In Compliance with the Ottawa Convention, the Colombian Government destroys its last arsenal of anti-personnel mines

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA, October 24, 2004 - Meeting the commitment assumed in the Ottawa Convention, the Colombian Government today destroyed its last arsenal of anti-personnel mines, in a ceremony held simultaneously in Bogotá’s Plaza de Bolívar and in the northern city of Barranquilla, where more than 6,800 mines belonging to the Armed Forces were destroyed.

The ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic, Alvaro Uribe Vélez, the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, Queen Noor of Jordan, the military high command, the ministerial cabinet, the high-ranking hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the diplomatic corps, and representatives of the United Nations.  UN participants included Nils Kastberg, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Manuel Manrique, UNICEF Representative for Colombia and Venezuela, and Alfredo Witschi-Certari, representative of the United Nations Development  Programme, UNDP, who delivered a message of support for this action for peace, sent by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Today, Colombia is the fourth country in the world in number of anti-personnel mine victims, after Chechnya, Afghanistan and Angola, and the only country to destroy its arsenal of anti-personnel land mines (APM) amid ongoing armed confrontation. One of the greatest challenges for action against mines in Colombia is the internal armed conflict, which has intensified in recent years.

APMs and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) represent an increasing problem for this South American country.  To date, 542 of the country’s 1,119 municipalities – and 31 of its 32 departments – have suffered the consequences of anti-personnel mines.  These artefacts are found in schools, along rural roads, and around other social goods protected by International Humanitarian Law.  Official government statistics show a total of 3,142 victims (between January 1990 and September 2004).  However, experts agree that there has been a significant under-registration.

At least 37 per cent of all victims registered are civilians, and of these almost 40% are children.  The effect that APM and UXO have on children is especially nefarious.  The few that survive must submit to multiple surgical surgeries and have to change their prostheses as they grow, complicating their processes of physical and emotional development, at the same time causing considerable expense to their families and the health system

One of the greatest obstacles to humanitarian action against anti-personnel mines in Colombia is the continued use of these arms by the illegal armed groups. UNICEF believes that it is possible to prevent accidents and provide attention to victims as a humanitarian imperative.

UNICEF implements educative activities covering accident prevention, attention for mine victims, and institutional strengthening for application of the Ottawa Convention.

At the same time, the current Government has strengthened its actions against the Mines, and is taking steps to meet the commitments assumed upon signing the Ottawa Convention. The presence of Queen Noor, the Regional Director of UNICEF and many local personalities is intended to provide visibility to the destruction of the 23 thousand remaining anti-personnel mines in the hands of the Colombian army.

As part of her agenda in Colombia, Queen Noor will travel to the municipality of Silvia in the southern department of Cauca, one of the areas most heavily affected by the presence of APMs and UXO.  There she will meet with Guambiano and Paez indigenous groups to learn about the Humanitarian Action Project for the Prevention of Accidents with Anti-personnel Mines and Abandoned Unexploded Ordnance.  That project has technical and financial support from UNICEF, and is being implemented in partnership with the Foundation for Development of Democracy (FUNDEMOS) and the Office of the Governor of Cauca.

For further information:

Bernardo Nieto, UNICEF Columbia, (1) 3120090 ext.- 439, bnieto@unicef.org
Marisol Quintero G., UNICEF Columbia, (1) 315.8642912, mquintero@unicef.org

Young people need opportunities, “a dream for a bright future at home”

VIENTIANE, LAOS, 26 October 2004 – Child trafficking is an important problem for Lao PDR which requires urgent action, according to the first national study on the subject released today by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and UNICEF.

The study, entitled ‘Broken Promises, Shattered Dreams’, found cases of child trafficking from each of the seventeen provinces surveyed, from the far north to the far south of the country. Trafficking occurs both internally and across borders, particularly to Thailand.

While approximately one-third of global trafficking in women and children occurs in or from East Asia, and the Mekong sub-region in particular, it is only now that the extent of the problem in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic is being grasped. ‘Broken Promises, Shattered Dreams’ is a qualitative study based on interviews with 253 victims of trafficking, their families and key informants.  The study found that most trafficking victims (60 percent) are girls aged between12 and 18 years, and that 35 percent of these girls end up in forced prostitution. A significant proportion of trafficking victims come from non-Lao ethnic backgrounds.

“Combating the exploitation and abuse of Lao children is a priority which we will work towards as a matter of urgency” said an official from the Social Welfare Department at the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. “Action is being taken to protect children through strengthened policy, law enforcement, and recovery and reintegration of trafficking victims.”

‘Broken Promises, Shattered Dreams’ notes that the Lao PDR is particularly susceptible to trafficking as it is one of the world’s least developed countries situated at the center of a fast developing region.  Fifty-five percent of the population is 18 years old or younger, employment opportunities are limited and literacy rates are low.  For many young people in Lao PDR, movement across borders – or to the country’s urban capitals – seems to provide the best prospects to improve livelihoods.  The study interviews reveal that children aspire to what they perceive as the more modern, glamorous lifestyle they see on Thai television which is widely watched in much of the country.

“Child trafficking is a criminal act that violates the fundamental rights of the most vulnerable children” said Desiree Jongsma, Acting UNICEF Representative in Lao PDR.  “We commend the Government for bringing this sensitive issue to light, and are particularly heartened by the National Assembly’s recent adoption of a new law on the Development and Protection of Women, which includes a chapter on trafficking.”

Jongsma added: “This study has a deeper lesson to teach us:  we can only counter the lure of the traffickers by creating real opportunities for children and young people here in Lao PDR. If they believe they can realize their dreams for a bright future at home, they will no longer feel compelled to leave their communities for distant cities or neighbouring countries.”

The new study describes the types of exploitation trafficking victims from Lao PDR are subjected to:

• Domestic Service. A large percentage of trafficking victims to Thailand find themselves locked up in private homes, as domestic servants. Victims surveyed experienced some of the most extreme cases of violence and abuse.
• Commercial sexual exploitation.  Sexual exploitation is a major aspect of trafficking, and the physical appearance of the girls is a major factor in assessing their value as a commodity.
  Trafficking victims may be kept in brothels, and forced prostitution is often combined with work in the entertainment industry, particularly beer shops, bars and nightclubs.
• Factory work.  Much of the internal trafficking within Lao PDR involves factory work in the nation’s urban centers, with most trafficking victims having to work long hours with little if any compensation for over-time.

Traffickers are usually familiar to their victims, often from the same, or nearby villages. They use this familiarity with the victims to build trust, making empty promises of lucrative work to persuade them to leave home.

The Government of Lao PDR is undertaking new initiatives to combat trafficking in collaboration with partners, with UNICEF supporting the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare in the following areas:

• Support for trafficked victims.  The Lao Women’s Union runs psycho-social counselling in Vientiane and plans to expand the service to almost every province.
• Social work.  UNICEF supports training for Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare staff notably on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and family tracing.
• Child protection networks. Community networks exist in 75 villages to monitor children vulnerable to a range of hazards, including trafficking.
• Youth prevention A package of communication materials is being produced employing Lao youth personalities to convey anti-trafficking, drugs and HIV AIDS prevention messages.

UNICEF Laos projects to combat child trafficking are supported by the Government of Italy, the German National Committee for UNICEF and the Government of Japan through the UN Human Security Trust Fund.

For more information, please contact:

Ruth Landy, UNICEF Communication, Mobile 856 20 551 9681, rlandy@unicef.org
Amanda Bissex, UNICEF Child Protection, Mobile 856 20 550 7815, abissex@unicef.org

NAIROBI, KENYA, 30 September, 2004 - About 20,000 children have been demobilised from the ranks of southern Sudanese rebel forces since 2001, according to UNICEF. An article published this week in the journal “Forced Migration Review” (Oxford University, UK) summarises a major evaluation of child demobilisation in Sudan commissioned by UNICEF.

According to the report, although complex and problematic, many of the demobilisations in southern Sudan were “relatively straightforward”. Future child demobilisation, especially from government or government-allied forces in the event of a north-south peace agreement, will present new and “enormous” challenges.

Rough estimates suggest there may be several thousand combatant children remaining with various armed forces in the country. Many of them are thought to be southerners who have been involved with government or associated forces in the 21-year civil war. Local leaders in southern Sudan interviewed in the study say they do not expect problems absorbing these new children. “They are all our children… it isn’t their fault they have been fighting for the enemy… they were abducted… they had to eat.” However, on further reflection, community leaders express concern about pressure on services, especially education; culture and religion, criminality and other possible problems that could crop up as the children return.

The article can be accessed online at: http://www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR21/FMR2111.pdf or can be e-mailed on request.

Una McCauley, co-author of the article and UNICEF Protection Officer for Operation Lifeline Sudan (Southern Sector) is available for interview on +254 20 622423.

Photos of child demobilisation and reintegration in southern Sudan are also available.

For more information, please contact:

Ben Parker, UNICEF Operation Lifeline Sudan, +254 733 609869, bparker@unicef.org

JERUSALEM, 6 September 2004 - Some 1.2 million children returned to school last week in the West Bank and Gaza Strip after a summer break.

Students and teachers have begun the new school year with enthusiasm, but it will not be without challenges – classroom size, quality of teaching, and, amid school closures, checkpoints and day-long curfews. Almost 200,000 children lost school days last year due to curfews and closures.

UNICEF is supporting the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education by providing essential learning supplies, supporting teacher training, and advocating to ensure that students take final exams safely and on schedule.

The UNICEF Special Representative in Jerusalem, Dan Rohrmann, said the PA has done remarkable work to keep schools open and functioning during difficult times.  “More Palestinian children are in school than ever before,” Rohrmann said. “Education is the key to economic development in the Palestinian territory.  By investing in children you invest in the future.”

As schools re-open for the year, UNICEF is assisting in a number of ways.

Remedial education activities give students opportunities to continue education when schools are interrupted by closures both through catching-up activities in informal arrangements as well as through self-learning worksheets that can be used when children are unable to get to school.  Training and materials for parents are also made available when home-schooling is the only option.

Through the Child-Friendly Schools initiative, schools are being supported to make their facilities more friendly for students. Improvements range from adding sanitation facilities and improving extra-curricular programmes to special classes aimed at reducing violence in schools. Basic educational supplies are also provided. As an example, UNICEF is distributing more than 40,000 school bags for children in the Gaza Strip.

UNICEF’s support for education comes at a critical time. Years of conflict have damaged some 300 schools and forced many children to miss classes. Last year 580 schools were periodically forced to closed and some schools remain closed after being declared military outposts by the IDF.

For more information please contact:

Michael Bociurkiw, Tel: +9722 5830013 ext. 242, Cell: +972-577-293214, Mawad@unicef.org

Monica Awad, Tel: +9722-583-0012 ext. 213, Cell: +972-577-84374,Mbociurkiw@unicef.org

NEW YORK/GENEVA/HONG KONG, 3 September 2004 - “The Beslan siege represents a new and discouraging low — children used as hostages and denied food and water for three terrifying days,” said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy.
“It is unacceptable, incomprehensible, senseless. And the tragedy is that this episode is just the latest in a rising tide of violence aimed at children. It is time to take stock, to take a long hard look at our world and how it is treating children,” said Bellamy.

“We reiterate our earlier call that children must never be used for political purposes, and that schools must never be degraded to places of violence,” Bellamy said speaking from Hong Kong.

“If we don’t respect the sanctity of childhood, then we have nothing,” she added.

Carol Bellamy
UNICEF Executive Director

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For more information, please contact:

Angela Hawke, UNICEF CEE/CISand Baltics, 00 4122 909 5433

Jehane Sedky-Lavandero, UNICEF New York, 1 212 326-7269

Gordon Weiss, UNICEF New York, 1 212 326-7426

NEW YORK, 20 November 2004 - On the 15th anniversary today of the international adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said that despite major advancements for children that include the creation of new laws in many countries, the rights of millions of children remain forgotten or ignored.

“The enactment of new laws set in motion by the Convention is a positive step that is critical to protecting the rights of children, but legal reform must be pursued at the same timeas social policies that address the challenges facing children right now,” Bellamy said. “Too many children are growing up without basic health care, education and protection from abuse and exploitation.”

Adopted in 1989 and ratified by every country in the world except two, the CRC is the most widely accepted international human rights treaty in history. It spells out the basic human rights that children everywhere have: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harm, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.

The implementation of the CRC remains a critical strategy to achieving the Millennium Declaration and the Millenium Development Goals, behind which the international community stands.

A recent review by UNICEF of 62 countries that have strived to implement the CRC shows that:

• More than half the countries studied have incorporated the CRC into domestic law;
• Nearly a third of the countries have incorporated important provisions on the rights of the child into their constitutions;
• Nearly half the countries have adopted codes or comprehensive laws on children.

In addition, two optional protocols anchored on the CRC have been approved since: one on the involvement of children in armed conflict; and the second on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. There has been widespread ratification of both of these, and their implementation is gaining momentum, Bellamy said.

The review also found that the CRC has led to important institutional reforms, including the establishment of more than 60 independent human rights institutions for children in at least 38 states around the world.

With the UN Special Session on Children in 2002, independent institutions joined in a global network to enhance their advocacy on behalf of children’s rights, and committed to double their number by end decade.

“These independent institutions constitute a critical pillar of a global movement to specifically monitor and protect the rights of children,” Bellamy said.

But the study also found that while high-level political commitment has been essential to the development of new laws protecting children’s rights, social change has been sustained only when that commitment has been matched by effective law enforcement, allocation of adequate resources and the engagement of all levels of society.

“Only when governments are dedicated to developing and implementing laws to protect children and work in partnership with all sectors of society will we have the true culture of human rights for children that the CRC envisions,” Bellamy said.

A renewed commitment to children’s rights is essential at a time when nearly 11 million children before the age of five die every year, most from preventable causes, Bellamy said.

“Children are dying because their families are too poor to be sick,” said Bellamy. “If we are truly to make a difference in children’s lives, and have a chance at achieving the social and economic goals of the world community, we must make the rights of these marginalized and forgotten children our highest priority. The rights to education, health care and a safe and loving environment in which to thrive must never be theoretical. They must be a reality for all children.”

For more information, please contact:
Jehane Sedky-Lavandero, UNICEF New York, 212 326 7269,
Kate Donovan, UNICEF New York, 212

BANGKOK, 30 August 2004 – As landmines and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) continue indiscriminately to maim and kill children across the region, UNICEF called today for governments to redouble their efforts to prevent conflict-related injuries, which represent the fourth leading cause of all fatal injuries worldwide.

UNICEF will be raising these concerns at a three-day Regional Workshop on Mine Clearance and Victim Assistance in Southeast Asia, which opens today at the Siam City Hotel in Bangkok.

This region contains some of the most heavily mine-affected countries in the world. Landmines and UXO are a danger to children in nearly half of all villages in Cambodia and nearly one-quarter of all villages in Lao PDR. Up to 800,000 tonnes of UXO and 3.5 million landmines still cover Viet Nam, where over 100,000 people have been killed or injured since 1975.

“Children are particularly vulnerable to landmines and UXO,” said senior UNICEF official, Patrick Hennessy. “They like to explore, they like to play with objects they find and they cannot read signs warning them of danger. Children also frequently undertake household tasks that involve going near or through mine-affected areas. In Viet Nam, they account for half of all mine-related injuries and one-third of all deaths.”

The effect of landmines on children is particularly vicious. Some 85 per cent of children who step on landmines die before they reach hospital. Those that survive are often denied their basic rights. They are excluded from school and left with little chance to marry, find work or contribute to their families and societies.

Rehabilitation clinics are often too far away or too expensive to access, despite the fact that children need more regular care than adults. As they grow, new prostheses need to be fitted regularly, and a child survivor may have to undergo several amputations, since the bone of an amputation site grows more quickly than the surrounding tissue.

Children are also affected by the loss of primary caregivers and household breadwinners. When mothers are maimed or killed, children are less likely to receive adequate nutrition, to be immunized or to be protected from exploitation.  When fathers fall victim to landmines, children are often forced out of school to save diminished household resources or into work to supplement family income.

Landmines and UXO also cripple societies and economies. They prevent the reconstruction of homes, roads, schools and health and other essential facilities. They deny villagers access to fertile soil and sources of water.

The Regional Workshop is being hosted by the Thai Government as part of preparations for the First World Summit on Landmines in Nairobi. Representatives from 20 countries are attending, (Afghanistan, Australia, Austria, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US and Viet Nam).

Participants include ASEAN countries, donor nations and countries from around the world with experience of clearing landmines and/or assisting landmine victims. The meeting will focus on the exchange of experience and resources in order to scale up mine clearance and victim assistance programmes across the region. The meeting will also be attended by survivors of landmines from East Asia and the Pacific.

The First World Summit on a Mine Free World, which is scheduled to be held in Nairobi from 29 November to 3 December, will focus on clearing/marking mined areas, educating people at risk, destroying stockpiles, providing assistance to landmine victims and universalizing ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty, which has already been ratified by 141 states.

The Treaty prohibits signatories from using, stockpiling, producing or transferring landmines. It also mandates signatories to mark and clear mined areas within ten years of ratification and to destroy existing stockpiles within four years. Those states in a position to do so are required to provide assistance to other countries in meeting their obligations under the treaty and providing support to landmine victims.

In this region, 17 countries have yet to ratify the Treaty (Brunei Darussalam, China, Cook Islands, DPR Korea, Federated States of Micronesia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Marshal Islands, Mongolia, Myanmar, Palau, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Viet Nam).

The region also contains five of the world’s fourteen producers of landmines (China, Myanmar, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Viet Nam) and some of the world’s largest stockpiles (in China and Republic of Korea). Landmines are still being laid in Myanmar and the Philippines.

UNICEF is committed to achieving a mine-free world and the protection of women and children in times of war. The major priorities for children and landmines are:

• encouraging countries to sign up to the Mine Ban Treaty;
• promoting awareness among communities of the dangers of landmines; and
• ensuring access to support for victims of landmines, particularly women and children.

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For more information, please contact:

Madeline Eisner, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific:
662 356 9406; Mobile: 661 701 4626

Robert Few, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific:
662 356 9499 ext. 9518; Mobile: 661 746 3048

AMMAN, 23 November 2004 - More than 50 members of Arab parliaments adopted on Tuesday the Amman Declaration and Plan of Action for Arab children; these are a result of two-day discussions around various child-related issues which concluded in the Jordanian capital today.

The signing of the Amman Declaration marks the commitment made by parliamentarians from 17 Arab countries to promote awareness and strengthen their role in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocols on child labour and the sexual exploitation of children.

The Amman Declaration commits parliamentarians to a number of concrete actions by 2007 and 2010, including amendments to existing legislation and the allocation of additional financial resources for children.  Delegates also pledged to review and improve all existing child rights monitoring mechanisms in their countries.

Seeking to ensure that newly adopted commitments are met, Arab delegates present in Amman have stressed the importance of establishing National Parliamentarian Committees on Child Rights to oversee parliamentary action in favour of children.

At present, several Arab countries are preparing National Plans of Action to meet the promises made at the 2002 United Nations Special Session on Children. New legislation has been issued in some countries in the regions such as Jordan, Egypt and Morocco,  to  enhance the  protection of children and women .

The Arab Parliamentary Union, co-organising the First Arab Parliamentarian Conference along with the Jordanian Parliament, will plan for a regional meeting every two years to take stock of the advancement in achieving the objectives set in the Amman Declaration.

The Amman Declaration is in line with the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocols, ‘A World Fit For Children’ the global declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002, and the Declaration and Plan of Action adopted by the Summit of the League of Arab States in 2004.

“To be able to implement our work in child protection, strong partnerships are needed with governments, professionals, civil society, academic institutions and not least with children themselves,” said Nouridine Bouchkouj, Secretary General of the Arab Parliamentary Union.

At the closing session of the Conference, President of the Jordanian House of Representatives, Abdulhadi Al Majali, recognised the important work carried out by organisations such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), supporting this event. He referred to their ongoing technical guidance and future assistance.

“Parliamentarians today have the unique opportunity to devote increased effort to help resolve long-standing issues affecting children in the Arab World that our societies have so far failed to resolve. Today, there is consensus that fiscal and budget planning needs to give absolute priority to children’s issues,” said UNICEF Regional Director Thomas McDermott.

For more information please contact:

Hind-Lara Mango
Communication Officer
UNICEF Jordan
E-mail: hmango@unicef.org
Telephone: 9626-5502430

Anis Salem
Regional Communicaiton Advisor
UNICEF MENA-RO
E-mail :asalem@unicef.org
Mobile: 962-79-553-9977

Wolfgang Friedl
Communication Officer
UNICEF MENA-RO
E-mail: wfriedl@unicef.org
Telephone: 9626-5502-422
Sufian H. Elhassan
Director of Research and Information
Jordanian House of Parliament
E-mail: sufhas@excite.com
Telephone:+9626-5690569

Nouridine Bouchkouj
Secretary General of the Arab Parliamentary Union
E-mail:bouchkouj@arab-ipu.org
Mobile:+963-93214521

Luisa Ballin
Press Officer
Inter-Parliamentary Union
E-mail : lb@mail.ipu.org,
Telephone : +41 22919 41 16

UNICEF urges action to fully protect their rights

KAMPALA, 27 August 2004 – UNICEF in Uganda today urged civilian and military authorities responsible for receiving 47 formerly abducted children – repatriated today from southern Sudan by the International Organization for Migration, after their abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) – to ensure the children’s rights remain protected.

One measure would be to grant the returnees direct passage to NGO reception centres for formerly abducted children, in order for the group to receive urgent medical care and begin the tracing process to be reunited with families and home communities, said UNICEF.

The 47 individuals, reportedly including 12 under the age of 8, were abducted from their families by the LRA during the ongoing armed conflict in northern Uganda.  The group was repatriated today from Juba to Gulu municipality, in an airlift organized by the Government of Uganda and funded by the International Organization for Migration, with the support of other humanitarian sector partners including UNICEF, Save the Children in Uganda, World Vision and Gulu Save the Children Organization (GUSCO).  UNICEF is supporting the registration, rehabilitation and psychosocial counseling, vocational skills development, family tracing and re-integration of the children.

Independent confirmation of the children’s ages, numbers according to gender and other details was ongoing, said the UN children’s agency.

UNICEF Representative in Uganda, Martin Mogwanja, said that while the latest repatriation was encouraging, the continued targeting of children by the LRA for forced recruitment as combatants and sex slaves remained a “cause for great distress.”

“Any incident of abduction and physical or sexual abuse of children is unacceptable and must be condemned outright as breaches of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Uganda is a signatory,” he said.

“The Convention calls upon State parties to take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse [Articles 19 and 34].”

Up to 12,000 children in the conflict-affected districts of northern Uganda are estimated to have been abducted by the LRA since June 2002, with at least 3,000 children abducted since October 2003.  In addition, the approximate number of child “night commuters” in northern Uganda (children primarily in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader Districts who leave their homes each night to sleep in urban centres for fear of LRA attacks and abductions) currently stands at close to 44,000.

UNICEF supports eight reception centres for formerly abducted children in the conflict-affected districts of northern Uganda.  In Gulu, children received by the GUSCO centre include former combatants, infants born during LRA captivity and their young mothers.  UNICEF assists such centres in the provision of shelter materials, medical services, psychosocial counseling support and vocational skills-training, and facilitates the coordination between centres.

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For more information, please contact:

Chulho Hyun, UNICEF Media, Kampala +256 (0)77 222347
Anne-Lydia Sekandi, UNICEF Media, Kampala +256 (0)77 409 016
Rebecca Symington, UNICEF Zonal Office, Gulu, +256 (0)77 222 345

Rehabilitating children fundamental to national stability, and key to breaking the cycle of child-soldier wars in West Africa

MONROVIA/NEW YORK/GENEVA, 26 August 2004 – Just four months after the launch of a massive disarmament campaign, almost 85 per cent of about 5,800 demobilized children have gone home to their families. Over 115 children were reunified this week.
“Children who’ve been forcibly abducted or recruited into war are finally being allowed to go home, where they belong,” UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said. “Children have said a resounding ‘yes!’ to peace, and they deserve a fighting chance at it.”

Bellamy is in Liberia for three days to mark the one-year anniversary of the signing of the country’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement. During her visit, she met with children formerly associated with fighting forces (CAFF) staying at interim care centres (ICCs), and visited a camp with over 20,000 people displaced by conflict.

CAFF were either forced to carry arms, serve as spies, porters, cooks and sex slaves. Those staying at ICCs – currently 970 - get to return to their homes once their families have been traced. Of the almost 5,800 children demobilized so far, 1,175 were girls, 15 of whom were pregnant. The numbers do not include almost 50 infants. Some 85 foreign children, mostly from Guinea and Sierra Leone, also await repatriation.

The children are going through the Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DDRR) programme led by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). The DDRR calls for a systematic demobilization of all CAFF, and support for their reintegration. The reintegration phase – what happens to children when they get home – emphasizes access to education and vocational training, supported by strong community involvement.

Liberia’s experience with the DDRR is not unlike that seen by neighboring Sierra Leone, where almost 7,000 children were demobilized and over 6,700 reunified between 1999 and 2004, Bellamy said.

Sierra Leone’s experience shows that long-term success – meaning that children do not get abducted or recruited into wars again and can look forward to positive futures – lies in ensuring that communities and children get the support they need not only to rebuild, but to do so on much stronger ground, she said.

Consistent follow-up by child protection agencies for family mediation, psychosocial counseling, remedial education and skills training were among the most important factors, Bellamy said.

“Children should never have been caught up in the conflict in the first place. They should never have seen murders and rapes, or the intentional destruction of their schools and hospitals. After 15 years of war, Liberia has a tremendous opportunity – and responsibility – to ensure that children never have to live through the terror of war again,” she said.

“This is the time to invest in children – to put their futures, and that of the country - at the heart of development planning,” Bellamy said. “Liberian children need to look to the future with hope and confidence – and that means, as a bare minimum, arming them instead with education and skills.”

A Back-to-School campaign launched by UNICEF in November has enabled more than 800,000 children and 20,000 teachers, 12,000 of whom have taken part in an emergency teacher training course, to get back to classrooms, Bellamy said. UNICEF has provided education supplies, teacher-training, safe water and sanitation facilities in schools.

Over the next 18 months, an accelerated learning programme that folds six years of primary school into three will be introduced into public schools, particularly in areas seeing large numbers of returning children.

Even before the war almost half of all school-age children were not enrolled in classes, while girls made up less than half the number of boys at the primary school level. Only a quarter of Liberian women can read, and only two in five men.

Bellamy will speak to journalists at press conference at 9:00 a.m., 26 Aug., at UNICEF, Bright’s Apartment, Mamba Point, Monrovia.

For more information, please contact:

MacArthur Hill, UNICEF Liberia, tel: (377-47) 516-182,
Marixie Mercado, UNICEF New York, tel: (377-47) 531-445
Gordon Weiss, UNICEF New York, gweiss@unicef.org