Claire Kaplun/ICRC

01015/002 11.2009 3000

FOCUS
CHILDREN IN WAR
All the names used in the brochure have been
changed to protect the identities of the children.

Von Toggenburg/ICRC
Mardini/ICRC
International Committee of the Red Cross
19, avenue de la Paix
1202 Geneva, Switzerland

Christoph
T + 41 22 734 60 01 F + 41 22 733 20 57

Robert
E-mail: [email protected] www.icrc.org
© ICRC, November 2009

Front cover: Christoph Von Toggenburg/ICRC

Back cover: Claire Kaplun/ICRC
Philippe Fichard/ICRC

CHILDREN IN WAR
Conflict increases the vulnerability of those who are Child trafficking, for purposes such as unlawful
already vulnerable, especially children. A child needs adoption and forced labour, may also increase. Boys
a family and a community that provide a nurturing and girls deprived of the protection of their parents
and protective environment. The effects of war on and other relatives are most at risk.
the young can be devastating. In 2008, the number
of children who had been forced to flee their homes, Destitution and the loss of close relatives may force
either as refugees crossing an international border young girls into early marriages or prostitution
or as internally displaced persons (IDPs), stood at and very young children to become the heads of their
18 million. families. The disruption of public services can restrict
children’s access to health care and education. At
Conflicts, which today are often internal in nature, least half of the world’s out-of-school children of
spare no one. Children are imprisoned, raped, primary school age live in conflict-ridden countries.
maimed for life, even killed. Armed conflict tears In addition to their immediate suffering, children are
families apart, forcing thousands of children to fend also psychologically damaged by witnessing
for themselves and to care for very young siblings. atrocities committed against their loved ones.

Exploitation of children, which often increases during But the resilience of boys and girls must not be
armed conflict, takes many forms, such as forced underestimated. Well-targeted care can help them
labour or – in extreme cases – slavery. This may be recover, cease to be victims of war, and take
the fate of children who have been recruited by armed possession of their lives.
forces or armed groups or of children in detention.

“… a child means every human being below the age of eig teen years unless under the law applicable to the
child, majority is attained earlier.”
Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 1
 Christoph Von Toggenburg/ICRC
Jeroen Oerlemans/ICRC
OUR CHILDREN ARE DYING
“Our children die in infancy because no one
comes to vaccinate or to treat them. We have
no teacher; our children can neither read nor
write. They are afraid to play in the jungle
because of armed groups that roam about our
villages. When they are 12, we have to hide
CIVILIANS UNDER ATTACK them so the guerrillas do not recruit them as
fighters and the army does not take them
Civilian objects like schools or hospitals are protected under IHL. Nonetheless, they away as guides and informants. Our children
have increasingly come under fire. Sometimes, schools are used to shelter those are scared by the sound of combat and
who have been forced to flee their homes. In the southern Philippines region of traumatized by displacement. Nonetheless, we
Mindanao, they shelter some of the tens of thousands of people displaced by the keep having children. Children are what is left
conflict. At Datu Gumbay Piang elementary school, Samira Endosan, a pregnant when one has lost everything else.”
mother of seven, was brewing coffee in a classroom turned dormitory when,
she recalls, “a piece of shrapnel hit me in the back.” Eight people were wounded, A native Indian in Colombia
including three young children who were playing in front of the classroom.

When regular armed forces of a government or armed groups use parts or the
whole of a school or hospital for their own purposes, not only do they deprive LIVING IN FEAR
civilians of health and education, but they also expose them to attack by the Noam, Adi and Amir Maoz spent their child-
enemy. Padre Alberto, a Catholic priest in Colombia, recounts his experience: “Last hood in a kibbutz close to the Gaza Strip, from
February, soldiers came and settled down inside our small boarding school. They where armed groups are firing rockets. When
started cooking, throwing garbage and made classrooms dirty. The children had the siren starts, they have 15 seconds to run to
run away and parents did not want them to come back as long as soldiers were still the closest shelter.
there. Luckily, I could contact the ICRC, who spoke to the commander immediately.
Things came back to normal the very same day: soldiers cleaned up and left. The “At one point we had up to eight of these alerts
commander apologized and promised it would never happen again. The children a day. It was hard to study normally. It’s not
have come back and school has restarted. The parents are very happy to know the something you can get used to. It scares us
ICRC is protecting us.” every time. Some children in school can’t stop
crying. Many have nightmares.”
The following chapters look at the most significant risks boys and girls face during
conflict, and some of the responses to them by the International Committee of “Sometimes the siren doesn’t warn us in time.
the Red Cross (ICRC), using examples from the field, primarily in situations of Once a rocket fell just five metres from our
armed conflict. However, the ICRC’s activities in other situations of violence door. There were splinters in the house. We
– inter-communal violence, for instance – are very similar. were lucky nothing worse happened.”

2
 Carl De Keyzer/ICRC

Jan Powell/ICRC
WHAT THE LAW SAYS
Protection for children in wartime is enshrined
in international humanitarian law (IHL), which is
binding on both States and non-governmental
armed groups. This body of law - which includes
the Geneva Conventions of 1949, their two
Additional Protocols of 1977 and Additional
Protocol III of 2005 - provides general protection
WHAT THE ICRC DOES for all persons affected by armed conflicts and
The ICRC’s mission is to safeguard the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal also contains provisions specifically related
violence, to come to their aid when they suffer and to prevent that suffering by to children.
promoting and strengthening universal humanitarian law and principles.
As civilians, children are protected under IHL
The ICRC acts impartially to assist all victims of war and internal violence, but in two different situations. First, if they fall
the objects of its immediate attention, in every situation, are always those who into the hands of enemy forces they must be
are most vulnerable. Hence, children are among those who benefit from all ICRC protected against murder and all forms of
field activities. abuse: torture and other forms of ill-treatment,
sexual violence, arbitrary detention, hostage-
The ICRC promotes respect for IHL during its instruction and training sessions for taking or forced displacement. Second, they
armed forces and armed groups. It reminds parties to a conflict of their obligation must in no circumstances be the target of
to permit humanitarian access to those in need, including children, at all times. The attacks, unless and for such time as they take
ICRC also works to ensure that all civilians, including children, are spared; it does this a direct part in hostilities. Instead, they must
through public campaigns, posters, leaflets, plays, and radio and TV broadcasts. be spared and protected. Many of the rules of
IHL constitute customary law and are therefore
As this brochure will detail, the ICRC also carries out programmes targeting children binding on parties to an armed conflict,
in particular: for instance, it traces children and reunites them with their families, regardless of whether they have ratified the
undertakes activities with the specific aim of putting an end to the involvement relevant treaties.
of children in armed conflict and, sometimes, provides specific support for
detained children. Human rights law – like the Convention on
the Rights of the Child (1989) and its Optional
Protocol on the Involvement of Children in
Armed Conflict of 2000 – also specifically takes
into account the need to protect children
against the effects of armed conflict.

3
TORN APART
“It was the end of October, and we were at school.
My mother and father were working in the fields.
The armed men attacked, and everybody fled, including
the teachers. I went home, and I found my younger sister,
carrying the baby on her back. I did not know where our
parents were. All of us six children left together on foot,
towards Goma, because that is where all the other villagers
were heading. We found shelter in a house under
construction, and spent two weeks begging for food.
We were very hungry. Finally, some women at the local
market took us here to this shelter for lost children.”

Bahati, a 13-year-old boy from the eastern part of the Whatever the initial cause of separation, these
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is one of children are at great risk of neglect, exploitation,
the countless children who become separated from abuse, recruitment by armed groups, unlawful
their parents, or from their usual caregivers, during adoption or trafficking. Girls may be particularly
the panic and chaos caused by armed conflict. In vulnerable, especially to sexual abuse and forcible
the DRC, anecdotal evidence suggests that a very early marriage. For babies and very young children,
large percentage of families have lost one or several their very survival may be at stake. Without the care
children in their frantic flight from threats. Parents do and protection that only an adult can provide, they
not know whether their children are dead or alive. may soon die of hunger, or of treatable illnesses like
Children are desperate for help. The lives of adults diarrhoea.
and of children are overshadowed by the anguish
of separation. In such situations, it is not unusual for very young
children – sometimes as young as eight or nine – to
Survival at stake be propelled into adult roles. They become heads
Clearly, the displacement that follows conflict – either of families, taking care of and protecting younger
inside the same country or across an international siblings. Such households are extremely vulnerable to
border – is one of the major causes of families a number of hazards: for instance, the “breadwinner”
being separated. The separations following mass of the family may be recruited into an armed group or
displacement run into numbers that are staggering: forced into prostitution in order to survive. They also
the tens of thousands of separated Rwandan children attest to the remarkable strength and resourcefulness
in the 1990s, for instance, or the situation in the DRC that children are capable of demonstrating.
in recent years. But family separations can also be
voluntary. For example, it is not unusual for parents Spontaneous fostering
who have become destitute, or who feel their children In a number of societies, spontaneous fostering may
are not safe, to entrust them – temporarily – to an be an ad hoc solution during a crisis. This was the case
orphanage, to relatives or to neighbours who are with 51-year-old Suzanne Nyombe, one of many such
better off, in the belief that that would improve their foster mothers in the eastern DRC: “I was fleeing the
chances of survival. Such temporary arrangements fighting in my village with my children when I heard
often last well into the long term, particularly if after a baby crying on the road. I looked in the ditch and
the separation the child or the family has to flee there she was, about ten months old, surrounded by
owing to armed conflict. In some desperate situations, dead bodies. I could not leave her there to die. So I
parents give away their children for adoption, in the took her and now she lives with us here, in our place
hope that this will improve their child’s prospects. of refuge. I have called her Jemima.”

4
THE FINEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT
It was in early 2003 that war reached Bohebly, in Côte d’Ivoire. Two-year-old Tia was with a relative, Delphine, while her mother worked in the
fields. Delphine and Tia were abducted and taken to neighbouring Liberia. Then the toddler was lost and after a while Delphine made her way
back to the village, alone. “Everyone thought Tia was dead,” says the village chief. “How could a little girl survive all alone out in the bush?”
“I knew she was still alive,” replies her mother. “I used to see her in my dreams. No one believed me, but I was sure I’d find her some day.” All
the while, a Liberian woman had been raising Tia as her own child. As the little girl did not know her own name, tracing her was more difficult
than usual. There were many cases of separation and the Red Cross staff was overwhelmed. Eventually, the tracing file opened by Tia’s family
in Côte d’Ivoire was matched with the one opened by her caretaker in Liberia. Tia’s mother recognized the child in the photograph, despite the
passing of the years. A scar on Tia’s back clinched the identification. Just before Christmas 2007, Tia returned home to a jubilant welcome.

ADOPTION
Experience shows that most unaccompanied children have parents or other relatives willing and able to care for them, who can be found.
Adoption should not be considered if there is reasonable hope of successful tracing and reunification. It should be considered only if it is in
the child’s best interests and should be carried out in keeping with applicable national, international and customary law. Also, priority is always
given to adoption by relatives wherever they live. When this is not feasible, adoption within the community to which the child belongs – or
at least within his or her own culture – is to be preferred.

A GLOBAL PLAN OF ACTION

The plight of children affected by armed conflicts
has long been a matter of grave concern for the
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.*
By adopting a plan of action concerning children
affected by armed conflict, the components of
the Movement demonstrated their commitment to
this issue.

The plan of action consists of two commitments:

To promote the principle of non-recruitment and non-

participation in armed conflict of children under the
age of 18 years, notably through the promotion of
international legal standards among all armed groups
(governmental and non-governmental) and by raising
awareness within civil society of the need not to allow
children to join armed forces or groups.

To take concrete action to protect and assist child

victims of armed conflict, notably by addressing
psychosocial and physical needs of children living
with families as well as of unaccompanied children and
by advocating in behalf of children who participated
in armed conflict in order to facilitate their social
Wojtek Lembryk/ICRC

reintegration.

* The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement)

is made up of the ICRC, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Ron Haviv/ICRC/VII

Crescent Societies (International Federation) and National Red Cross and

Red Crescent Societies (National Societies).

TOGETHER AGAIN
The family and community usually provide the most
effective protection for children. The priority is therefore
to reunite separated children with their families and
communities of origin. To find them, the ICRC employs
a process called ‘tracing.’

The organization is in a unique position in this respect Long-term commitment

since it works alongside other components of the Keeping the child within the community is especially
Movement. In many conflict areas, the ICRC would not important as the tracing process can take years.
be able to reunite families without this long-standing In the case of Amie Foray, it took ten years. Her
collaboration. Worldwide, thousands of specialized grandmother recalls the day when gunfire erupted
staff and volunteers of National Societies are ready around her village in Sierra Leone: “We travelled
the day conflict breaks out. They remain when the through the forest but a second attack sent us fleeing
ICRC pulls out of the country, and continue to look in different directions.” The year was 1997 and Amie
for missing relatives. was four. With the passage of time, her family came
to accept that she was no longer alive. In fact, she was
Looking for families being looked after by people who were themselves
The work starts with the early identification of in flight, which greatly complicated the tracing
children who have been separated from their primary process. Finally, in October 2007, the ICRC was able
caregiver. When massive numbers are involved, to bring Amie home. The entire village attended the
priority will be given to those most at risk: very young reunion of the teenaged Amie with her mother and
children, the sick and the disabled, and children who her grandmother.
are unaccompanied, without any adults to look after
them. A distinction must be made between separated Helping separated children is often a long-term
children – who are without their usual caregiver but commitment. The tracing of surviving relatives is
are under the protection of another relative – and a complex process, often made more difficult by
unaccompanied children, who are on their own or ongoing conflict, and may involve several National
under the care of persons totally unrelated to them, Societies in various countries. One particularly
often as a result of spontaneous fostering. efficient means of reconnecting families is the radio. It
was the means through which Bahati, the 13-year old
In the case of child-headed households, the immediate Congolese boy, and his siblings were reunited with
priority is to provide food, shelter, and access to their parents, after a five-month separation.
education and health care. The ICRC will prioritize
interim arrangements – like foster families or, in Follow-up
exceptional circumstances, short-term institutional Reunification is not necessarily the end of the
care – while searching for parents. The aim is always story. Follow-up may be needed. Such follow-up is
to provide the child some form of family-based particularly important after prolonged separation,
care, ideally within the community to which the when the child has been reunited with distant
child belongs. relatives, or when the family is in very difficult

6
 Bernt Apeland/ICRC
circumstances. It is also necessary when children WHAT THE ICRC DOES
come back with small children of their own. The ICRC has a mandate under IHL to reestablish links among separated family
members, which it carries out in close partnership with the worldwide network
Should it be proven, after a reasonable lapse of time, of National Societies.
that the child has no living relatives ready to take
him or her into their care, the ICRC will, together with • The ICRC identifies and registers children who have become separated from their
the authorities or in collaboration with the National usual adult caregivers. This information is then spread through the Movement’s
Society and/or other humanitarian agencies, try to national – and if necessary, its international – network, broadcast through local
find a suitable long-term solution. media, and disseminated in public places. Often, photos are taken and exhibited at
Red Cross branch offices and in places that draw crowds of people, such as markets.
The ICRC also provides families the opportunity to communicate with each
other, by telephone or – often – by exchanging Red Cross messages.
• The ICRC receives many requests from parents whose children have gone
missing as a result of conflict or other situations of violence, or of displacement;
it starts the tracing process on receipt of such a request.
• The ICRC supports the creation of specialized tracing units within National
Societies throughout the world.
• Given the number of civilians affected by conflicts, the Movement collaborates
closely with other humanitarian agencies.
• The website www.FamilyLinks.icrc.org was set up to help restore contact
among those separated by conflict or natural disasters. Since 2003, more than
770,000 persons have posted their names on this website.
WAVES OF HOPE
“Hello, this is Gedeon Masumbuko Birindua
from Radio Bobandano. We are going to open
the programme with a tracing list from the ICRC.
If you have lost your child during an armed
conflict, the Red Cross can help you find him.
Do call the following phone number: 081 76 83
615. And now we are going to read out the list.
Nema Bahati, born 1997, from Kibumba, Nema
Justine, born 1993…” In the eastern DRC, since
late 2008, announcers at five radio stations
have been reading out, three times a day,
the names of children lost in flight. Scores of
them, separated during this latest conflict, have
already been reunited with their families. “In a
country where people keep informed through
small portable radios, this is the most efficient
way to reunite families torn apart,” says Prosper
Sebuhire (ICRC Goma).

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

IHL aims first to address the root causes of family
separation. It prohibits all forms of behaviour
that may threaten family unity, such as forced
displacement of civilians or direct attacks on
them. When families are separated as a result of
conflict, IHL seeks to facilitate contacts among
family members and their eventual reunion,
as well as the provision of appropriate care for
the children who are affected. Under certain
strict conditions, children may be temporarily
removed from an area of conflict for their safety,
but only in the company of persons responsible
for their security and well-being.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child

also seeks to ensure that separated or
unaccompanied children receive special
protection and assistance, as well as appropriate
alternative care: for instance, foster placement,
placement in suitable institutions, kafala1
or adoption.

1. A concept of Islamic law, which may be defined as

a voluntary commitment to take charge of the needs,

upbringing and protection of a minor child, as a father would

for his own child. However, kafala does not create a legal

parent-child relationship.

8
Ron Haviv/ICRC/VII
INVOLVEMENT OF CHILDREN
IN ARMED CONFLICT
Though they are usually the victims of war, sometimes children
also take part in armed conflicts. There are tens of thousands of
children recruited or used by armed forces and armed groups in
at least 18 countries around the world. This practice has made
‘child soldiers’ a household term today.

Often unarmed, they are used in a large variety of Akaash remembers joining an armed group In Nepal,
roles: cooks, porters, messengers, spies, human at the age of ten: “Because they offered me money,
mine detectors, sexual slaves, forced labourers, even a weapon and an opportunity to prove that I was
suicide bombers. Therefore, aid organizations prefer something.” Girls are not immune to the lure Akaash
to call them “children associated with armed forces or describes. This is shown by the story of Furaha, who
armed groups.” Whatever they may be called, these was persuaded to join an armed group in the DRC
children risk their lives or their health. They often because two of her friends were already members.
suffer serious injuries, disabilities, and long-lasting She was 15, and her role was to escort a commander:
physical and psychological scars; and their future, “Whenever the officer went to fight, the escorts were
once conflict is over, is uncertain. also engaged in combat. It was very hard.”

Children join armed groups for various reasons. Children can be extremely valuable to armed groups.
There is, of course, forced recruitment, or outright They may be more obedient and easier to manipulate
abduction. Jacinata Ayaa was eight when she was than adults, and – depending on their age – less aware
abducted from her village in Uganda. “They used me of the danger they are in. In certain cases, children are
first as a babysitter but, when I turned 12, I had to forced to commit atrocities against their own families
start training as a fighter. I think I was about 13 when or communities, to ensure their blind obedience
I got my first child. A little later, I was shot twice in the and to cut them off from their roots. That they may
same leg. I became weak, but still I had to walk, carry become perpetrators should never obscure the fact
the child, carry the weapon – and fight.” that they are victims first of all.

But many children join voluntarily. Serious social Even under less extreme circumstances, their social
inequalities, the social breakdown caused by war, reintegration can be difficult, because families and
separation from adult caregivers, lack of access to communities may dread the return of someone
education, displacement: these are some of the they consider to be more perpetrator than victim.
reasons that may compel minors to enlist. Ideology The result may be stigmatization, discrimination or
may play a role, when a cause is fervently valued in even outright rejection. Also, these children are often
the community, or when family members are already deprived of schooling, and the community may
fighters. Children may also be tempted by the power not value the skills – leadership and organizational
and status that accrue to weapon bearers. Avenging abilities, for instance – that they have acquired during
the death of a relative may also be a motive. Often, their time with armed actors.
these factors are linked to each other and have a
cumulative force.

10
 Teun Anthony Voeten/ICRC
REUTERS/STR New

Invisible girls WHAT THE ICRC DOES

The stigma attached to girls usually runs deeper The ICRC is active in preventing the recruitment of children and carries out
and lasts longer. In some cultures, the sexual abuse remedial activities on their behalf.
they may have suffered compromises their marriage
prospects. When, like Jacinata Ayaa from Uganda, • The ICRC actively promotes the principle of non-recruitment and non-
they come back as mothers, their children will be participation in armed conflict of persons under the age of 18 years. It reminds
included in the community’s rejection of them. States and armed groups of their obligations under international law, and works
Therefore, girls will often avoid registering as former to introduce those principles into domestic legal systems.
fighters, thus rendering themselves invisible, both to • When wounded or detained, children benefit from the ICRC’s activities in behalf
national programmes of disarmament, demobilization of combatants hors de combat.
and reintegration (DDR) and to aid agencies. DDR • The ICRC may request armed forces or armed groups to release individual
programmes tend to overlook girls for another children.
reason: more often than not, they have no weapons • Even though the organization does not involve itself in DDR negotiations, it
to turn in. All this means that their return to civilian is willing to assist with implementation. In particular, it reunites demobilized
life may put them at risk of marginalization, unable to children with their families and ensures follow-up, particularly in regions where
receive assistance in rebuilding their lives. it benefits from access that other agencies do not enjoy.
• In collaboration with National Societies and in consultation or collaboration with
Demobilization and reintegration of children is the International Federation, the ICRC may involve itself in efforts to meet the
essential for the rebuilding of societies torn apart psychological and physical needs of boys and girls who have participated in
by violence. The first priority is to reunite them with armed conflict and to ease their reintegration. This was the case in Sierra Leone
their families and home communities. They must be and Liberia, to cite two examples.
reintroduced into the educational system and helped
to find employment through vocational training
or income-generating projects. This is crucial for
preventing their becoming marginalized, which often
leads to their being recruited again.

11
KILL OR BE KILLED
“It was in 2003, I was 11. We were walking on
the road and met strangers with weapons. We
were told not to run. My mother ran and she
was shot dead right in front of me. They gave
me a gun and taught me how to shoot. On the
front, a bullet hit my arm. When they would
capture someone from an enemy faction, they
would point a gun at me and tell me to kill that
person, so I did. If I didn’t obey, I would be shot
on the spot. I saw it happen to other kids.

During the war, my father was wounded and

all of my brothers and sisters were killed. I am
alone now with my father, who is very sick.
After the war, I applied for the Child Advocacy
and Rehabilitation (CAR) programme and was
chosen. Despite all I have been through, I am
optimistic about my future. I think I will be a
good person. Liberia will have a good future
as long as we can keep away from war. It ruins
everything. My family is gone. My childhood is
gone. I can’t get it back.”

Oliver, whose story this is, is now 17 years old.

He is learning masonry at the CAR centre in
Monrovia, along with 150 other children or
young people who are victims of the war in
Liberia. The project is run by the Liberia National
Red Cross Society with support from the ICRC.
Oliver is one of the most talented apprentice
masons at the centre.

LAYING DOWN ARMS

Cyprien was nine when he volunteered to
join an armed group in the eastern part of the
DRC: “My mother was always scolding me.
I was fed up.” Six years later, he was brought
home by the ICRC, happy but a bit worried
about the future: “As fighters we can have
everything we want. After all these years, I will
arrive empty-handed. I have no idea what I will
live on.” Jean, who returned at the same time,
has no such doubts: “I am very happy to be
home. I was a child soldier for less than a year
but I didn’t like it, because I could not be with
my family. I don’t think I will ever go back.”
 WHAT THE LAW SAYS
Protocols I and II additional to the Geneva
Conventions of 1949 forbid the recruitment,
and the participation in hostilities, of children
under the age of fifteen. In international
armed conflicts, when recruiting children
between fifteen and eighteen years
of age, States must endeavour to give
priority to those who are oldest. Article 38
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
which applies to both international and non-
international armed conflicts, also provides
similar forms of protection.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the

Rights of the Child on the involvement of
children in armed conflict (2000) aims at raising
the age at which children may be recruited and
participate in hostilities to eighteen albeit with
some exceptions:

Compulsory recruitment into States’ armed

forces is prohibited for all those under eighteen
years of age. The age of voluntary recruitment
must be raised from fifteen. In addition,
States have the obligation to take all feasible
measures to ensure that members of their
armed forces who are not yet eighteen years
of age do not take a direct part in hostilities.
The Optional Protocol also provides that non-
governmental armed groups “should not,
under any circumstances, recruit or use in
hostilities persons under the age of 18 years.”
Children who have been demobilized must
receive all appropriate assistance for their
physical and psychological recovery and their
social reintegration.

Recruiting children under the age of fifteen,

or using them as active participants in hostilities,
is also considered a war crime under the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court (Article 8).
Chris Hondros/Getty Images

13
CHILDREN AND DETENTION
When children are held behind bars, their well-being and
security are at risk. There are a number of reasons why
children are detained during periods of conflict. In many
cases, it is a direct consequence of their association with State
armed forces or non-governmental groups. When there is an
increase in the number of children detained, it is often directly
related to their active participation in hostilities. The spread of
gang violence has also led to the detention of young persons.
Many children end up in prison as a consequence of the
general social breakdown created by conflict.

Whatever the reasons for their detention, children Children may be detained simply because their
are entitled to specific kinds of care and protection. mothers or other relatives are. In the case of very young
Separation from their families is a privation that causes children, this might be an acceptable state of affairs,
serious suffering. They may be subjected to physical because, generally, it is in the best interests of the
and psychological abuse. Sometimes, they are used child to be close to his or her mother. The alternatives
as cheap labour, made to work in the fields and to – for instance, life in an orphanage or no contact with
clean. They are often deprived of a proper education. the mother – may be highly undesirable.
All this, together with the possibility of falling under
the influence of hardened criminals, jeopardizes their For older children, being detained with their mothers
chances of reintegration into society. or other relatives provides them with physical and
emotional protection. This is particularly the case
Boys and girls must be detained separately from one where no other close relative can take care of the
another and, most importantly, from adults, except child, or when the child is stigmatized and mistreated
when they are being held with family members, or by the community or the extended family because
when it is necessary for their well-being that they of the detention of the parent. But a prison is not a
stay with adults, especially women. Children should place in which to grow up. Life in prison has obvious
benefit from the highest possible standards of disadvantages, and solutions will vary from case to
accommodation, food, drinking water and health care case. The best interests of the child should always
– like check-ups and vaccinations – and have access dictate every decision to be made in this regard.
to recreational activities. They have the right to an
education and to vocational training. It is especially Sandra, a Colombian guerrilla, is one such imprisoned
unacceptable to imprison a child for years while he mother: “A friend of mine outside the jail takes care
or she is awaiting trial; but, all too often, children are of my eight-year-old daughter. I was three
unaware of their rights and risk prolonged detention. months pregnant when they caught me, and my

14
 Bikas Das/Associated Press
two-year-old son now lives with me. In the mornings, AN EDUCATION BEHIND BARS
he goes to the prison’s kindergarten, and in the The juvenile detention centre in Kandahar is
afternoons, he plays with the other six toddlers in a small house near the famous Red Mosque.
our courtyard. It is very complicated for my family to At any time, the 20 young men housed there
come and visit me here in Bogota, and we can spend may be seen reading, doing beadwork, or
on average only around five hours a month with our playing board games. During the day, they
visiting children. Being separated from one’s child is attend classes with a teacher and a tailor who
extremely hard.” shows them how to make clothes in the local
style. Only four of them are there as a result of
It is crucial for the psychological well-being of children the fighting. But the director of the detention
to have access to their parents, whether it is the child centre, Dr Saleh Muhammad, is certain that
or the parent who is detained. Sometimes, it can be none of them would be there were it not for
both. Khaled, a 13-year-old Afghan, has been detained the war: “Almost all these poor boys are here
in Iraq since he was 11. His parents are being held for petty theft. Their fathers cannot support
in a different Iraqi detention centre. Thanks to the them. What other choice do they have?” Jamil is
intervention of the ICRC, the authorities are currently 15 years old and was able to resume his stud-
organizing an intra muros visit between him and his ies at the centre: “This place is almost as good
mother. Khaled has learnt Arabic and can now express as home, except that my family is not here.” It
himself perfectly in that language. is Dr Muhammad’s hope that with education
and the right influence, the boys’ prospects will
improve.

The centre is supported by the ICRC.

MISSING PARENTS
Eight-year-old Gazala is from Bethlehem,
on the West Bank, and both her parents
are detained, in – different – Israeli prisons.
“We live a difficult and tough life,” she says.
“My grandmother, with whom I live, is trying to
make up for the love of my parents. But I can’t
forget their faces, I need them every minute.
There is not a single day that I don’t miss them
and cry because we are separated.”

An ICRC family visit programme makes it

possible for Gazala and her grandparents
to visit their detained relatives. To date, this
programme has enabled between 12,000 and
16,000 Palestinians from the West Bank to visit
their loved ones.

WHAT THE ICRC DOES

As part of its humanitarian mandate, the ICRC visits more than half a million
detainees in more than 70 countries every year; 33,000 of these persons benefit
from the ICRC’s family visits programme. In 2008, the ICRC made individual visits
to 1,500 minors. The organization works to monitor and improve conditions of
detention, through regular, confidential dialogue with the authorities in charge.
Giacomo Pirozzi/Panos

Detained girls and boys, as well as mothers with small children, are a priority. The
ICRC strives to ensure the physical and psychological security of the child, as well
as his or her future, in various ways.

• The ICRC identifies and registers detained children.

• The ICRC enables detained boys and girls and the children of detainees to
maintain regular contact with their families. It facilitates family visits and
telephone conversations, and puts its family message services at the disposal
WHAT THE LAW SAYS of detainees. Remaining in touch contributes to the psychological well-being of
Under IHL, persons deprived of liberty must everyone concerned and makes social rehabilitation after prison easier.
be treated humanely in all circumstances. • The ICRC’s delegates monitor the material conditions of detention and ensure
Such acts as murder, torture, cruel or inhuman individual follow-up for detainees. They check whether the infrastructure is
treatment, corporal punishment and mutilation, adequate, and whether detainees have enough space, light and fresh air. In this
whether committed against adults or children, regard, infants require special attention.
are prohibited. In addition, IHL provides that • The ICRC strives to ensure that detainees are able to meet their basic needs:
children deprived of liberty must be afforded proper food, water, clothing, medical care (including immunization), education,
special protection and treatment in keeping access to recreational activities, and baby items.
with their age. In particular, they must be held • As part of its efforts to improve sanitary conditions for detainees, the ICRC
separately from adults, except in those cases often carries out maintenance, renovation or construction work in places of
when an entire family is detained as a unit. detention. The organization always takes the needs of women and children into
The pronouncement or execution of a death consideration: for example, it supports construction of separate accommodations,
sentence against persons who were under or facilities that are adequate, for women with babies or small children.
18 years of age at the time of their offence is • The ICRC assesses whether it is in the best interests of the child to be held with
also prohibited. relatives. If not, it advocates separation from adult detainees, either in facilities
specifically for children and/or adolescents or in a separate part of an institution
Under the Convention on the Rights of the where adults are held. It strives to persuade the authorities to provide female
Child, States Parties have agreed that children guards for detained girls.
may be detained only as a measure of last • The ICRC also attempts to persuade the authorities to provide access to legal
resort and for the shortest period necessary assistance and speedy judicial procedures for detained children. It works with
(Article 37). national authorities to improve legislation concerning detained children.
 Maya Alleruzzo/Associated Press

17
AT HIGH RISK
Manou, who was ten at the time, and his six-year-old sister,
Chance, were tending to their family’s fields – in the eastern
DRC – when the armed men arrived. Some of them attempted
to sexually assault Manou who was wearing a dress. When they
realized he was a boy, they started hitting him. Meanwhile,
the other men were raping Chance. When their mother found
them, Chance’s lower limbs were paralyzed and Manou was
suffering the effects of his beating: he had been severely
injured and later developed a serious infection in the
abdominal region.

This grim story is not unique. The incidence of rape Amal, an Iraqi twice widowed by war, was forced to
and of other forms of sexual violence increases give her 11-year-old daughter in marriage to a man
dramatically during periods of conflict, and adult more than 20 years older. She was Amal’s youngest
women are not the only victims. It is estimated that daughter. “I know I have done wrong,” Amal says.
in the DRC, one victim in two is a minor. Rape can “But there was no solution. I had four daughters, one
be a method of warfare, used by armed groups to mentally ill. I spent nights sleeping on an empty
torture, injure, extract information, degrade, displace, stomach. In 2008, a man proposed to me, but he did
intimidate, punish or simply to destroy the fabric of not want to take my mentally ill daughter. Soon after,
the community. The mere threat of sexual violence a rich man proposed to my 11-year-old, saying he was
can cause entire communities to flee their homes. willing to house the mentally ill sister too. I agreed
Dr Tharcisse Synga in the DRC, who treats many victims because it provided a solution for all of us. But after a few
of rape, has no doubt: “Sexual violence is a barometer months of marriage, my 11-year-old daughter told me
of war. If there is more fighting, there is also more that her husband was raping her sister. Because of
sexual violence. Ethnic groups use it against each other shame, the fear of scandal and of being thrown out
and children are not spared.” onto the street by my present husband if my daughter
got divorced, I asked her to shut her mouth. All I could
Displacement, destitution or separation from caregivers do is to take my mentally ill daughter to a shelter. I left
makes boys and girls extremely vulnerable: sexual the other one with a rapist.”
exploitation is a major risk. At times, in order to
survive children may have to resort to prostitution. While girls might be forced into early marriages, boys
The practice, followed in some societies, of giving become breadwinners at an age when they should be
away young or very young girls in marriage may find in elementary school. Ibraheem was only nine years
encouragement in the general state of destitution that old when he had to start trading goods on the streets
follows war. All these girls risk early pregnancies, which of a city in southern Iraq: “In 2008, I lost my father in
might lead to medical complications and even death. a firefight. Since then, I have been responsible for my
The fate of children born of rape can also be dire: in mother and three sisters. They do not work; they have
such instances, relatives sometimes reject, even kill, to stay at home. In our society, men have to take care
the baby. Victims of sexual abuse are also exposed of women. So, I had to leave my school and give up
to the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other sexually my dream of becoming a doctor. Every day, I have to
transmissible diseases. put food on the table. At the end of the month, there
should be enough money to pay the rent. Otherwise,
Adult children I will be judged by the community and I will see in my
In Iraq, decades of conflict have created millions of mother’s eyes that I am not the man of the house.”
fatherless children. The consequences for boy may
be different from those for girls, but they are equally
serious for both.

18
 WHAT THE LAW SAYS
IHL provides that persons in the power of a party
to an armed conflict must be treated humanely
in all circumstances. More particularly, IHL
protects these persons against outrages against
personal dignity, including humiliating and
degrading treatment, rape, forced prostitution
and any form of indecent assault.

Under the Rome Statute of the International

Wojtek Lembryk/ICRC
Criminal Court, rape and other forms of sexual
violence constituting a serious violation of
the Geneva Conventions are war crimes when
committed in international or non-international
armed conflict (Article 8).

WHAT THE ICRC DOES

The ICRC has adopted a comprehensive approach that includes both preventive
action and assistance for victims.

• In its IHL training programmes for armed forces and armed groups, the ICRC
emphasizes the prohibition against sexual violence and advocates its inclusion
in the law or in internal regulations.
• Through campaigns, plays, posters, leaflets and other awareness-raising
activities, the ICRC tries to prevent sexual violence, always stressing the fact that
it is a serious crime with severe repercussions for the victims. The campaigns are
undertaken to create awareness of the issue, to help in the breaking down of
taboos and to inform victims of the services available to them.
• Similar campaigns are carried out to remind authorities, armed actors and the
general public of other issues pertaining to IHL, such as the absolute need to
spare civilians in conflict. The ICRC issues constant reminders on the rights of the
civilian population, children included. It provides financial and material support
for victims of war in a number of ways.
• Victims of sexual violence require immediate medical attention. Treatment is
Wojtek Lembryk/ICRC

provided in health facilities that receive ICRC support in various forms: drugs
and medical equipment, training for medical staff, repairs, and so on.
• The ICRC provides volunteers at the community level with psychosocial
training to enable them to counsel victims and to mediate between victims and
their families. In the eastern DRC, for example, “listening houses” have been
established for the benefit of victims of sexual violence.
• ICRC staff document alleged cases of sexual violence, report them to the Birendra Yadav lost his parents when he was
authorities and urge them to take action. 12 years old. When his older brother was killed
during the conflict, Birendra was on his own.
That is why the ICRC chose the boy as one of the
beneficiaries of an income-generating project
that it runs jointly with the Nepal Red Cross
Society. The aim of the project is to generate
income by enhancing the means of production
of households whose livelihoods were severely
affected by the conflict. Birendra now expects
to join a computer-training centre. He dreams
of the day when he will open one of his own.
HEALTH
Modern warfare does not spare children: it injures,
maims and kills them. It does great harm to children in
many other ways as well. One of the indirect consequences
of armed conflict is that essential infrastructures are
not maintained and become obsolescent. Access to health
services and medicines is diminished, and sometimes
the entire health-care system collapses.

Jan Powell/ICRC

Needs are far greater than the resources with which The director of the centre remembers: “Her mother
to meet them. States and municipalities have much was herself very thin and could not feed her properly.”
less money to spend on essential health care, such The meagre harvests no longer produced surpluses
as vital immunization programmes and mother-and- that could be sold, her work in the fields exhausted
baby clinics. Difficulty of access to regions gripped her and she had three other small children to feed:
by violence is another reason for the collapse of the mother was without the means to pull this last
vaccination campaigns. The consequences are baby through.
potentially fatal: for instance, outbreaks of measles or
meningitis that occur, especially – but not exclusively For the past 30 years, Afghanistan has been enduring
– in crowded conditions, in camps for refugees or for one conflict after another. At the Mirwais hospital in
displaced persons may be deadly. In war, even the Kandahar, Dr Alan Karibean, a paediatrician working
most common illness can kill. for the ICRC, says, “The situation has exacerbated
the severity of the children’s illnesses. By far the
Doctors and nurses may be among those who flee most important factor is the nutrition factor, which
violence and chaos. Sometimes, clinics and hospitals increases morbidity and mortality in children. Thus,
are directly targeted by fighters. Difficulty of access even common illnesses are much more severe
to clean water is often a serious problem and a major because they are malnourished.”
cause of various illnesses, like diarrhoea, which may
be fatal in infants and toddlers. More often than not, Newborn babies, as well as pregnant mothers, are
impoverished families cannot afford health care. particularly at risk when health structures are out of
Poverty breeds malnutrition, which stunts growth and reach or when they are without basic materials, like
depresses the immune system, leaving the child more cotton or a clean razor blade with which to cut the
vulnerable to illness. When five-month-old Barakissa umbilical cord. Pregnancy and childbirth are major
Ouattara arrived at a local Red Cross nutritional causes of death in developing countries under normal
centre in northern Côte d’Ivoire, she weighed just circumstances; the situation worsens dramatically
one kilogram. during periods of conflict.

20
AMINA’S STORY A DOCTOR REMEMBERS
Amina is ten years old. She remembers a day when Said Abu Hasna, a Qatari Red Crescent doctor on an
she was playing with friends in the small town in ICRC mission, treated the injured at Shifa Hospital in
north-west Pakistan where she lived: “All of a sudden, Gaza City, during the Israeli military incursion of 2009:
the bomb came. I still do not know where it came “I had never been in a situation like this. At times, I
from.” Shrapnel struck her legs. At the local clinic, could not hold back my tears. I particularly remember
her wounds became infected. Her father took her Bissan, an eight-year-old girl. She was brought to the
to the ICRC surgical hospital for weapon-wounded intensive care unit. She had lost her brother and other
in Peshawar. After two operations to remove the members of her family. She had extensive injuries and
shrapnel, Amina is getting better, and slowly learning her situation held little hope. It was only three days
to walk again. When asked what she wants to do when later that she recovered consciousness. When she
she grows up, she grins shyly: “A school teacher.” opened her eyes, she flashed a big smile. Her courage

Boris Heger/ICRC
Almost half the war-wounded civilians treated by the simply blew me away.”
ICRC in Peshawar are either women or children.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS WHAT THE ICRC DOES

When civilians are deprived of that which is • Mother-and-child care is a top priority for the ICRC. Support for local health
essential to their survival – adequate food, water, structures is directed first to improving mother-and-child services at the first
and medical treatment – IHL provides that relief level of care and to emergency surgical, gynaeco-obstetric and paediatric care.
action must be undertaken. Each party to the The ICRC trains local nurses, doctors and other medical staff. It can provide
armed conflict must allow and facilitate such equipment, medical supplies and medicines.
operations, if they are humanitarian, impartial • The ICRC organizes regular distributions of baby parcels containing hygiene and
and conducted without any adverse distinction. other items suitable for infant care.
• The ICRC helps to train female medical personnel, particularly in those societies
Under IHL, the wounded and the sick must be where it is taboo for women and girls to be in the company of men – including
respected, protected, treated humanely, and medical personnel – who are not relatives. If necessary, it may pay for women
given the necessary medical care and attention; and their dependents to be transported to clinics with female staff.
the law also requires protection and respect for • As a rule, the ICRC supports the local structures of its privileged partners, the
medical and humanitarian relief personnel. National Societies. It may also contribute to the support provided to other
medical centres. In emergencies, the ICRC may itself tend to the injured or
Through the Convention on the Rights of the wounded (e.g. by performing operations) or provide basic health care for
Child, States Parties have also recognized the population.
the right of those under the age of 18 to “the • The ICRC provides support for immunization programmes.
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard • Access to clean water and sanitation is critical for good health. ICRC engineers
of health.” The Convention also requires States provide water distribution structures like water bladders, repair existing water
Parties to take appropriate measures to “ensure systems and build toilets in collective centres.
the provision of necessary medical assistance • The ICRC may provide support for therapeutic feeding centres to help malnourished
and health care” and to combat disease and children; it may also provide support for the mothers of these children.
malnutrition (Article 24). Given the risks related to the use of powdered milk in aid operations, the ICRC, in
line with the WHO’s policy of promoting breast-feeding, has since 1984 restricted
the use of powdered milk to the treatment of malnutrition

21
MENTAL HEALTH
Diya was three-and-a-half years old when he was
kidnapped with his father in Iraq. To break the father down,
the kidnappers tortured Diya; his father had to listen
to his son’s screams from an adjacent room. Diya still has
the scars on his skull. He eats poorly, has nightmares,
is hyperactive and wets his bed. He lives in constant fear
of “thieves” and at night, he can fall asleep only if he is
allowed to hold his father’s leg. 1

Children experience or witness terrible events during Childhood and adolescence are critical stages in a
conflicts: the little girl who watched her mother being person’s psychological development, and traumatic
raped; the children who saw their father beaten and events during these periods can have lasting
then taken away, never to return; those who fled their consequences. But children are remarkably resilient
homes when the bombs began to fall; the 14-year-old and recover from traumatic experiences in the most
who had to climb over the lifeless bodies of her father unexpected ways. “Indeed, children have natural but
and brothers to get out of the ruins of her house. variable capacities to adapt to the changes in their
They develop fears that never leave them and lose environment. This will depend on several factors,
confidence in the ability of adults to protect them. amongst them their age, their personal aptitude, as
Mothers from the Philippines to Lebanon tell similar well as the characteristics of their social and emotional
stories: “When there is a thunderstorm, my children environment. The resilience to an event or traumatic
scream because they believe the bombing has situation may vary from one child to another and
started again.” Zukhra was an eight-month-old baby the support should be adapted accordingly,” says
in Chechnya when her mother, who was holding her, Laurence De Barros-Duchene, an ICRC mental health
was killed during a shootout. Zukhra lay on the street coordinator.
for several hours, bullets flying around her, before
someone came to her aid. She is seven years old now Trauma cases do sometimes require mental-health
but is yet to say a word; clinical examinations have care, but only very seldom. In conflict-affected
revealed nothing wrong with her. countries, humanitarian agencies prefer a community-
based approach to one that concentrates on
Children who have been forced to commit atrocities individuals. This consists of creating the most
while bearing arms are very likely to be scarred favourable conditions for victims to recover by
psychologically. So are ten-year-olds who are forced themselves. Most often, it is necessary only to restore
to become their families’ breadwinners. Psychological a sense of normalcy: through care and nurturing,
distress expresses itself in various forms: physically by meeting basic needs, restoring normal routines
(stomach pains, headaches), as behavioral difficulties and structures, and providing recreational activities
(withdrawal, aggression towards people or objects), (staging plays, role-playing exercises, games, sports,
as learning disabilities, bed-wetting, difficulty in drawing, etc.). In certain societies, traditional rituals 1. This little Iraqi boy and his family
speaking, and in many other ways as well. can help, particularly for reintegrating children are refugees in Lebanon; he is being
associated with armed forces and armed groups. treated through a UNHCR project.

22
 Thierry Gassmann/ICRC

In some cases, the psychological suffering may be so

intense as to require more targeted attention. This
may be the case with families of missing persons, who
live in a state of constant uncertainty, unable to mourn
for their loved ones whose fate remains unknown.

Stuart Freedman/Panos
Children in these situations are highly sensitive to the
emotions within the family circle – even when they
are misguidedly “spared” the truth – and may even
develop a sense of guilt. The ICRC tends to the needs
of certain families – whose members are missing – by
providing psychological care, among other things.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

Article 39 of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child establishes that “States Parties shall
take all appropriate measures to promote
physical and psychological recovery and social
reintegration of a child victim of: any form of
neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any
WHAT THE ICRC DOES other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading
• The ICRC contributes to projects run by National Societies to provide psychosocial treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts.
support for children who are victims of armed conflict. For example, the ICRC Such recovery and reintegration shall take
cooperated with the Algerian Red Crescent when it launched a programme to place in an environment which fosters
provide psychological care for thousands of young victims of violence. Currently, the health, self-respect and dignity of the child“
the ICRC is providing support for the Chechen branch of the Russian Red Cross (emphases added). The Optional Protocol
Society in a project to build playrooms for children. on the involvement of children in armed
• The ICRC provides support for families of missing persons in dealing with the conflict includes a similar provision for children
consequences of a loved one’s disappearance. This includes, in addition to who have been unlawfully recruited or used
material help, psychological support and care. in hostilities.
INVISIBLE KILLERS
An unevenness in the ground, a ribbon hanging from
an olive tree or lying in a paddy field: often invisible,
always innocuous-seeming, landmines, cluster bombs
and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) are killers;
and the great majority of their victims are civilians.

In southern Lebanon, a few days before his twelfth Children make up almost a third of the casualties
birthday, Muhammad was riding pillion on his father’s of mines and ERW throughout the world: the figure
motorcycle when they hit something on the road: for Afghanistan is almost 50%. If only civilian victims
“I fell off the motorbike into a hole, and I remember are considered, children account for 46% of all the
something blew up.” His father was only slightly injured, casualties in the world. ERW are a threat in more
but the blast set Muhammad’s body on fire. When he than 70 countries.
woke up in hospital, he had lost both his legs.
Children can also be indirect victims. The sudden
These weapons can kill or maim decades after the loss of a father or other breadwinner, through
end of conflict. Bounma’s father was not born when disablement or death, can often mean the end of
bomber planes dropped cluster bombs over Laos in access to education and health services, as well
the 1960s. But 40 years later, the toddler Bounma as malnourishment, particularly consequential for
was killed instantly when a bomblet exploded in his young children.
parents’ back yard. His six-year-old sister’s legs were
peppered with shrapnel and his oldest brother took Young survivors are often severely disabled, and
the blast in the face. this can affect their prospects permanently. In some
societies, the risks for girls are destitution and the
Most of those who are killed and injured are men end of all hopes of marriage. This may reduce them
working in fields or engaged in other livelihood to begging or other degrading activities such as
activities, simply because, in order to survive, prostitution, or make them vulnerable to ill-treatment.
people have to go on farming, collecting water and The consequences can be equally severe for boys,
firewood, grazing livestock or collecting scrap metal who are expected to become breadwinners and take
in contaminated areas. However, children are also care of their families.
frequently victims of these weapons. Boys in rural
communities are particularly at risk because of the However, a young victim who receives proper
tasks they are often assigned: farming and herding, medical and orthopaedic care can lead a normal life
for instance. In addition, children often put themselves with dignity and follow almost any profession. This
at risk out of ignorance or curiosity or because of requires financial resources, since a child will need a
peer pressure. new set of prostheses every year, for the full period

24
 Sebastiao Salgado/ICRC
Marko Kokic/ICRC

of his or her physical growth, and regular follow-up landmine. His mother had died when he was five, so,
in an orthopaedic centre (at least twice a year). The he says, “I was doing odd jobs like shining shoes. After
prospects for disabled children depend also on the accident I wondered how I could continue to
having the same educational opportunities as their work.” The ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled fitted
peers. Unfortunately, many of them are deprived him with an artificial leg, which enabled Tesfahun
of such opportunities, because schools are not to return to school and even give his schoolmates
adapted to their needs (because they are wheelchair- dancing lessons. “A lot of disabled people sit at home
inaccessible, for instance) or simply because they are and feel useless because society doesn’t give them a
kept at home. chance. But if they are given a chance, they can really
lead full and active lives,” he says. “I want to go to
Tesfahun Hailu, a 20-year-old Ethiopian, lost his leg university and become a doctor. In my village, there
and part of his arm when he was 13 years old: “I was is only one doctor for 6,000 people. We need more
playing with a strange object I had found, trying to of them.”
open it, but it exploded.” The strange object was a

BANNING MINES AND CLUSTER MUNITIONS

The international community has taken significant measures to ban mines and cluster munitions. The Convention on the Prohibition of
Anti-Personnel Mines (Mine Ban Convention) was adopted in 1997. By signing the Convention, States Parties committed themselves to
ending the use of anti-personnel mines, assisting victims, removing the threat of mines already in the ground and reducing the interim
risk to civilians through preventive actions. The Convention on Cluster Munitions was signed by 94 States in December 2008. It prohibits
the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions.
RITA’S STORY
Rita Pariyaar was herding cattle near an army barracks when she touched off a
mine with her right foot. The ten-year-old Nepalese remembers: “[It felt] like my
foot stepped on a cauldron of hot water, and the next moment there was blood all
over. It took me a while to digest the fact that I had nothing left below my ankle.”
She was taken to an ICRC-supported orthopaedic centre in Pokhara, in western
Nepal, where she was provided with an artificial limb and given physiotherapy.
After a year of care, Rita is happy to be back in school again.

ICRC
WHAT THE ICRC DOES
The ICRC’s activities are both preventive and remedial:

• The ICRC assists National Societies in providing safer alternatives to livelihoods in

contaminated countries. Activities to this end typically involve the establishment
of safe areas, including safe playgrounds for children in mine-affected areas, the
provision of new sources of water in non-contaminated areas and of alternative

ICRC
sources of food or fuel, and micro-credit projects.
• The ICRC carries out risk-education activities such as raising awareness in
emergencies, with the intention of bringing about long-term changes in
behaviour and ensuring that communities have a central role in determining
clearance priorities. lnformal activities, like quiz competitions and puppet
theatre, may be used to educate children.
• The ICRC is actively involved in the development, promotion and implementation
of norms of IHL that prevent and address the human suffering caused by mines,
cluster munitions and other ERW, such as the Convention on the Prohibition of
Anti-Personnel Mines, the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Protocol on
Explosive Remnants of War.
• The ICRC takes action, in conjunction with national authorities, to reduce the
effects of weapon contamination and provides support for National Societies to
develop their capacities.
• The ICRC assists in the provision of emergency care for the war-wounded and
aids hospitals and medical structures in many mine/ERW-affected countries.
• The ICRC operates and supports physical rehabilitation facilities for weapon
victims and other physically disabled people in conflict-affected countries to
help them regain mobility and economic independence. It may also help in the
social reintegration of the disabled and in enabling them to play a productive
role in society.
ICRC

26
A PUPPET’S GUIDE TO SAFETY
The leading role in the ICRC’s mine-awareness campaign in Chechnya is played by Cheerdig, a much-loved character in Chechen stories
that have been handed down through the generations. For the last few years, the Chechen Puppet Theatre Company has been using a
puppet play featuring Cheerdig to teach children about the risks posed by unexploded ordnance. The play, entitled Danger, Mines: The
New Adventures of Cheerdig, has toured camps and collective centres for the displaced in the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia; a comic
book featuring Cheerdig has also been published and is now used in schools. The ICRC has produced Cheerdig posters and a cartoon film
that was broadcast by the state television company. Advice given by Cheerdig has become so popular that children now take longer but
safer routes to school instead of the shortcuts of the past.

Boris Heger/ICRC
PROMOTING HUMANITARIAN PRINCIPLES
What really happened at My Lai, a Vietnamese village, in 1968? Why is it necessary to spare civilians in times of war? Why not outlaw
war altogether? Should those who violate IHL be punished? And what can a bystander do when someone else’s human dignity is
threatened?
These are some of the questions thousands of teenagers around the world, aged 13 to 18, have already tackled in the framework of the
Exploring Humanitarian Law (EHL) programme. EHL grew from the recognition that armed conflict and urban violence were ubiquitous
and that media coverage and entertainment products glorifying violence ensured that adolescents would not be able to ignore them and
that some young people knew about war at first hand.
EHL aims at developing awareness and understanding not only of the rules to be observed during conflict, but ultimately of those necessary
if people are to live together. Though it focuses on the issue of protecting life and human dignity in wartime, its lessons can be extended
to every corner of our lives. The curriculum helps to prepare young people to become informed adult citizens at the local, national and
global levels.
Inculcating humanitarian principles among young people is part and parcel of the long-standing ICRC tradition of helping governments
to promote IHL and of the Movement’s efforts throughout the world in this regard.

For more information, visit www.ehl.icrc.org

MISSION
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
is an impartial, neutral and independent organization
whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect
the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal
violence and to provide them with assistance. It directs
and coordinates the international relief activities
conducted by the Movement in situations of conflict.
It also endeavours to prevent suffering by promoting
and strengthening humanitarian law and universal
humanitarian principles. Established in 1863, the ICRC
is at the origin of the International Red Cross and Red
Crescent Movement.
 Von Toggenburg/ICRC
Mardini/ICRC
International Committee of the Red Cross
19, avenue de la Paix
1202 Geneva, Switzerland

Christoph
T + 41 22 734 60 01 F + 41 22 733 20 57

Robert
E-mail: [email protected] www.icrc.org
© ICRC, November 2009

Front cover: Christoph Von Toggenburg/ICRC

Back cover: Claire Kaplun/ICRC
 Claire Kaplun/ICRC

01015/002 11.2009 3000

FOCUS
CHILDREN IN WAR