via the rsc website. By the time the end of the war was officially declared, on 18 january. The sierra leone civil war in march 1991 the revolutionary united front ruf, at that time a very small group of about 500 soldiers, crossed from liberia into the eastern district of pujehun in sierra leone, with the support of a faction of the national patriotic front of liberia npfl, led by charles taylor. Child soldiers in the civil war in sierra leone request pdf. Drawing upon indepth interviews and focus groups with former child soldiers of sierra leones rebel revolutionary united front, myriam denov compassionately examines how child soldiers are initiated into the complex world of violence and armed con.
The world index also plots key developments in international policies and treaties and documents the international criminal cases relating to the. In 2018, sierra leone made a minimal advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. No truth commission in the past has produced such a report. Freetown the rebel revolutionary united front ruf of sierra leone is forcing children, including demobilized child soldiers, to join its ranks and engage in combat, human rights watch said. June 1998 saw the creation of the united nations observer mission in sierra leone unomsil with monitoring and disarmament advisory functions. Without recognizing the roles and experiences of female soldiers in sierra leone, postconflict reconstruction policies are bound to be gender blind at best. Some 3,000 were absorbed into the community educational programmes run by unicef. Remaking child soldiers in sierra leone by susan shepler. It is based on indepth interviews with young soldiers and exsoldiers from around the world, including the conflict situations in afghanistan, colombia, the congo, northern ireland, sierra leone, south africa and sri lanka. Introduce your students to sierra leone with this printable handout of two worksheets plus answer key. In the longitudinal research, several factors thought to promote better emotional and social outcomes in youth affiliated with the fighting forces in sierra leone were given particular attention.
Based on eighteen months of participantobserver ethnographic fieldwork and ten years of followup research, the book argues that there is a fundamental disconnect between the western idea of the child soldier and the individual lived experiences of the child soldiers of sierra leone. Global report on child soldiers of the coalition to stop the use of. Here, firstperson interviews with female soldiers, interview data with local ngo staff, disarmament experts, and social workers, and child intake forms from a local. The book is a memoir about the children who are trapped in a cycle of brutality and abuse during the sierra leone civil war. Sierra leone in june 2003 for his alleged role in crimes committed during a 10year civil war in sierra leone, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers. The use of child soldiers in conflict can have longterm consequences for the children concerned. Sam hinga norman former deputy defence minister and later minister of internal affairs various charges incl conscripting enlisting using children child soldiers in their armies.
Drawing on the books definition of compromise and data collected during empirical research in 2011 and 2012, this chapter will analyse the social practice of compromise in sierra leones postconflict settlement by examining the levels of social acceptance and stigmatisation of male former child soldiers in sierra leone ten years after. This study would not have been possible without the support of and guidance from the freetown field office staff, mary jones and william kamanda. Dejong and kleber7 8and denov and maclure examined mental health concerns of child soldiers reuniting with family, friends, and community after sierra leones civil war. It compares activities in sudan to programs in other parts of africa angola, ethiopia, ghana, liberia, mozambique, sierra leone and uganda and beyond afghanistan, india, sri lanka and the united arab emirates. Id read books about the colonial scramble for africa, about the exploitation of its ivory, rubber and gold, but to learn the history of diamonds was to learn the story of africa all over again. Male former child soldiers who lost caregivers were also more vulnerable to depression p. The expanding practice of minors recruited to become foreign fighters. Child soldiers have not experienced typical childhoods and many already have taken on adult responsibilities, including employment and family commitments. Tell them to write a diary for the day about which this picture was drawn. Evans, child protection adviser, also guided the direction and interpretation of the findings within the protection context of sierra leone. A longitudinal study of psychosocial adjustment and community. United nations mission in sierra leone unamsil brief i.
It particularly mentions children under 18 years of age in state institutions, who may be recruited into government armed forces. Memoirs of a boy soldier tells the story of his life in sierra leone as a child soldier. Your students will read a brief overview of sierra leone location, capital, flag, language, write freetown next to the star on the map to show the location of the capital, color the small map. As well, the category of adult is problematic, especially in the. Pdf are child soldiers in sierra leone a new phenomenon. A longitudinal study of psychosocial adjustment and community reintegration among former child soldiers in sierra leone. Child soldiers refugee studies centre university of oxford. However the views here are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of the coalition as a. Using qualitative interpretive metasynthesis qims, the authors sought to understand the lived experiences of exchild soldiers in sierra leone, northern uganda, and liberia.
Female soldiers in sierra leone harvard university. Unamsil activity summary overview the united nations mission in sierra leone unamsil, active from 1999 to 2005, has been lauded as one of the uns most successful peacekeeping operations, although its efforts have not been without criticism. Extension activity 3 ask students to research one of the countries where armed conflict is currently taking place and where child soldiers are involved in the fighting. Bound hard copies of the working papers may also be. The audio files and personal quotes from children of. Thus, it is important to understand child soldiers experiences and develop culturally appropriate interventions. During sierra leone s bloody civil war 19912002, thousands of children were involved in the revolutionary united front ruf the. Refworld child soldiers global report 2001 sierra leone.
In certain ways the movie weve made is very conventional, an action drama about three. President bio and vice president jalloh together with officials from ministries, departments, and agencies, donated 3 months of their salaries to eliminate school fees for more than 2 million students in primary and secondary education. It was created because atrocities were committed during the course of the civil war fought in sierra leone between 1991 and. Conflict diamonds 4 ideas for action from the corporate action network can and the drc country action program drc cap the movie blood diamond depicts a period in sierra leones recent history when the use of child soldiers was endemic. Childhood deployedexamines the reintegration of former child soldiers in sierra leone. Sam hinga norman former deputy defence minister and later minister of internal affairs various charges incl conscripting enlisting using children demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers. New estimates on child malnutrition for the indicators of stunting, wasting, severe wasting, and overweight released by unicef, who and the world bank, to describe the magnitude and patterns of malnutrition in children under 5 around the world. This is a link to its global report from 2008 and includes detailed information on the use of child soldiers in sierra leone as well as other countries in the world. Sierra leone rebels forcefully recruit child soldiers. The majority of the over 6,800 demoblized child soldiers were reunited with their families. Truth and reconciliation commission report for the children.
After reading the quote, have students describe who they think might have spoken those words age, sex, country of origin, etc. This report is ground breaking in other respects, including the participation of representatives of childrens groups in its content, language and design. Older source material has been included where it contains relevant information not available in more recent documents. As a result of these arrangements, sierra leones model for demobilizing and reintegrating child soldiers is widely considered as success that could be applied to other peace. Betancourt ts et al 2010 sierra leones former child soldiers. Usaid the funds psychosocial adjustment and social. In our sample, female and male child soldiers experienced comparable levels of most war exposures. When i first read about sierra leone, i was shocked. Truth and reconciliation commission report for the. Amnesty international huma n r i g hts in the cu rric u l um r e sou r c e te a cher notes child soldiers about this resource ishmael beahs book a long way gone. What light can be shed on the modern phenomenon of child soldiering by a historical analysis of the participation of children in war.
Background this study was commissioned by the unicef office in sierra leone in response to an increased awareness of trafficking as an issue in the country and as a child protection issue. During the civil war in sierra leone, while rich families could afford to send their children. Understanding and addressing the phenomenon of child. Families families can contribute to child soldiering due to poverty, or cultural or religious beliefs. Comparative perspectives on the rehabilitation of ex. Justice for child soldiers as victims and the accountability of those leaders who unlawfully used the children in the. This submission discusses how children without parental care are most vulnerable to becoming child soldiers, not only in times of armed conflict, but also in peacetime. Battles continued with the ruf rebels, who were also supported by johnny paul koromas armed forces revolutionary council of army defectors.
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