Victims and perpetrators often blurred when it comes to child soldiers
LRA commander's trial brings debate on what justice should look like
Because so much of our project work has been centered in Uganda and establishing a platform for child soldier reintegration with our partners, we have been monitoring the story of the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) commander Dominic Ongwen and his pending trial since turning himself into the ICC earlier this year.
On the surface, it would seem cut and dry as to what the right 'justice' is for someone who killed on behalf of Kony and the LRA. But as this article points out, are there not special considerations to an individual's actions when they themselves were abducted as a child and forced into becoming a soldier? Like many young combatants and especially those swept up in the Kony regime, the proposition becomes, 'kill or be killed'.
There are those closer to the situation than us who argue for reconciliation and believe that this is the only way for regions and countries to move on and truly heal from the deep wounds left by conflict and that the children forced to grow up only knowing the horrible realities of war deserve forgiveness. As the retired Bishop Onono-Onweng says in this piece, the LRA conflict moved beyond Uganda's borders many years ago, and calls for everyone to move on instead of calling for vengeance and tearing open old wounds. He goes on to state:
"Let life flow, my friend," says Onono-Onweng, while he swings his arms in the air. "Look at the Nile – when its water hits a rock, it always flows on in a new direction."
Another individual who has been on the frontlines of this issue - and one of our key partners in our project work, Bishop Ochola, has also argued for careful consideration in the case of Dominic Ongwen. Here from the official statement from the Bishop's organization (ARLPI) is the framework that he wishes adopted as this case moves forward:
We appeal to the government of Uganda as well as to the international community to sincerely consider the situations of our formerly abducted innocent children of Northern Uganda, like, Ongwen Dominic, whose human rights and human dignity have been grossly violated by the LRA for all these years in captivity with LRA. What should be done to them in order to restore their human broken relationships during the war of insurgency. What must be done to them in order to realize the genuine accountability for all that happened during the war of insurgency. Who did what needs to be revealed and made known publicly, as a mechanism for healing and national reconciliation.
The religious leaders of Acholi sub-region have the compassion and the commitment to see that real justice is done to all our unfortunate innocent children, like, Ongwen Dominic, who have become the victims of circumstances, as a result of the war of insurgency in Northern Uganda. We are, therefore, willing and ready to offer ourselves, as spiritual leaders, to stand for Ongwen Dominic in the Hague in the Netherlands, to see that real justice is done to him and many others who are still languishing in pains, sufferings, and poverty, especially in Acholi sub-region.
The full statement can be found here. We will continue to follow this story and bring direct comment from both Bishop Ochola and our newest global associate in Uganda, Denis Okello.
LRA commander Dominic Ongwen (blue shirt) turning himself in to government officials earlier this year.
It Should Not Take An 'International Day'
We Reluctantly Join the UN in Having to Acknowledge Today
Today is recognized by the UN as International Day to End the Use of Child Soldiers. While we appreciate that the issue of child soldiers being used in conflict around the world is receiving a spotlight today to gain more awareness, we're also more than a little torn that it takes an 'International Day' to make people more aware of the plight of child soldiers.
First, some facts on why the UN recognizes today for child soldiers:
The occasion is the anniversary of the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC) of Feb. 12, 2002. In June 2013, an initiative was launched aimed at completely stopping the recruitment of child soldiers by 2016. But the reality for the estimated 300,000 child soldiers worldwide looks completely different.
Our own issues page is a further resource for getting a fuller understanding that reality. Here briefly excerpted from that page are some important details that we have learned from our own research and involvement in the issue:
While there are many reasons offered for why children join the armed forces, the thread that links all of the reasons concerns issues of survival. Although children who enlist in the armed forces of their own accord are seen as voluntary participants, there are economic and social factors that largely influence their decision.
One reason that is often mentioned for voluntary enlistment is the economic pressures felt by the children's families, as poor families are often unable to support their children and provide them with food and education during times of war. Families in this situation often reason that the best alternative for children is to join the armed forces, where they will be provided with food every day. Street children often join because they see no other positive alternative, as they have no family and live each day in uncertainty.
Others who join the armed forces seek to avenge the deaths of their relatives, by fighting in opposition to armed forces that killed them. Girls occasionally use the armed forces as an escape route from domestic servitude, enforced marriage, and abuse at home. Despite "voluntary enlistment" by children, armed forces often continue to forcibly remove children from their homes to join their ranks in the face of clear resistance from children and their families.
Our project work continues today – and everyday, to find ways to improve the lives of former combatants as they reintegrate into their communities. In 2015, we hope to build on the models that have been put in place by our teams in both Uganda and Colombia. And we hope that some day, the UN doesn't have to devote an International Day to End the Use of Child Soldiers.
Learn more on how you can support our work in Uganda and in Colombia, by clicking here.
Water on our Mind
Water Crisis Declared in Mindanao
Officials of Butuan City in restive Mindanao have declared an unprecedented "state of water crisis" after more than a month of severe water shortage that has affected the lives of the more than 200,000 residents.
As the story reports, this crisis was brought on by the last natural disaster that struck the southern Philippines in December, the tropical storm "Seniang."
Our own Global Associate, Dr. Susana Anayatin continues to bring clean water to residents and school children in the same region, by maintaining the water wells restored by the Goldin Institute in recent years. We will continue to monitor the official announcement from Butuan City with Susana and post up-to-date developments on how she and her community is being impacted by the current crisis. The interactive map demonstrating our work with Susana in the region can be viewed here.
Clean Water Not Just an Issue in the Philippines
In Zambia, this recent story points out their own crisis. Over 5 million people are thought to be without clean drinking water. Directly from the piece, WaterAid country representative Fatoumata Haidara commented on the how this impacts Zambia:
[quote]A lack of sanitation is a public health issue as people are affected by their neighbours and communities' sanitation status as well as their own. The implications of not improving access to clean water and good sanitation will have a spiral effect on all the other sectors such as health and education."[/quote]
In a related story, a public health consultant furthers the case that sanitation efforts would lead to cleaner water on the African continent and cites the serious challenges that need to be addressed:
Africa has the lowest water supply and sanitation coverage of any other region in the world. It is estimated that one in three Africans has no access to improved water or to sanitation facilities and the number of people lacking those basic services is increasing. The majority of those lacking basic services live in informal or suburban areas and rural communities. Unless actions are taken now, the absolute number of people lacking basic services will increase from 200 million in 2000 to 400 million in 2020.
New Standards Being Set - New Breakthroughs Being Made
The Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation or (JMP), recent research published online, recommends a new standard for how "we measure progress toward universal access," said Jamie Bartram, the Don and Jennifer Holzworth Distinguished Professor of environmental sciences and engineering at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and director of the Water Institute. "Drinking-water and sanitation are essential for good human health and the benefits are maximized when delivered at home." See more on this story here.
And in this recent editorial by a former U.S. policymaker and physician, Bill Frist speaks to 'clean water as a currency for peace' and why we should legislate towards helping achieve clean and safe water around the world:
[quote]In my own experiences as a physician regularly leading medical mission trips, I am constantly struck that providing medical assistance and public health services to others is interpreted as a currency of peace and ultimately as an aspect of public diplomacy. Our assistance to other nations in these areas seems to accelerate in impact when it provides tangible benefits to everyday people. The Water for the Poor Act has been proven."[/quote]
Finally, we found this story about a Haitian-American janitor at Princeton working singlehandedly to help bring clean water to his home village. Here is an excerpt from the full piece:
As a young boy growing up in La Source, Lajeunesse and his brother Chrismedonne would make the treacherous three-hour climb up and down the side of a mountain to reach a spring. It was the only way they could get clean water for their family. They watched as their fellow villagers got sick from drinking contaminated water from the river below or injured themselves climbing the mountain trying to do the same ... it was after the 2010 Earthquake that he would take action, and Lajeunesse raised $38,000 with students at Princeton to build the pipeline that would bring clean water to La Source. Raising the money was only the beginning. Building the pipeline would prove immensely challenging and take the strength of the entire village to accomplish. Yet eventually, it came to be.
Youth Movement Key to Ending Conflict in Colombia
New Generation of Leaders in Colombia Offers Hope
This story about the emerging leaders in Colombia, reminded us of how the best opportunities for ending the conflict—and healing wounds left behind—lies with young people who have lived through the violence and best understand the solutions.
As the story reports on one group in particular making a difference in their community of Villavicencio called the Youth Roundtable:
The Youth Roundtable engaged in numerous consultations with its members—who include youth from rural and urban areas, members of indigenous communities, displaced young people and other marginalized groups—to identify needs and propose solutions.
This is not unlike the Institute's own peace building work in Colombia through Global Associate Lissette Mateus Roa's work in the ESPERE project. Lissette continues to point the way towards young teachers, former combatants and community leaders providing the best hope for the country moving beyond the half-century long civil conflict and being in place to build on the promised peace treaty.
For more on Lissette's work, please click here.
Pope Francis and the Philippines
Pope Francis Supports the Peace Process in Mindanao
Although scheduling constraints prevented a direct visit to the Southern Philippines, Pope Francis made it clear that he endorses the ongoing peace process between the government and the Philippines' largest organized armed group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
This came as very good news to our Global Associate Dr. Susana Anayatin, who has made it her work as one of the region's premiere peace activists to build and connect communities in Mindanao wishing to end the decades-long conflict.
Despite recognition of the accomplishments and hopes for an ultimate end to the conflict, in recent days there has been an uptick in violence between the National Police (PNP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. This new outbreak in the southern province of Maguindanao, threatens passage of the Bangsamoro law, which many leaders feel would aid in bringing an end to the conflict. More on the current violence and the details of the law at jeopardy can be found here.
As always, we will continue to monitor the situation and provide insight from Dr. Anayatin directly.
Studies Show Microcredit Shortcomings
Six New Studies Point to the Inflated-Promise of Microcredit in Transforming the Lives of the Poor
We just became aware of this report, which compiles comprehensive research critical of the standard microcredit model.
Economist Esther Duflo of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a co-founder and co-director of J-PAL, co-author of the India and Morocco studies, and founding editor of the American Economic Journal:
[quote]These loans do help, but the changes are not transformative, certainly not transformative enough to justify charitable donations to the standard microcredit model. We have seen, though, that these are viable profit-making products, and so investors interested in a double-bottom line should take note."[/quote]
- Applied Economics
Duflo suggests researchers and non-profits focus their attention on other approaches for financial inclusion for the poor.
Our own research in Bangladesh, which brought the voices of loan recipients to the table to address the ways in which microcredit often had net negative impact to their communities, mirrors many of the same findings coming to light in the J-PAL and IPA studies.
Latest on Surrendering LRA Commander
There has been a flurry of reports since the Lord's Resistence Army commander Dominic Ongwen surrendered to stand trial for war crimes during his time with the the LRA. This story suggests that Ongwen surrendered at least in part, to avoid being killed while still at large in the bush.
More background on the personal history of Ongwen is given in this piece at the New York Times:
[quote]Mr. Ongwen was abducted himself when he was 10, while walking to school. Ugandan officials said that he had been trained to club people to death and that he had gone on to plan brutal massacres. Some legal analysts expect his abduction to become a central part of his defense, if indeed he is put on trial at the International Criminal Court."[/quote]
The information about Ongwen himself being abducted at an early age, leads to questions about what is the right and just method of punishment, or as some groups close to the situation suggest, whether even amnesty might be in order for Dominic Ongwen. Cited in the same article, is one of our longtime partners and consultants in our project work in child soldier reintegration – retired Bishop Baker Ochola. The Bishop is quoted from the piece:
[quote]It's wrong and a bad thing to take him to ICC (International Criminal Court). The government of Uganda has no moral authority to support it ... The government should not jeopardise the lives of children and women still in LRA captivity. We appeal to the government to forgive and set him free. He should be given amnesty as any rebel who surrenders, renounces and abandons rebellion."[/quote]
- Bishop Ochola, Goldin Institute Partner
But the Bishop stands clear on the ethical point of who it is that should be brought to justice:
Kony who started the war should be the one tried. Not children who were abducted and forced to commit crimes against their will.
The timing of our announcement of our new Global Associate, Denis Okello and his current work with Bishop Ochola and the ARLPI will make it expedient for us to get on-the-ground updates from Uganda on how this story is impacting their ongoing work on the issue of child soldier reintegration and mending the communities that have seen the worst of the LRA's grip on their villages and towns.
We look forward to there being good news to report as the story unfolds.
As We Approach An Important Anniversary
Next week will mark the 5th Anniversary of the Haitian Earthquake. Although in and of itself this is a sad occasion to have to commemorate, today we were reminded of the many glimmers of hope to build upon, while speaking to our Global Associate from Port-au-Prince, Malya Villard-Appolon.
While reflecting on this anniversary, Malya discussed topics ranging from her own personal observations during the Earthquake, to the over 80,000 Haitians still without a home living in the same type of camps that has made her ongoing work so important.
We look forward to sharing more from this interview in the coming week as the official anniversary date approaches.
Alarming Numbers from Central Africa
As we begin the new year, we take notice of fresh reports coming out of the Central African Republic (CAR) on the increase of child soldiers being recruited into the armed conflict during the last calendar year.
Both this story from the Reuters Foundation and this one from Humanosphere, tell the concern of the year-long conflict in CAR and the effects to children in general:
[quote]Children as young as eight are forced to fight, carry supplies, and perform other frontline and support roles. They often suffer physical and mental abuse by militants, and some have been ordered to kill. Having witnessed or committed killings and other violent crimes, children associated with armed groups are highly likely to suffer fear, anxiety, depression, grief, and insecurity, and many require specialized psychological support."[/quote]
- Save the Children
Estimates of between 6 to 10 thousand children have been drawn into the conflict as armed soldiers, but the impact to children in general (those left homeless, faced with disruption to their schooling and in need of emergency assistance) is estimated at an astounding 2 - 3 million.
Sourced for the Reuters story was a representative from Save the Children, Julie Bodin. Bodin is uniquely positioned to comment on the situation in CAR, as she is the child protection manager working directly with those being impacted by the fighting and violence in the country.
We couldn't be more in agreement with Bodin in the "need for long term goals of supporting children once they have been released from armed groups to stop them from rejoining. Extreme poverty, lack of education and jobs all create a huge reservoir of potential new recruits." Our own project work in northern Africa, especially in developing the National Platform for Child Soldier Reintegration and Prevention in Africa, is based on the same longer-term goals of how best to reintroduce former combatants into civil society to give them opportunities that become more attractive than rejoining the fight as armed soldiers. Whether in Uganda, or in the Central African Republic, or in Colombia, where we continue to address the same issues, the assistance needed to reverse the numbers of child soldiers is universal.
[quote]It is important to support youth and children to pass from a culture of war and conflict to a culture of peace. Child-friendly spaces and youth networks are urgently needed to rebuild these children's lives, as well as institutions, such as schools, which will help them thrive."[/quote]
- Julie Bodin of Save the Children
ICRC Points to Effectiveness of Psycho-Social Training
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has made a distinction between 'recruitment' and 'choice' by many children ending up as armed combatants, especially in regions like the eastern DRC. Of course, as this article points out, 'choice' has to be severely qualified when it comes to children being aware of 'informed consent'.
But the Red Cross, in making a distinction, points to the great number of children that see an allure and attraction to becoming involved in armed groups - often to counter a life of poverty or domestic violence.
Our own experience in the National Platform Project in Uganda, and our research and direct work with former-combatants, would confirm the ICRC's own findings and the importance of psycho-social training for the former child soldiers or potential child soldiers to "reinforce their mental defences against the temptation of recruitment."
Like our work with partner organizations in Uganda, the ICRC has targeted these 'sub-groups' of child combatants specifically to reintegrate through sponsorship of skills and job training programs. Read the full story and account of one former combatant being impacted positively by learning new skills in such a program here.
To learn more about how the Goldin Institute is sponsoring and creating on the ground initiatives to stem the recruitment and reintegrate former child soldiers, please visit this page.
Co-founders of the Institute, Diane Goldin and Travis Rejman meet with students in Uganda learning new skills that will enable them to become productive within their communities. Many of these students are former child soldier combatants or at risk to being drawn to join the ranks of armed militias. Photo Credit: Goldin Insitute