What does War Child actually do?
What does War Child actually do?
Whilst all this talk about mechanisms, protection, mental health makes a lot of sense, what do we actually do to remedy the problems? War Child has found that for the majority of conflict-affected children, there is a pedagogy which is less labour intensive or stigmatizing, than targeted mental health programmes. Our mantra is LIFE-SKILLS. Life-Skills is psychosocial work and activities and has its own methodology championed by UNICEF, the Child Protection sector and Mental Health experts as the means of increasing resilience, confidence and a more qualified and hopeful generation in societies blighted by conflict and poverty.
As many children tend to only display milder signs of trauma or mental instability in conflict situations, War Child’s primary aim is to deal with their difficulties and build their resilience. Working with small groups of children, War Child-trained teachers take life-skills classes in both emergency and post-emergency settings.
The life-skills curriculums follow the guidelines from the Inter Agency Standing Committee and are developed in coordination with the national ministries as well as with other stakeholders and develop the following skills problem solving, critical thinking, effective communication skills, decision-making, creative thinking, interpersonal relationship skills, self-awareness building skills, empathy, dealing with stress and emotions.
So how do we actually do this? Activities range from confidence-building activities to public speaking, debating, problem solving and creative tasks. Children get the chance to communicate their messages to society through radio adverts, posters, or through becoming better at expressing themselves and their hopes. Making children aware that they can have a future, that they have rights, and that they should be able to hope is crucial in building their optimism and engagement in the peace process.
Impact
So what changes might we see in a child who is attending life-skills classes? Whilst we can’t measure it quantifiably, to staff and project managers the changes are visible almost immediately. The youngest to the eldest can quickly become more independent, relate better to authority figures, become better at playing, at empathizing, and building friendships.
For those who may not be ready or able to participate in group activities, War Child offers counselling for children. This has been very popular and successful in particular at our street-girls drop in centre in Kinshasa. The majority of girls at the centre are child sex-workers, with an average age of 12. Furthermore, War Child is well integrated into the network of child protection agencies both governmental and non-governmental in-country. By working with lots of children, our teachers quickly become aware of children who need more help, who are at risk and who need referral.
We believe that the most immediate, long-lasting and beneficial work is done with children in the safest place; the classroom.
Living with conflict
Living with conflict
In periods of insecurity, normally protective systems such as the family, community and religious institutions and rule of law can breakdown or mutate. With this erosion, the problems of social injustice, inequality, and marginalisation can become even more pronounced, yet there are fewer functioning mechanisms to help address them.
The impact of this societal breakdown can be suspension of essentials such as education, fragmented families, lost societal knowledge, and because of all this, a further entrenchment of poverty.
Courts stop working, social workers stop getting paid and families begin making survivalist priorities and breaking up. Mental health problems, psychosocial issues are highly connected to conflict and for those suffering, the breakdown of these support mechanisms and the stress of conflict on those around them can further endanger them and others. Already existing societal perspectives such as on the restrictions of women can very negatively impact women and their dependents ad lead to inequality in resource distribution.
Conflict-affected children
Children living within a conflict-affected place over a prolonged period of time may suffer from long term problems as well as displaying immediately visible symptoms. Living in a state of continual fear, dealing with bereavement, witnessing violent acts are just some of the events and elements which can induce adverse and worrying psychological reactions. With few “conflict-free” years, psychological stress is further exacerbated. The irony is that children on the whole, show extraordinary resilience to the negative elements of their environment. This resilience is increased when their essential needs are met, and when further burdens such as income generation are taken off their shoulders.
Recruitment
Conflict can indirectly and directly affect children but it also involves them. Children can become conflict actors; involved with and fighting for armed groups. There are an estimated 250,000 child soldiers in the world today, 40% of them girls. Whilst in many cases recruitment may be forced, there are many degrees of coercion and children who have been recruited or who have signed up voluntarily are often found to have been marginalised, independent from their family and were already involved in more hazardous enterprises. We need to understand that becoming “wife” or soldier can appeal to children as a legitimate livelihood choice, and increasing the opportunities for young people is one means of reducing voluntary recruitment.
However, the psychological effects of being exposed to armed conflict at a young age can be grave for future prospects. Assisting with demobilisation and reintegration is crucial if we are to stop young people keeping from taking arms again, entering into demeaning/hazardous employment, or failing to make lasting relationships with people
The psychological effects of war
The below is a blog based on a talk the War Child UK Programme Director gave to a group of NGOs specialising in child poverty in November 2011. In the following posts we will try to add more colour to the ways in which conflict affects a child’s mental health and social coping mechanisms.
Conflict in the World
War Child UK (WCUK) operates in the worst conflict-affected places in the world. The countries we work in are the infamous and the unjust. As well as operating in Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, we have recently begun working in Central African Republic (CAR) which has 17 distinct armed groups (recognised as distinct from criminal groups) creating an insecure environment . CAR is in a “bad neighbourhood” surrounded by DRC and Uganda (where WCUK also works) as well as Chad, Sudan and South Sudan, the newest and one of the poorest nations on earth. One of the reasons we started working in CAR is the link to, Congo and Uganda, where the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) has been active. There has been an estimated 30,000 children abducted since their appearance in the 1990s.
Iraq, Afghanistan, Congo, Uganda, have barely been out of international news for the continual conflict their citizens have had to live through.
All these conflicts create their own warped war economies which need soldiers, porters, cooks, assets etc. Unfortunately, in a majority of cases, these roles are taken by children.In the world today there are as many as 250,000 children currently associated with, or fighting for, armed groups. With few income opportunities, being a “wife” or a “soldier” can appeal as a legitimate livelihood choice to young people. WCUK works with children who have been negatively affected by conflict and insecurity. Whilst WCUK does work with children who have been associated with the armed forces, WCUK does not, in most cases, distinguish them from the millions of vulnerable and marginalised young people negatively affected by conflict.
Before the War
Over 600 million people live in countries affected by fragility and conflict (World Bank Institute). Poverty rates in these countries average 54%, in contrast to 22% for low-income and peaceful countries. Most of these countries don’t get a 54% poverty rate overnight, instead it is the result of years or even decades of fighting and insecurity which lead to stagnation of economic growth, capital flight, fewer opportunities and increasingly disabled and incapable state apparatuses. Without accountability, taxation, and capacity some conflict affected states also become “failed” states where the rule of law and jurisdiction of institutions becomes totally absent and ineffectual.
In countries such as Afghanistan it can be hard to distinguish when “before the war” was, as the cycle of conflict has been ongoing for nearly thirty years and breathing spaces for reconstruction have been rare. However, in other countries such as Iraq and Uganda the difference is more marked. In the 1990s, Iraq had an educational system to envy, with near universal rates of primary school education, an exemplary university system and a magnet for the region. Since 2003, universities have emptied, schools have been bombed, and the percentage of students completing school has plummeted.
Whilst in many cases life “before the war” was not golden, the protective mechanisms that communities establish to help deal with the obstacles means they are able to function, and as areas become more and more insecure, the erosion of these mechanisms can have disastrous consequences for children.
War Child UK sent animator Ellie Land to northern Uganda to make a film with the local young people. It addresses the subject of Gender Based Violence - a taboo topic in Karamajong culture, but a huge problem for the women and girls there.
Read more about the project here.
As the global population soars toward nine billion by 2045, this corner of Africa shows what’s at stake in the decades ahead. The Rift is rich in rainfall, deep lakes, volcanic soil, and biodiversity. It is also one of the most densely populated places on Earth. A desperate competition for land and resources—and between people and wildlife—has erupted here with unspeakable violence. How can the conflict be stopped? Will there be any room left for the wild?
"The identity of an individual is essentially a function of her choices, rather than the discovery of an immutable attribute."
— Amartya Sen, The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity
Forgive my language, but this is monumentally f****d up.
Ben.
These are well worth 5 minutes of your time…
Rwanda visit - Day 7
Day 7
The car that was supposed to take us to the airport actually didn’t turn up in time, not an encouraging start! But we made our flight by the skin of our teeth as the airport was a few meters wide and luckily did not take long to navigate!
Over fifty hours travelling, seven days and a draft strategy later…we are back on UK soil to be met with our War Child staff in head office and hundreds of unread emails!
