This study amongst former child soldiers in Uganda and the Dem. Rep. of Congo tries to elaborate in which way PTSD and trauma inflicts the capability to reconciliation.
This study compares the mental health of former child soldiers in Nepal with a group never-conscripted Nepalese children. The authors are giving an account of the health problems former child soldiers are suffering with.
The foundation has developed five manuals to help children cope with their reaction to war and disasters. To get access to the manuals, please contact the foundation directly.
Children who experience violence are at increased risk of developing psychosocial and mental health problems; however, most children in these settings do not receive the care they need. The HealthNet TPO program delivers a multi-tiered psychosocial care package combining mental health promotion, prevention and treatment to address the needs of at-risk children and adolescents.
This is the site of ‘Children born of war’, an International Network for Interdisciplinary Research on Children Born of War (INIRC-CBOW). Their aim is collecting data and information on children born of war across time and nations and thereby expanding the evidence base; gathering research results, literature, on-going research on children born of war and promoting collaborative research projects on the topic; developing recommendations of best practices to secure the rights of children born of war in co-operation with NGO‘s & governmental organizations; and developing medical therapies focusing on the special needs of children born of war.
“Generally, we found that humanitarian practitioners agreed that children born of wartime rape and exploitation are appropriately understood as particularly vulnerable in conflict-affected areas. The conversations echoed much of what is known anecdotally about the risks faced by children born of war. In particular, participants in the consultations discussed these children’s vulnerability to social exclusion and stigma from the societies into which they are born. This underlying risk factor is described as being connected to other sets of vulnerabilities: physical and psycho-social health, access to resources, risk of separation, abuse or neglect by caretakers, and early childhood mortality, including as a result of infanticide.”
“National and international policymakers have largely overlooked the protection needs – and indeed, existence – of children born of sexual violence in conflict. Despite a growing body of research exposing the unique vulnerabilities this group of victim-survivors face, there remains a critical policy and protection gap in addressing their needs. This gap constitutes a global protection and human rights failure.”
Children Born of War” (CBOW) commonly refers to children who have one parent (usually the mother) that is a member of the local community and the other parent (usually the father) that is part of a foreign army or peacekeeping force (Grieg 2001, 6; Mochmann 2006, 198-9). These children have been born as a result of armed conflicts throughout history, are presently being born in ongoing conflicts and are likely to be born also in future (Mochmann 2014; Mochmann and Kleinau 2016). Although still a taboo in many countries and regions, the topic has obtained increasing attention both in academia and in the public over the past few decades (Kleinau and Mochmann 2015, 34). (…) This finally led to the establishment of the research area of Children Born of War in 2006. This article summarizes the main discussions, developments and achievements obtained during the past decade.
Approaching the topic under a gender view, the article based on an interview with a former girl soldier concludes that reintegration after armed conflicts is more difficult for girls. Beatrice Lamwaka.
The most vulnerable and marginalized segments of society, a category which includes child soldiers, are also most at risk of becoming ‘displaced’—as refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) or asylum seekers.
A study on the push and pull factors influencing children to join armed groups ‘voluntarily’ in North and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is a tendency in the literature and in policy debates to discuss children joining armed groups almost exclusively in terms of forced recruitment. Yet, some are joining voluntarily. How does it happen? Why does it happen? Who are the children more prone to make this choice? Is it really a choice?
Since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1948, Myanmar?s military has been involved in armed conflict with over 35 armed groups seeking varying degrees of autonomy. The ethnic armed conflict in Myanmar has continued. The establishment of a civilian government in 2011 and the signing of ceasefire agreements with a number of armed groups followed by a process of dialogue have opened opportunities to resolve conflicts. This has to address the issue of underage recruitment and integration of armed groups into state security forces needs to be accompanied by measures to identify and demobilise children.
The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers has published this report (3rd ed., 418 p.), in 2009, including the years 2004-07. It “details how a near global consensus that children should not be used as soldiers and strenuous international efforts have failed to protect tens of thousands of children from war. When an armed conflict exists, children will almost inevitably become involved as soldiers”.
This UN site provides with reports of the Secretary-General and conclusions, concerning children, their situation and involvement in armed conflicts sorted by geography/regions. Useful.
This is a very solid and broad study (236 p.), meant as a follow-up after the UN-report from 1996 mentioned above. Graca Machel who was responsible for the first report, together with lots of other organizations and persons came up with a “10-year strategic review”, researching what has changed in the meantime. Quite useful and interesting.
Twenty years ago, Graça Machel’s report “Impact of armed conflict on children”, asked the international community to come together to address the plight of children affected by war. For two years, Machel had travelled to conflict zones and met children, families, humanitarian workers and Government officials to better understand what boys and girls were going through.
Protecting children in conflict is one of the most urgent human rights issues of our time. Around the world more than 240 million children are living in countries affected by conflict. Many of them face violence, displacement, hunger and exploitation by armed forces and groups. Child Soldiers International’s World Index – an online database mapping child recruitment practices worldwide – highlights the participation of children in at least 18 conflicts during the last year.
This report (78 p.) presents a solid, historical study on the impact of armed conflict on children. It highlightens the topics of child soldiers, refugees, as well as sexual exploitation, landmines and promoting psychological recovery and integration.
In December 2014, the final Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict were unveiled at a meeting hosted by the Missions of Norway and Argentina at the UN in Geneva. Throughout the first half of 2015, Norway and Argentina led consultations to develop the Safe Schools Declaration, through which states express political support and commitment to protect education in armed conflict, including by endorsing and committing to implement the Guidelines. The Safe Schools Declaration was opened for endorsement at an international conference in Oslo on May 29, 2015. See the list of endorsing states here.
The Guiding Principles suggest a number of practical, regulatory and legal measures as means to encourage States to improve such protection. They are based mainly on binding international rules (taking into account the specific obligations of all relevant treaties and of customary law). They also refer to widely accepted instruments of a non-binding character (“soft law”). A checklist of the main obligations regarding children associated with armed forces and armed groups is provided in Annex IV.
This is a declaration (partly recalling the Capetown Principles etc) made in Paris, were the participants agree on necessity to strengthen childrens rights.
Child Soldiers International (previously known as the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers) was established in 1998 to campaign for the adoption of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (Optional Protocol) and now works for its universal ratification and effective implementation. We are publishing this report to mark the tenth anniversary of the year in which the Optional Protocol entered into force as part of our ongoing efforts to support this important treaty’s core aim to protect girls and boys under the age of 18 years from participation in armed conflict.
The Convention C 182 defines the worst forms of slavery, and the use of children in armed conflicts is equated with slavery in art.3/a: “all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery…..including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.”
The SCR 1882 was adopted to expand the gateway for parties to be listed by the Secretary General, and requesting action plans for sexual violence against children in armed conflict and killing & maiming of children in armed conflict.
This resolution implements a monitoring and reporting mechanism regarding the use of child soldiers. It is reaffirming several former UN-resolutions, all contributing to comprehensive framework for addressing the protection of children affected by armed conflict.
This resolution from the UN Security Council was the first to address the topic, the Council condemned the targeting of children in armed conflict including the recruitment and use of child soldier.
As armed conflict proliferates around the world, increasing numbers of children are exposed to the brutalities of war. In numerous countries, boys and girls are recruited as child soldiers by armed forces and groups, either forcibly or voluntarily. Children are susceptible to recruitment by manipulation or may be driven to join armed forces and groups because of poverty or discrimination. Often they are abducted at school, on the streets or at home. Once recruited or forced into service, they are used for a variety of purposes. While many children participate in combat, others are used for sexual purposes, as spies, messengers, porters, servants or to lay or clear landmines. Many children serve multiple roles.
This represents an optional protocol/ supplement to the convention mentioned above, concerning especially the involvement of children in armed conflict. States are required to demobilize children within their jurisdiction who have been recruited or used in hostilities, and to provide assistance for their physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration.
Legal text from the UN, concerning children`s rights, to be implemented nationally. It is proclaimed that “State parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities.” However, minors who are over the age of 15 but still remain under the age of 18 are still voluntarily able to take part in combat as soldiers.
A lack of attention to child marriage undermined the achievement of six of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) between 2000 to 2015. Since then, the international community has learned a lot. We have learned that child marriage is a core development and human rights issue, which hinders the achievement of many other development goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – which define global development priorities between now and 2030 – include target 5.3, ‘Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilations’ (under Goal 5 ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls).
In addition to the Caring for Child Survivor Guidelines, training materials have been developed to support staff in carrying out training on the content of the guidelines. The training materials are broken down by topical modules that follow the outline of the CCS Guidelines. Each module includes a PowerPoint presentation and a Facilitators’ Guide outlining the training content, methodology and materials required to deliver the module. Supplementary handouts are provided in modules when relevant. The training package also includes a sample agenda, evaluation tools (e.g. pre/post tests and a workshop evaluation), and a Users’ Guide which summarizes how the training materials should be used.
Talking about child rights in general is not enough to safeguard each group of this population, and to make them visible. Gender specific vulnerabilities or obstacles to achieving these rights for girls and boys must also be identified. To address the global prevalence of violence, the United Nations is preparing a global study in which Save the Children Alliance and the Gender Task Group will have an opportunity to contribute. This is the background within which this paper explores existing conceptual frameworks to understand gender-based violence against children.
Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) against women and girls has been the subject of increasing research and scholarship. Less is known about the health of men, boys and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and other gender non-binary persons who survive CRSV. This paper is the first systematic realist review on medical, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions that focusses on male and LGBT survivors of CRSV. The review explores the gender differences in context, mechanisms and outcomes that underpin interventions addressing the health and psychosocial wellbeing of male and LGBT survivors. The aim is to contribute to the design and delivery of gender-sensitive and, when needed, gender-specific approaches for interventions that respond to specific needs of different groups of all survivors. We conducted a systematic search of academic and grey literature to identify medical and MHPSS interventions that included men, boys and LGBT survivors. We identified interventions specifically targeting women and girls that we used as comparators.
Syrian state and non-state actors have subjected men, boys, transgender women, and nonbinary people to sexual violence during the Syrian conflict, resulting in severe physical and mental health consequences which are compounded by a lack of support services in Lebanon. In 2013, the UN Security Council for the first time stated in Security Council Resolution 2106 that conflict-related sexual violence also affects men and boys
Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) against women and girls has received increasing attention globally. At the same time, less is known about men, boys and LGBT persons who suffer CRSV. Research estimates that, in some context, the magnitude of CRSV against men and boys is extremely high, with prevalence rates ranging from 32.6% in Liberia to 21% in Sri Lanka. The health and social consequences of CRSV for the lives of men, boys and LGBT persons are severe and long-lasting. CRSV against men, boys and LGBT persons is largely motivated by gendered expression of domination and control. Despite the severe health and social burden associated with CRSV, evidence on interventions addressing the health and wellbeing of male and LGBT survivors of CRSV remains scarce, and limited resources and support are available to target their needs. This report addresses these gaps by summarising and expanding on key findings from a forthcoming realist review by the authors on health interventions for men, boys and LGBT survivors of CRSV.
This article draws attention to the situation of LGBT persons during armed conflict. Subjected to violence and discrimination outside the context of armed conflict, the latter aggravates their vulnerability and exposure to various abuses. Despite important progress made with respect to their protection under human rights law, a similar effort is largely absent from the international humanitarian law discourse. This article accordingly highlights some of the norms and challenges pertaining to the protection of LGBT persons in time of war.
Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) against women and girls has been the subject of increasing research and scholarship. Less is known about the health of men, boys and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and other gender non-binary persons who survive CRSV. This paper is the first systematic realist review on medical, mental health, and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions that focus on male and LGBT survivors of CRSV. The review explores the gender differences in context, mechanisms and outcomes that underpin interventions addressing the health and psychosocial wellbeing of male and LGBT survivors.
Report about trafficking human beings (THB) in Europe. It talks about the facilitating factors, the criminal networks that are involved, the exploitation associated with THB, the effects of THB, and and the steps taken to combat THB.
The present report (A/75/289), submitted pursuant to UN General Assembly resolution 73/146, provides information on measures taken by Member States and activities carried out within the United Nations system to eliminate trafficking in women and girls. The report focuses on efforts to address the gender dimensions of trafficking, with a special focus on the economic drivers and consequences of trafficking, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on trafficking of women and girls.
Concludes that the need for mental health care for trafficked persons by highlighting the importance of assessing severity and duration of trafficking-related abuses and need for adequate recovery time. Therapies for anxiety, PTSD, and mood disorders in low-resource settings should be evaluated.Some articles (online links) collecting considerations about trafficking.
The publication of the Forth volume of the Psychosocial Notebooks series is an important and pleasant event for me for different reasons. I am extremely glad about the quality of the papers and the relevance of the issues raised. Yet, this notebook also represents a multi-faceted leap forward in a wider perspective. On the one hand, it is the product of many years of interdisciplinary work, a demonstration that the methodology and work philosophy described in the first three notebooks, have been positively acknowledged by other service areas of our organization and have also played a role in enriching their work. On the other hand, this publication highlights the importance of considering the psychosocial approach not merely as a confined professional domain, but as a possible – and perhaps indispensable – component of a variety of programs and interventions for mobile populations.
“Re-thinking best practices in migration management”, solid article (141 p.) which tries to unpack the interconnectedness between human trafficking and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, based on a critical analysis of migration processes in relation to human rights abuse.
The trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation is a high-profit, low-risk trade for those who organize it, but it is detrimental to the millions of women and children exploited in slavery-like conditions in the global sex industry. This trade, which UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called an outrage and a worldwide plague, is conducted throughout the world with near impunity, in many cases carrying penalties far less severe than drug trafficking.
It is fundamental in an emergency situation to be able to quickly recognise cases of trafficking. This STEP guideline includes clear, practical information and tools to support frontline officers in carrying out identification in their daily operations.
“Electronic toolkit”, with a solid collection of assessments and links, intended to provide guidance, recommend resources, facilitate the sharing of knowledge. Legal and legislative framework, law enforcement and prosecution, victim assistance and prevention, etc.
The reason? Human trafficking is one of the most profitable criminal enterprises in the world. It’s an estimated $32 billion industry according to a 2012 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,2 with tens of millions of people being trafficked worldwide.
The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, adopted by General Assembly resolution 55/25 of 15 November 2000, is the main international instrument in the fight against transnational organized crime. It opened for signature by Member States at a High-level Political Conference convened for that purpose in Palermo, Italy, on 12-15 December 2000 and entered into force on 29 September 2003. The Convention is further supplemented by three Protocols, which target specific areas and manifestations of organized crime.
UNFPA and UNICEF jointly lead the largest global programme to accelerate the abandonment of female genital mutilation, it highlights some of the achievements, challenges and best practices for the abandonment of FGM/C and emphasizes the importance of continued partnerships with governments, media, civil society organizations and religious leaders.
This study investigated the mental health status of young girls after genital mutilation in Northern Iraq. Although experts assume that circumcised girls are more prone to psychiatric illnesses than non-circumcised girls, little research has been conducted to confirm this claim. For the purpose of this study, it was assumed that female genital mutilation is connected with a high rate of posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD).
This review will focus on a few of the key successful approaches and interventions that have had a significant impact on abandonment, identified with guidance from the experts interviewed. This report pulls together the lessons learned from the last decade and crafts a roadmap for how to strengthen programs moving forward.
This report shows the many ways that the Joint Programme is empowering girls and women to lead change. Creating an enabling environment through policies and legislation, providing access to an essential package of services, and shifting social and gender norms through community-driven efforts are critical in accelerating the elimination of female genital mutilation. But equally as important is empowering girls and women as agents of change.
A public inquiry is an exploration of a systemic human rights problem where the public is invited to play a key role. It lends national human rights institutions, who have a central role to play in advocacy to eliminate female genital mutilation, a powerful tool to engage and educate the public, analyse a systemic human rights violation and advance elimination.
This report is a comprehensive statistical overview of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the 29 countries where the practice is concentrated. Analysis of the data reflects current perspectives on FGM, informed by the latest policy, programmatic and theoretical evidence.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is not only a catastrophic abuse of human rights that significantly harms the physical and mental health of millions of girls and women; it is also a drain on a country’s vital economic resources,” said Dr Ian Askew, Director of WHO’s Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research. “More investment is urgently needed to stop FGM and end the suffering it inflicts.”
This publication is that it distils the evidence-informed recommendations into a practical and user-friendly tool for everyday use by health-care providers. It covers a wide range of health topics in nine chapters, ranging from basic knowledge and
communication skills to management of a range of complications. Moreover, it describes how to offer first-line mental and sexual health support as part of comprehensive care to address multiple aspects of women’s health and well-being.
The policy brief assesses the extent to which UN Member States and their partners across different country contexts have implemented a comprehensive and multisectoral approach in their efforts to prevent and respond to female genital mutilation. It also summarizes the impact of COVID-19 on female genital mutilation prevention and response programmes. It, additionally, presents a framework for supporting broader accountability at country level around these dimensions and provides strategic guidance to lawmakers, policymakers and all stakeholders in taking forward their commitment to adopt a comprehensive and multisectoral approach in addressing female genital mutilation.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
This guide was developed as a resource for communitybased activists who are working to eliminate gender-based violence in their communities. Often, activists have several roles. Sometimes activists provide case management, and sometimes they educate their communities. Some activists do both. The aims is to create an environment that promotes safe, peaceful and productive families and communities and to envision a Burundi that is free from gender-based violence.
The overall goal of the Men to Men Programme is to create a critical mass of African men who are able to influence communities, organizations and the public to believe in and practise gender equality as a norm. The manual on masculinities provides rich content for trainers and facilitation tips for each session. The manual is meant to enhance men’s knowledge on the link between masculinities, GBV and the spread of HIV/AIDS, and equip men with practical skills for training other men on combating GBV and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
By immersing the participants in a programme of dialogue and action that challenge the inherent nature of male privileges and power structures in society – government, academia and workplace – the men learned a lot about themselves and how they can begin to address inequities. By providing step-by-step tools, discussion topics and stories about the Mobilising Men participants, the publication acts as a guide for activists to instil change in institutions that impede women’s progress through both subtle and obvious barriers (pdf, 114 pages).