Afghanistan: Children increasingly affected by conflict
KHOST, 27 November 2007 by IRIN news

About 60 children were killed and tens were wounded in an incident on 6 November in Baghlan province. Here, some of the injured children are visited by parents and friends.Razmi Khan, 12, was once the most outstanding student in his class, but is unable to go to school. He was badly wounded by a missile as he walked to a mosque in Nader Shah Kot District in the southeastern province of Khost on 17 November. He was taken to a local hospital where surgeons amputated his left leg to save his life. “I cannot walk to school with one leg,” Razmi told IRIN. The missile, which also wounded another child and four adults, was fired by Afghan and international forces during a joint military exercise, Gul Qasim Khan, the governor of Nader Shah Kot District, and Col Israr Khan of the Afghan army, said. Razmi Khan’s parents said army officers and provincial officials had sympathised with them, but there had been no compensation. As sympathies fade, Razmi Khan is gradually realising that as a disabled person he has to cope with many new difficulties: He cannot play football with his friends, ride his bicycle or go to mosque.

In Baghlan Province where on 6 November a heavy explosion and a subsequent shootout killed 60 children and over 12 adults, many parents are grieving for their lost sons and daughters. “My sons had committed no sin, so why did they kill them,” whined Roqia, a bereaved mother of two schoolchildren killed in the incident. In Helmand Province a widow is mourning her 15-year-old son who was hanged by Taliban insurgents for having US dollars in his pocket. “A child’s first right is the right to life. This is being denied in Afghanistan on an ever-increasing scale,” the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a Child Alert report in October 2007. Children “particularly vulnerable” Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) estimates that over 1,400 Afghan civilians have lost their lives and hundreds of others have been wounded in armed hostilities, aerial strikes, suicide attacks and improvised explosions in the past 11 months.

Razmi Khan lost his left leg after a missile landed near him on 17 November Although there is no verified data on the exact number of non-combatant victims of the ongoing violence in Afghanistan, children are believed to be among the main victims, said Hangama Anwari, a commissioner on the rights of children at the AIHRC. “Children are particularly vulnerable to the harms of war and are exposed to greater risks than others,” said Anwari based on her studies of Afghan children in the conflict. According to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education, over 237 schoolchildren have been killed in different security incidents in the past three years. However, the AIHRC says the actual number of child victims is several times higher than that. “We do not have the capacity, resources or access to investigate and verify all the security incidents involving children all over the country,” Anwari said.

Children light candles at a site where 60 children were killed during an incident in Baghlan province on 6 November Plight of children to be monitored The AIHRC, supported by UNICEF, is working to set up a mechanism whereby the plight of Afghan children in conflict-affected areas will be monitored in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1612. The resolution is dedicated to the rights and protection of children in a war situation and sets out the responsibilities of parties to the conflict. The AIHRC has repeatedly accused all sides in the armed conflict of not doing enough to protect and ensure the safety of children and other civilians during military hostilities. Through its monitoring initiative, which will be launched in 2008, the rights watchdog will consistently remind all warring parties about their obligations to protect children during conflict, Anwari said.

From IRIN news www.irin.org

Child soldiers 'bought and sold' in Myanmar
By Seth Mydans
International Herald TribuneWednesday, October 31, 2007

Add to the many hardships in Myanmar today one more danger: being a boy. According to a report that was to be released Wednesday, the military, struggling to meet recruiting quotas, is buying, kidnapping and terrorizing boys as young as 10 to join its ranks.

The report by Human Rights Watch, the New York-based rights group, says military recruiters and civilian brokers scour train stations, bus stations, markets and other public places for boys and coerce them to volunteer. Some may simply disappear without their families' knowledge and spend years on the front lines of a brutal war against ethnic insurgencies.

"Clearly the military is preying upon children and using children to form a substantial proportion of its forces," said a co-author of the report, Jo Becker, the children's rights advocate for Human Rights Watch.

"In recent years the military has continued to expand while at the same time losing large numbers of soldiers to desertion," she said in an interview. "Recruiters and civilian agents are sweeping boys as young as 11 and 12 off the streets. Children are literally being bought and sold by recruiters."

These recruiters and agents receive cash payments and other incentives for new recruits even if the recruit fails to meet basic health and age requirements, said the report, which was based on interviews in Myanmar, Thailand and China.

The large number of child soldiers in Myanmar's army - and in the ranks of some 30 armed ethnic groups - has been known for years, and Human Rights Watch has published reports on it before. The new report, coming at a moment of crisis in Myanmar, illustrates the kind of broad abuses that gave rise, along with economic hardships, to the huge anti-government protests in August and September that were crushed by the military junta a month ago.

"Even before the recent crackdown, many young adults rejected military service because of grueling conditions, low pay and mistreatment by superior officers," Becker said in the report. "After deploying its soldiers against Buddhist monks and other peaceful demonstrators, the government may find it even harder to find willing volunteers."

In response to criticism, the government formed a high-level committee in 2004 ostensibly to prevent recruitment of underage soldiers. "In fact the committee is a sham," Becker said. She said the committee has been active in denouncing outside reports of the recruitment of children.

Becker said it was impossible to say how many child soldiers are recruited in Myanmar, or even to be certain of the full strength of the armed forces, which is generally estimated at about 400,000. But the report said that in interviews with 20 former soldiers, all but one estimated that at least 30 percent of their fellow trainees were boys under the age of 18. In some cases, particularly in newly formed units, as many as half were under age. The legal age for military service is 18, and the report said recruiters and unit commanders often falsify the ages of their new recruits.

The report told of one boy who was recruited at the age of 11, even though he was only 1.3 meters, or 4 feet 3 inches, tall and weighed 31 kilograms, or 70 pounds. That former soldier told Human Rights Watch that his recruiter had bribed the medical officer to certify his eligibility. The report quoted some former child soldiers as saying they and others had been detained in cells, handcuffed, beaten and sold by one recruiter or battalion to another. Once in the ranks, the report said, child soldiers are subject to mistreatment by officers and are sometimes forced to participate in the human rights abuses that have been widely documented among the armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw. These include battlefield atrocities, the burning of villages, forcible recruitment of porters and sexual abuse of women.

Although in some cases the children are sheltered from combat, it said, others may be sent to fight within a few days of their arrival. "One thing that is interesting is that many child soldiers say their first experience in combat is terrifying, they are scared of being shot and often would hide or shoot their gun in the air," Becker said. "But they acclimatized very quickly, so often by the second or third encounter they were no longer afraid." Some of those interviewed went on to serve 12 or 13 years in the army, she said.

Desertion is punished with arrests and beatings, according to the report. It told the story of one boy, Maung Zaw Oo, who by the time he was 16 had been forcibly recruited into the army twice. He escaped after his first recruitment at age 14, only to be forced to join again soon afterward, the report said. He told researchers that the corporal who brought him in received a large sum of money, a sack of rice and a big can of cooking oil as bounty. When his relatives tracked him down, they were told he would be released if they brought in five new recruits, the report said. "I told my aunt, 'Don't do this,' " Maung Zaw Oo was quoted as saying. " 'I don't want others to face this, it's very bad here. I'll just stay and face it myself.' " After that, he said, he volunteered for the most dangerous assignments, walking either first or last in a patrol. "In the army my life was worthless," he was quoted as saying, "so I chose it that way."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/31/asia/child-web.php

Iraq: Mental Problems and Stress Disorders Increase
Baghdad, 25 October 2007 by IRIN News

Salah Hashimy, 14, has lost his parents, sisters and many friends since the US led invasion in 2003; finally there is no one to look after him. He lacks education, love and support, a combination that, according to doctors, caused his mental health problems.

"My memory is very weak but I cannot forget when I saw my sister being raped by militants until she died," Hashimy said.

Hashimy, who is being treated at Ibn- Rushd psychiatric hospital in Baghdad, has at last found a place to stay at Keeping Children Alive (KCA), a local NGO that takes care of children with mental disorders.

"All patients have similar histories. Some have lost relatives, children became orphans, women were raped, men lost their fiances a couple of days before marriage," said Shalan Aboudy, director of Ibn- Rushd psychiatric hospital.

KCA has registered about 1800 children and 1100 women who have sought psychological help since January 2007 but fewer than six percent have returned to continue treatment after the first doctor's evaluation.

Fariz Mahmoud, a professor of neurology at Baghdad University, said the main reason for the increase in psychological disorders and distress among a population is fear.

"People are scared of violence. They cannot bear to hear bullets, explosions and the news of a lost relative. Children cannot stand the idea of staying at home or living as displaced and more cases will be reported in the coming months, " Mahmoud said. "Fear is like a cancer in some situations, it takes control over the whole body, reaching a stage when neither the doctor nor the medicines are able to reverse the results."

taken from Irin News

SUDAN- CHAD: LEGAL FRAMEWORK A HINDRANCE IN CHILD- TRAFFICKING
DAKAR, 1 November 2007 (IRIN)

Chadian and UN officials say the absence of a child trafficking law in Chad will hamper efforts to prosecute members of a French association who were arrested in the country while trying to take 103 children to host families in France.
The association, L’Arche de Zoé (Zoe’s Ark), says it was trying to rescue Sudanese orphans from “certain death” in the Darfur region, on the border with Chad. Six members of the group – arrested on 25 October – have been charged with abducting minors for the purpose of changing their civil status (giving them new parents), a crime that carries a penalty of five to 20 years of forced labour. “There are no other penalties in the abduction chapter [of the criminal code] stronger than the one we chose,” said Ahmad Daoud Chari, state prosecutor in Abéché, the eastern Chadian town where the members of the association were arrested. “Our penal code is limited. It doesn’t cover [many] infractions. There is a gap,” Chari told IRIN.

Drawbacks According to Papa Babacar Ndiaye, national program officer at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for West and Central Africa, the gap in Chadian legislation creates several obstacles. “The drawback is that you may commit a very serious crime – child trafficking is among the most serious crimes – and then be punished for a less serious crime,” he told IRIN. He said charges of abduction would not only result in more lenient sentences in the case of a conviction, but would be harder to convict in the first place. “It might be easier for an investigator to prove human trafficking than to prove abduction,” he said. Although the information has not yet been verified, there is speculation in this case that the children were willingly handed over, in which case abduction would be difficult to prove, Ndiaye said.

Trafficking legislation usually encompasses the illegal recruitment of children from “vulnerable” parents, who may agree to give up their children because they cannot care for them, he said. A conviction in child trafficking also allows authorities to seize any assets used in the commission of the crime, Ndiaye said, which can deter future incidences. Delays The UNODC has been advocating for national laws criminalising child trafficking since the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000. International conventions and protocols are legally binding for states that ratify them, but must be adopted as national law in order to be enforced. Chad has not signed on to the Protocol, but it is party to several other international conventions that deal with child trafficking in some form. It has, for example, signed a multilateral agreement and regional action plan against human trafficking, particularly of women and children, drafted in 2006 by regional bodies representing West and Central Africa.Still, the regional and international agreements have not been integrated into Chadian law. “It’s a question of delay in the procedures,” Justice Minister Pahimi Padacké Albert told IRIN. “It’s in the pipeline.” He said a judicial reform commission, inactive for years, was reactivated two months ago and is reviewing all Chadian laws in order to incorporate international conventions into the national penal code.

Chadian children at a site for families displaced by fighting in eastern Chad. While a child trafficking law is a tool that “could have helped” in the L’Arche de Zoé case, Albert said the situation can be dealt with under the current law. The UNODC says the case has highlighted a widespread problem. “There are many countries [that] lag behind in enforcing these conventions, especially organised crime conventions,” the UNODC’s Ndiaye said. According to UNODC, just two of 11 countries in Central Africa – Gabon and Equatorial Guinea – have specific laws against child trafficking. In West Africa, where past trafficking incidents have brought increased attention and international pressure, 13 of 16 countries have enacted legislation. UNODC has legislative assistance programmes available to countries upon request. “Rescue” operation Chadian authorities arrested nine French citizens – six members of L'Arche de Zoé and three journalists accompanying them – at the Abéché airport as they were trying to take children to Vatry International Airport, some 150km east of Paris, where 50 French families were reportedly waiting to take them in. In addition to abduction, they have also been charged with fraud. A Chadian village leader and seven Spanish crew of the charter plane that was to fly the children to France have been charged with complicity. A second Chadian, a deputy prefect, is also implicated but not yet charged. In interviews with the UN Refugee Agency, the UN Children's Fund and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the majority of the children said they came from Chadian villages near the Chad-Sudan border and had been living with their families, consisting of at least one adult they considered a parent, the agencies said on 1 November. ICRC and the UN agencies, along with Chadian authorities, are currently caring for the children.L’Arche de Zoé has denied that the transfer was for adoption purposes. Its secretary general, Stéphanie Lefebvre, told the French newspaper Le Parisien she was “enraged” by Chad’s accusations of child trafficking, which she described as “catastrophic”. Investigations are ongoing, and none of the accusations against the group has yet been proven in court.

taken from IRIN news www.irinnews.org

BROWN UNIVERSITY AND CHILDVOICE INTERNATIONAL

by Brooke Mercier

Brown University, Rhode Island, is now partnering with ChildVoice International (CVI) to involve college students in the vision of giving the people of Uganda hope in the aftermath of war. In June 2007, Brodie Herb, Miller Hui and Jen Quoira of Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) went to Uganda to solidify plans for a summer 2008 trip. The three were able to help at the clinic, interview community members, help hire staff and ultimately engage in the planning of what a summer 2008 student trip to northern Uganda would look like.

The goal of CCC is to lead other students to the area where CVI is making so much progress and encourage them to help the people in the Lukodi community who are struggling to rebuild their lives.

Now, CCC has joined with Uganda Action Movement, another student organization at Brown, to bring more awareness to the issues that are plaguing the people in Uganda. There is an awareness week planned on the Brown Campus where CCC will promote and recruit for the trip next summer.

ChildVoice, the campus, and student organizations would be providing these students with a way to use their energy, hearts and minds to ameliorate some of the suffering in northern Uganda. These students will have a life- changing experience that may persuade them to return after the trip to use their education to move the projects along and ultimately bring some more hope to Uganda.

SOULFEST AND CVI

by Devin Riley

In the beginning of August, Gunstock Ski Resort in Guilford New Hampshire is temporarily turned into a four day Christian music venue, with headliners such as Casting Crowns, Jeremy Camp, Jars of Clay and Chris Tomlin. ChildVoice International sought the opportunity at this music festival to bring to light the injustice that is happening to the people of northern Uganda and ask them to do something about it.

The focus for this year’s SoulFest came from the book of Nehemiah, a man from the Old Testament who was given the impossible task to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and the lives of the people within that city. Like Nehemiah, ChildVoice took on this goal not just to raise the funds necessary to build the Lukodi primary school in Uganda, but to help to rebuild one of the foundations of a child’s life-- their education.

As one of SoulFests’ ministry partners, ChildVoice (CVI) was given the opportunity Friday night to present their mission to thousands of people. It became evident that CVI captured the hearts and souls of these music goers after Nathan Mandsager delivered a powerful speech in combination with a video, and the testimonies of three former child soldiers. Jackline Laklot, Charles Opiro, and Patrick Komakech. They not only rocked the audience with their presence, but they brought to life the impact of the war in northern Uganda to Gunstock, New Hampshire.

Medical Clinic Expands

by Brooke Meserole

The clinic which was opened in June in Uganda is now opening a maternity ward! The unit will have prenatal care, labor and delivery and postnatal care.

In Uganda, different levels of health centers exist. Currently, the health center (HC) is considered a HC II which works in a parish level with basic health services of family planning, immunization, and antenatal care called the Uganda National Minimum Health Care Package (UNMHCP). With the addition of maternity services with emergency obstetric care (EmOC), the health center will be considered a HC III which works in a sub county level. In this health center, we will provide UNMHCP except emergency operations and provision of blood transfusion.

This new development came about from a community "bottom up" approach where the community leaders asked the sub county government to build a reproductive health unit for the community. Based on their confidence in CVI's capacity to manage this new health clinic, their request has been approved by the district and the local government, who are now building the facility free of charge. The construction is now completed and it will soon be turned over to CVI to open and operate.

ChildVoice Builds Trust in Lukodi Community
by Conrad Mandsager, Executive Director

As I was reviewing some of the child mother surveys that Brittany, Rebekah, and Suzanne completed during May, I was struck by the responses that the child mothers gave when asked the question, “When will you leave the IDP (internally displaced persons) camps and go home?” For most of them, the question did not make sense. After all, they have lived virtually their whole life in the camps and do not even know where their family and community land is. Sadly, these squalid refugee camps are the only home they know.

As we have developed our work in northern Uganda, our staff has joined several working groups hosted by United Nations Office of Humanitarian Relief (UNOCHR). Through those interactions with other humanitarian organizations and the UN agencies, we come face to face with this and many other insidiousness and far reaching effects of this particular conflict. Not only have thousands of people’s lives been destroyed and changed forever, but the culture of the Acholi people and their economy has been ruined.

It is clear to me that while our mission is to help children regain their voices through our programs, we must also take an active role in the reconstruction and resettlement efforts of this region so these children have a home and community to return after they leave our programs. Our strategy is to become a contributing member of the community where we are located – in this case, Lukodi. We cannot become an isolated enclave, but rather will engage in community life at multiple levels and will support the local economy as much as possible.

In June, we took a significant step when we opened the ChildVoice Health Clinic near Lukodi. For the first time in over 10 years, the community of Lukodi has access to comprehensive and affordable health care. This clinic will not only provide quality healthcare to the residents of our program, but will also continue to serve the greater Lukodi community for years to come.

We are taking another step in this direction by building a new block of seven classrooms for the Lukodi community adjacent to the old school facility that we are renovating for our pilot program. It is in this new school where the children of the child mothers will go to school with the children of the Lukodi. By building additional classroom space and supporting the District Education Office in running the school, we can help insure that the Lukodi Primary School is a quality school providing the highest level of education possible.
Lastly, we aim to support the local economy in a number of ways. As we begin construction activities, we will purchase the materials and supplies from the local community whenever possible. The people of Lukodi have already begun to make bricks for our construction needs. In addition, our contractors will hire the bulk of the labor force from Lukodi, providing jobs to community members. As we hire our professional and support staff for the program, again we will look to Lukodi first for candidates.

I am encouraged by the commitment and trust that the community of Lukodi has placed in CVI in the last year. I recognize that this is a privilege and blessing that we must work hard to maintain as together we help Lukodi to rebuild its infrastructure and resettle its people.

James Lomoro Takes the Reins as Program Director

After many conversations beginning back in March,

James Lomoro has joined our team as the Program Director for ChildVoice's project in northern Uganda. James is retiring this year from his position with the Ministry of Education as the Inspector of Schools for the northern region. A graduate of Markerere University and the University of London, James has a strong background in administration, curriculum development, and distance learning. We trust he will be an invaluable asset to ChildVoice as he directs our the development of our work in Lukodi.

Biography of Sunday Patricia
by Rebekah Cushing

Sunday Patricia was only 12 years old when she was abducted by the Lords Resistance Army in 2003. After being given the choice to assist in the death of her parents or be put to death herself; Sunday was forced to begin biting her parents in the process of their killing before the LRA rebels completed their death by beating them with sticks. After living in captivity for 2 years, Sunday managed to escape with her now one and a half year-old daughter who was conceived and born in the bush. She is now living in an IDP camp in Lukodi, the site of ChildVoice's project.

Sunday married after returning home from the bush in 2005, but since her husband was abducted and he has never returned. Sunday is ostracized by most of the community that she lives in as a result of having brought home a "bush baby." A single elderly woman welcomed Sunday in to live with her after Sunday's husband was abducted. The elderly woman and Sunday have no way to finance themselves due to their health issues. As a result, Sunday is malnourished and therefore unable lactate in order to feed her own child. She and her baby were seen at the medical clinic staffed by the medical team that came from America. Her child was diagnosed as malnourished with scabies, and malaria. The heartache of hearing stories such as this is great. But we have a hope that supercedes this pain. Through your prayer and financial support to ChildVoice International, provisions will be made possible to provide long-term rehabilitative program care to formerly abducted child mothers such as Akello.

ICC Examines Child Soldier Convictions
By Lisa Clifford and Katy Glassborow in The Hague (AR No. 118, 22-June-07)

Sierra Leonean court’s precedent-setting verdicts likely to influence ICC cases in Uganda and DRC. The conviction of three Sierra Leonean military leaders this week for conscripting child soldiers will have a major impact on upcoming prosecutions at the International Criminal Court, ICC, say observers interviewed by IWPR. The guilty verdicts on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity were the first from the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the first by an international court for the recruitment of children to fight in an armed conflict.

The Special Court’s first-ever prosecutor told IWPR that the verdict will be closely examined by the ICC as child soldier recruitment also features heavily in its cases in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. “Our colleagues in the ICC have been following our work in West Africa with great interest and have been emboldened by the fact that we’ve moved forward on child soldiers,” said David Crane, who signed the original Special Court indictments and is now a law professor at Syracuse University in New York state.

“It’s all part of the jurisprudence that’s building up. Each of the tribunals follows the other’s precedents, so clearly this [verdict] will have a huge impact.“This sends an incredible notice to cynical warlords round the world who are using children and abusing children in their armed forces that they can now be prosecuted and convicted for this.”

Human rights campaigners agreed that the June 20 verdicts delivered in a Special Court courtroom in Freetown were significant for ICC prosecutors. “This verdict is a very concrete demonstration of criminal prohibition of the conscription of child soldiers,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “These prosecutions are a major step towards bringing justice to hundreds of thousands of children worldwide. And hopefully this will be the first of many.”

In Uganda, the ICC has charged four LRA leaders with numerous war crimes, including some relating to child soldier recruitment. In DRC - where more indictments are expected within the next few weeks - militia leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo faces similar child soldier allegations.

Beck Bukeni Waruzi, director of Ajedi-Ka /Child Soldiers Project, an NGO in eastern DRC, sees the convictions as a victory for African children. “It is very positive that a court in Africa, for the first time, has touched on the important issue of youth in Africa. In every conflict on the continent, children are involved as both victims and perpetrators,” he said.Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu were also found guilty of crimes including rape, murder, enslavement, pillage and extermination. All three were members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, AFRC, made up primarily of soldiers from the Sierra Leone army.

Prosecutors alleged the AFRC joined with the rebel Revolutionary United Front, RUF, which fought against the government-backed Civil Defence Forces, CDF, wreaking havoc on Sierra Leone during an 11-year civil war that claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions.

Prosecutors told the trial that attacks were carried out against civilians to terrorise and punish those who didn’t support the rebel militias. Physical mutilations, including the amputation of hands and feet, were common.

Civilians were routinely abducted while captured women were raped and used as sex slaves or forced labour. Abducted boys and girls were given combat training and used in battle. “The three who were found guilty, they were the individuals who caused the rape and destruction of Freetown in January of 1999,” said Crane. “When these individuals joined the RUF, the horror became worse. It was like horror to the second power. Just incredible.”

But there was also bad news this week for prosecutors. Judges ruled the men were not guilty of three of the charges, including one of forced marriage. It was the first time in legal history that charges had been laid alleging forced marriage during an armed conflict. Crane admitted he was disappointed, telling IWPR that he believed the case was strong.

Alison Smith, legal advisor at the human rights NGO No Peace Without Justice, shares that disappointment. She said forced marriage and other crimes of sexual violence were features of the Sierra Leone conflict and were experienced by most girls conscripted by the warring groups. “The charges of forced marriage were one of the innovations of the Special Court for Sierra Leone,” said Smith. “They were the first tribunal to prosecute this crime, and I hope that hasn’t been diluted by the not guilty verdict.”

Forced marriage allegations also feature in the case against three RUF leaders currently underway in Freetown. However, Special Court judges hearing the case against three CDF leaders ordered forced marriage charges to be removed from their indictments. That case ended last November with verdicts expected by July.

The Special Court in Freetown is slowly winding down with all trials and appeals due to be completed by the end of 2008. It’s final - and arguably most high profile - case against Liberia’s former president Charles Taylor began earlier this month in an ICC courtroom in The Hague.

The ICC is hosting the trial because of fears of unrest if the case is heard in Sierra Leone. Taylor - who prosecutors say supported the RUF rebels - faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, rape and conscripting child soldiers.

The case resumes June 25, though whether Taylor will appear is unclear as he boycotted the first day of the trial earlier this month. For Sierra Leone, the impending closure of the Special Court will likely mark the end of prosecutions for crimes committed during the civil war.

The peace deal that ended the war granted amnesty for war crimes and crimes against humanity. A South Africa-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission was held, but Christopher Hall, senior legal advisor in Amnesty’s international justice project, said many of its recommendations have yet to be implemented. He wants the amnesties to be cancelled and national laws to be changed to make crimes like recruiting child soldiers illegal - which they are not under current legislation. “Amnesties are contrary to international law,” said Hall. “We are calling for Sierra Leone to fulfil its obligations under international law to define crimes against humanity and war crimes as crimes under national law and to resource the national judiciary to be able to investigate and try these crimes.”

Becker agrees that local prosecutions - both in Sierra Leone and elsewhere where war crimes have been committed - are crucial. “There is a limited capacity to try all war crimes suspects at an international level,” she said. “We need to see national prosecutions with the UN and governments with legal expertise providing resources such as training lawyers and judges.”

Lisa Clifford and Katy Glassborow are IWPR reporters in The Hague.
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=336525&apc_state=henpacr

UN Begins Dialogue with Burma on Child Soldier
MungpiMizzima News

June 29, 2007 - A dialogue has been initiated between UN and Burma on the issue of child soldiers, the UN special envoy on children and armed conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy said concluding her five-day visit to Burma today.

"The Government [of Burma] responded favourably to an on-going dialogue with the United Nations," said Coomaraswamy, who met several senior junta officials, during her official visit to Burma.

The Under-secretary General was in Burma on a mission to set-up a monitoring and reporting mechanism on abuses committed against children by the military junta as well as different insurgent groups in the country.

The Burmese government has agreed to appoint a high level "focal point" from the Ministry of Social Welfare to engage with the UN Country Team, especially the UNICEF, on all issues related to children and armed conflict, the special envoy said in a press release today.

While the UN envoy made optimistic noises on her visit to the military-ruled country, child rights expert said the agreement needs a comprehensive follow-up in order to effectively control abuse of children in Burma.

Aung Myo Min, Director of Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB), said while it is good to know that the junta has agreed to set up a monitoring mechanism, but it depends on how it will be followed up.

"Looking at past experiences with the junta, there is concern that the junta is handing out just empty promises," said Min.

Child soldiers are the products of years of civil war and in order to effectively control it, the root cause – civil war – needs be resolved, Min added.

"Just by stopping children from forcibly or voluntarily joining the military will not help solve the problem. Children will continue to remain in the military camps so long as there is a burning civil war," Min said.

Min, who did a comprehensive research on child soldiers in Burma and released a report titled – Despite Promises: Child Soldiers in Burma's SPDC Armed Forces – in September 2006, said while the exact number of child soldiers cannot be determined due to extreme difficulties in access, there are a minimum of 20,000 children deployed in Burma's armed forces and in rebel camps.

However, New York based Human Rights Watch in 2002 said there are at least 70,000 child soldiers in Burma's armed forces.

The UN secretary general's report on the situation of Burma's child soldier will be examined by the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in November 2007.

"This report will provide us with a clearer understanding of the situation of children affected by the conflict in Myanmar. Updated information on practices by all parties listed in the Security Council report for using child soldiers should lead to engagement with the armed forces and armed groups in order to ensure the release of the children and their proper reintegration into their communities," the Sri Lankan diplomat said.

Min said the junta, as a step in its agreement with the world body, should genuinely start a reintegration programme and create an atmosphere where the children can restart living as children. Moreover, the junta should allow the UN and other experts to independently investigate the situation in Burma.

However, Min said the most important factor needed to halt the recruitment of minors in armed forces is to put an end to the on going civil war in Burma.

"Unless the junta is serious in solving the root causes of armed conflicts in Burma, there will be no end to the use of child soldiers despite the efforts," Min added.
(http://www.mizzima.com/MizzimaNews/News/2007/June/74-June-2007.html)

UN Envoy in Myanmar to Set Up Child Soldier Monitoring System
The Associated Press
Monday, June 25, 2007

YANGON, Myanmar: A U.N. special envoy arrived Monday in Myanmar to set up a program to monitor the use of child soldiers, a practice that human rights advocates say is common among both government and insurgent forces.

Radhika Coomaraswamy, U.N. special representative for children and armed conflict, said her trip was meant to act on a 2005 U.N. Security Council resolution to set up monitoring and reporting mechanisms on violations committed against children.

The U.N. lists Myanmar as one country that uses child soldiers. Myanmar, also called Burma, has faced criticism from the international community for other human rights abuses, including summary executions, torture and forced labor.

The U.S. and Europe have imposed tough political and economic sanctions on the country's military regime for its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

Coomaraswamy said she will try to "engage the government" in the process of reporting the conditions of children in armed conflicts, and was set to visit the new capital of Naypyidaw on Tuesday to meet with senior officials.

Human rights groups have long criticized the military junta and opposition groups for recruiting large numbers of child soldiers, some as young as 11. Myanmar's government has denied the allegations.

New York-based Human Rights Watch published an extensive report in 2002 that estimated 70,000 soldiers in an army of about 350,000 were under the age of 18.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Thailand, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma — a self-styled government in exile — launched its 2006 Burma Human Rights Yearbook that said 25,000 people faced starvation as a result of the Myanmar army's offensive against ethnic guerrillas.

"This offensive is unprecedented in its gravity and severity for the villagers living within the offensive area," said a press release accompanying the release of the report.

The yearbook also says civilians were regularly subjected to forced labor, displacement and sexual violence, while recruitment of child soldiers was widespread across the country.

No spokesman from Myanmar's junta could be immediately contacted for reaction.
___
Associated Press reporter Julie Payne in Bangkok contributed to this report.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/25/asia/AS-GEN-Myanmar-Child-Soldiers.php

Peace Paks 2007

They were just simple packages filled with common things -- lotion and soap or crayons and a coloring book -- but to someone in northern Uganda who had never received a gift before, that package was the sign that their family was not forgotten or rejected by the world. In the fall of 2006, ChildVoice International initiated a program, Peace Paks, to send tangible offerings of love and blessings to the child mothers and their children of northern Uganda. Churches and individuals sent hundreds packages of humanitarian supplies and gifts to these needy families.

This fall, a team of ChildVoice staff and volunteers will be collecting similar packages to be taken to northern Uganda for distribution. Again, partnering with Action For Children, we will provide gifts to the child mothers in Layibi and Unyama camp. This year, we have been asked to expand our program to Lukodi and Palaro camps -- two camps which have been virtually forgotten by aid agencies and humanitarian organizations. Our team will travel to these camps to personally distribute the Peace Paks to these young mothers and their families.

In total, there are over 500 families that we would like to bless this year with a gift of love and hope. Will you help to show them that we have not forgotten them -- that their voices are heard?

If you or your church would like information on how to become involved in our 2007 Peace Paks program or you would be interested in joining our team that is traveling to Uganda, please email peacepaks@childvoiceintl.org and we will forward information to you.

ChildVoice Interns Interview 300 Child Mothers in Four Weeks!


In just four weeks, the ChildVoice interns—
Brittany Brendsel, Rebekah Cushing, and
Susan Anyeko—interviewed a total of 300 formerly abducted child mothers from Layibi, Unyama, and Lukodi camps. This was quite a feat—ChildVoice is unaware of any others who have surveyed that large of a sample of child mothers.

From this pool of 300 interviewees, the ChildVoice interns then selected the 100 most vulnerable women to have physicals and health assesments. In just five days, all 100 of these child mothers and any of their sick children were transported from their villages to the clinic where the medical team was providing medical care including: HIV/AIDS, STD, pregnancy and Malaria testing, along with providing treatment for general ailments such as scabies, wounds, malaria, etc.

A significant finding from these interviews was that a number of the women in the Lukodi camp were being raped by soldiers and others largely because they could not afford to put doors on their huts. When Rebekah and Brittany realized this, they took it upon themselves to raise enough money to make 30 metal doors. The ChildVoice International team then delivered and installed all 30 doors.

The findings of these 300 interviews are still being analysed by Tae Kurosu, Clinic Director, as the principle investigator. The need for this analysis is great—as Neil Mandsager stated in a previous article, these women are in danger, and ChildVoice needs to work quickly to provide a safe sanctuary. Their specific needs will only become more obvious through more analysis.

When the building of the official facilities is complete, ChildVoice will be able to provide a long term rehabilitative care for up to 1000 children affected by the war, including formerly abducted child mothers and their children. Forty-five child mothers and their children will be selected in the next couple of months to participate in the pilot program. Though completing all of the interviews and medical exams in just four weeks was exhausting, the rewards of watching the restoration of hope and joy in the lives of women whom have been all but destroyed was worth every bit of the work.

Three Ugandan riders. Seven days. One million dollars.

This summer RAGBRAI is so much more than just the largest bike ride of its kind in the world, a bike ride across Iowa. This summer, RAGBRAI is also the kick-off of a one million dollar campaign for ChildVoice International. This summer, three former child soldiers from northern Uganda, along with Lance Armstrong and about 10,000 other riders from around the United States, will push themselves across nearly 500 miles from the Missouri River to the Mississippi – all to raise awareness of the plight of children in their country and to encourage our help to make a difference for their generation.

Patrick, Jackline, and Charles are bicycling across Iowa – with hope for their futures and for the futures of so many children in their country who have also been victimized by the 20-year-old civil war. They aren’t looking back – having been abducted, forced to fight a senseless war, and enslaved as part of a rebel army. Now they’re looking forward to using their efforts in RAGBRAI to raise $1,000,000 – helping ChildVoice International help the children of northern Uganda recover from perhaps the worst humanitarian disaster in history.

ChildVoice International has been given 100 acres of land in northern Uganda by the Lukodi community leaders to which we have promised to raise up a new community to provide residential living, schooling, and shelter for children affected by this immense tragedy of war. To raise up this village will cost several million dollars, even at the discounted costs in an economy such as that of northern Uganda.

This is where Patrick, Jackline, and Charles come in. Take a minute to click on this link, www.3-7-1.com, to learn about this exciting effort to raise awareness and support for our work. Here you will find out all the details of how three former child soldiers from Uganda will ride seven days on bikes to raise 1 million dollars - 3.7.1. However, they need our help to make this campaign successful. Please consider giving generously, and just as importantly, sign up as a “3.7.1. Rider” and ask your friends and family to join you in funding our work. They will do their part and ride, but we need to do ours and give.

Clinic Opens!

June saw the official opening of the ChildVoice International medical clinic near Lukodi, nothern Uganda. in a facility that had been built 10 years ago, but never opened due to high levels of rebel activity in the area.

Conrad Mandsager, Executive Director of ChildVoice International, led the team of fifteen, including two physicians, two nurses, and one public health specialist. Though there were only four medical professionals seeing patients, the team treated over 500 men, women, and children in 5 days. The team treated a variety of health problems and provided HIV and malaria screening. Malaria is found most often in babies, and intestinal parasites. Hookworm is particularly common in the region due to lack of shoes by many in that area.

Neil Mandsager, lead physician on the trip, recalls “My toughest moment was having to tell one of these young mothers, that not only was she newly pregnant, but that she also had HIV. She described being raped in her camp. This brought home to me the need for CVI to work quickly to build our community so as to bring these women into a safe sanctuary.”

Each afternoon the ChildVoice volunteers team brought in child mothers and their children from one of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. This was a strategy to get health assessments for the girls that ChildVoice is considering for admission to the program.

It was truly a team effort—even those who were not medically trained were able to help tremendously: hemming fabric for curtains, counting medicine, preparing meals, taking patient histories, coordinating rides, and even a little comedy relief. Robert Mandsager performed some minor surgeries and Neil provided pre-natal care for a number of child mothers.

Originally, ChildVoice feared they would have to close the clinic at the end of the trip. Due to generous funding from a new partnering ministry in Ohio, the clinic has now reopened for year-round treatment. Tae Kurosu, originally planning to stay just for the summer, has accepted the permanent position of Clinic Director and remained in Lukodi while the rest of the team returned to the states. With the help of Jen Quiroa, an intern from Brown University, Tae sorted through piles of resumes, hired the best applicants, provided training and orientation last week, and reopened the clinic on June 27th. The clinic staff consists of a full time clinic officer, a nursing officer, three assistant nurses, a midwife, a lab tech and a record keeper, enabling the clinic to provide a wide range of services for the community.

With the official opening of the clinic, ChildVoice International is now a working, running NGO expanding their work in northern Uganda, actively helping the recovery of children affected by this protracted conflict and the communities in which they live. This is just the first step among many ChildVoice hopes to make in the coming months.

Amazing Grace Amazing Success!

Though it is almost May, Amazing Grace, which opened in theaters on Februay 23^rd, 2007, is still in theaters. This is due to the rave reviews the media has given it, calling it the “underground film of the year” and an “indie hit.” Millions have seen Amazing Grace, and it is doing exactly the work the producers hoped—inspiring others to be “Wilberforces” in our world today. Perhaps Micheal Medved, a nationally syndicated columnist, says it best: “[Amazing Grace] dazzles the eye, touches the heart, and stirs the soul. [It is] Elegantly crafted and superbly well-acted."

ChildVoice International has a special relationship with the film Amazing Grace. ChildVoice’s work to restore voices to the former childsoldiers in Northern Uganda has earned them one of the four coveted partnerships with the Amazing Change Campaign. This Campaign is an attempt to end modern day slavery, primarily through a petition that will be presented on Capital Hill this spring. Over 120,000 people have signed the petition, and more petitions are signed everyday. For more information on the film or campaign, please visit www.amazinggracemovie.com or www.amazingchange.org.

Renovations to Begin in May!

One of the results of the latest trip to Uganda in February was working out the details to begin renovating an old school building in Lukodi, the village where ChildVoice has been given land. This renovated school will provide facilities for a pilot program where 45 child mothers and their children can move and begin to benefit from the array of program services that ChildVoice will offer, including counseling, education and vocational training. The latest ChildVoice employee, Richard Kitarinyeba, is overseeing this project from start to finish—serving as our eyes and ears in Uganda while we must remain stateside.

School doors are slated to open in July. ChildVoice is currently interviewing for the Program Director position with hopes that a hire will be made very soon. In short…things are moving along quite quickly!

Letter From The Executive Director

As I reflect on all that has happened the last year, I could never have imagined that we could have accomplished so much in such a short amount of time. It was only one year ago, in April of 2006, that ChildVoice International was launched as a new non-profit organization with the mission of restoring the voices of children who have been silenced by war. Compelled by what Jolly Nyeko (the founder of Action for Children and now one of our board members) and I had seen in northern Uganda, together we determined that a different solution was needed – a long term intervention that would help children overcome the horrors and loss that overwhelmed them.

Buoyed by encouragement from Bishop Nelson Onono-Onweng, we finalized a concept paper that outlined plans for a place of healing and restoration where children could come for as long as they needed to live in community, get counseling and spiritual guidance, catch up on their education, and get vocational training that would provide a hope and future for each of them.

In July, a 100 acre tract of land in Lukodi was offered to us for the project. Amazingly, this village was the site of one of the worst massacres in the history of the 20 year old war between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the people of Uganda only two years earlier. Setting aside their hurt and anger, these village elders told us that they wanted this project to model reconciliation between the children who were forced to fight against them and the community of Lukodi.

In August, ChildVoice participated in SoulFest, the largest Christian music festival on the east coast as a ministry partner. Over the course of 5 days, we told our story to thousands of people who attended the festival. From those connections, we built a base of friends and financial partners who have reached out in compassion to help ChildVoice get started.

In September, the first ChildVoice International board meeting was held in Durham, New Hampshire. Organizational plans were laid to prepare CVI not only to meet the needs of northern Uganda, but to take on a global mission where children’s lives are being destroyed by war.

In October, Philip Hodgin, the CEO of RDG Planning and Design, visited northern Uganda with me. After that visit, he and his firm made an amazing offer to do the master planning for the project in Lukodi. The RDG team has done an incredible amount of work in a short time and we now have concept drawings for a village that can serve 1000 children.

In December, over 1200 pounds of gifts were collected, packed, and shipped to northern Uganda as the Peace Pak Project. Distributed by Action for Children staff and some friends from Invisible Children, the child mothers and their children received gifts from friends they didn’t even know. As one girl said, “This was the first gift I have ever received …”

Because of our abolitionist work, Walden Media/Bristol Bay Productions (the film company that produced Chronicles of Narnia, Charlotte’s Web, and now Amazing Grace) asked ChildVoice to join them as a social justice partner with the Amazing Change campaign, a companion program with the release of the Amazing Grace movie.

As a result of our partnership with Walden Media, we had the opportunity to host a screening of Amazing Grace in Des Moines, Iowa in January. This event launched a huge outpouring of support from the people of central Iowa. Churches, high schools, and corporations have rallied to raise awareness and support for our work in northern Uganda. Later this summer, three former child soldiers and I will ride across Iowa with 10,000 others who ride in the RAGBRAI event and share the story of ChildVoice and the children of northern Uganda.

Then in February, our project was formally dedicated in a moving service that brought together government officials, churchmen, village elders and former child soldiers and community members whose lives have been ripped apart by this war, we saw the beginning of healing and restoration.

Now formally recognized by the UN and the government of Uganda as an international NGO, ChildVoice International is working to find its place in helping the people of northern Uganda to rebuild and resettle their land after 20 long years. While the war is not officially over, we are hopeful that the peace talks will be successful in the coming weeks and that the ceasefire will hold.

As a young organization, we are struggling to find the capacity to do all that we need to do. However, with friends like you who have supported us with your finances, your ideas, and your prayers, I am so excited about the future. I know that our second year will even be better than the first.

New ChildVoice Staff Member!

Richard Kitarinyeba has recently joined the staff of ChildVoice in Uganda as a Project Manager. He is overseeing the renovation work at Lukodi.

Although he has not lived in the northern region that is so affected by this current war, Richard experienced his own grief as the result of war. His father, a veterinarian, was brutally murdered during the Idi Amin regime. Richard and his siblings grew up scared, fatherless and without the stability of a home as they were shuttled from relative to relative. Because of his own experiences, Richard has a tremendous heart and compassion for the children of the north that ChildVoice is serving.

Richard, his wife, Emily, and their three children, Moses, Joshua, and Martha currently live in Kampala.

Research Project Underway!

A major research project begins on May 1^st at Layibi and Unyama camps where ChildVoice and Action For Children are serving about 300 child mothers and their children. Two interns with ChildVoice, Brittany Brendsel from Messiah College and Rebekah Cushing from Alaska Pacific University, will conduct home visits and field surveys to collect valuable demographic and psychosocial information on each girl. Three other interns, Tae Kurosu from Boston University, Jennifer Quiroa and Kevin “Miller” Hui from Brown University, will join Brittany and Rebekah in June to complete this survey research.

This survey data will help ChildVoice to make the difficult selection decisions about who will be accepted into the program as well as provide critical data that will help us develop program services that better meet their needs.

Workday at Lukodi!

On Saturday, February 24^th, the day dawned with a hot,
dry wind common during the dry season in northern Uganda. Yet despite the heat, there was a tremendous sense of anticipation among both the US team as well as the child mothers and their children from Layibi and Unyama camps. A work day had been scheduled to clean up the site in preparation for the dedication service the next day.

So armed with brooms, mops, brushes, and buckets, we set out early in the morning for Lukodi. Richard Kitarinyeba, the newest ChildVoice employee, shuttled the girls and their children from the camps. Despite a mechanical breakdown that delayed their arrival, over sixty girls arrived both enthusiastic and wary. Many of them were not convinced that this area was safe from the rebels as most of the girls had horrible memories of what took place here just two and half years ago. Some had actually been in the LRA and participated in the battle that awful day in 2004 that resulted in the burning of the village, the death of 57 people, the abduction of countless others, and the exodus of 7000 people.

Overcoming their past, they jumped in to help clean the school and the grounds. Community members from Lukodi even joined in the work, dispelling our fears that they would have a hard time accepting these child mothers and former child soldiers. In a couple of hours, the numbers of those working swelled to over a hundred. Desks and furniture were removed from the old classrooms. Working around bullet holes, walls and floors were washed. Trash was picked up around the school and the grass was cut with “slashers”. By early afternoon, the old school began to shine.

Carolyn Noble and Chelsea Cerniglia from our team kept the children busy with games and dancing. Jason McIntosh, the ChildVoice graphic artist and one of our team members, painted a free hand mural on one of the school walls. The children were fascinated to see eight foot giraffes and elephants come to life on the wall. Language barriers didn’t stop instant friendships from forming and soon enough the common language of laughter could be heard all over the school grounds.

Early in the afternoon, Richard set out to buy two live goats and a bag of cassava for a feast at the end of the day. Soon, the smell of roasting goat permeated the school grounds. Cassava was peeled and fried in boiling oil. Tired and hungry, all who worked that day lined up for an amazing meal that we shared together. It was a fitting end to an amazing day of laughter, work, and most importantly, reconciliation and healing between some former child soldiers and one small village in northern Uganda.

Dedication of ChildVoice’s First Project!

On Sunday, February 25^th, ChildVoice International’s
first project was formally dedicated by Bishop Nelson Onono-Onweng of the Church of Uganda. In addition to Conrad and a group from Calvary Tabernacle Church in Schenectady, NY, and the village elders, other community members such as OchIeng Vincent Ocen from the District Education Office, and about 30 child mothers were present. It took several trips back and forth to the IDP camps to get bring the women and their children to the site, and they could not have been more thankful.

The service started in one of the classrooms at the Lukodi Primary School, where the Lukodi parish has been meeting for church with community members from nearby IDP camps. Since the service was conducted in the local language, Bishop Onono made sure that each of the Americans had a translator so they too could follow the proceedings.

After the formal service, Bishop Onono led the crowd to the Lukodi memorial which had been erected to honor those who had been killed in the May 2004 attack on the village of Lukodi. With the help of RDG Planning and Design, the architect firm that is doing the master planning for the project, a plaque was erected on the monument listing the names of each of those who died on that fateful night in 2004. In his remarks at the monument Bishop Onono noted what a special gift this was as nowhere in Uganda are the names of the deceased memorialized in this way. Even more sobering was the fact that the first names on the list were the family of Bishop Onono who grew up in Lukodi.

After praying for those people who died during the massacre, the crowd followed Bishop Onono down the road to the land that has been given to ChildVoice. Gathering under a huge tree, again the Bishop addressed the people and spoke about the importance of what ChildVoice is planning to do. He then prayed for the success of the project. Everyone enjoyed soda and cookies as they looked out over the future home of ChildVoice in Lukodi.