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Forest Whitaker at the UN debate on children and armed conflict
On Monday, June 28, 2021, our UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Mr. Forest Whitaker, was invited to speak as a special guest at the United Nations Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict.
The debate examined the findings of the Secretary-General's (A/75/873-S/2021/43). It also provided an opportunity to focus on issues relating to the implementation of the agenda on children and armed conflict, including the medium- and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the protection of children in conflict, and the importance of a gender perspective in the protection of children, given the specific risks faced by girls in armed conflict.
It also examined ways of strengthening the integration of child protection into the Council's agenda, as well as by the UN and member states in all relevant activities, including mediation and conflict prevention.
La paix durable, qui constitue la mission essentielle de cette institution, est en jeu lorsque les enfants sont soumis aux six violations graves que le SG a détaillées dans son rapport.
Mr. Whitaker said he was encouraged that the momentum behind the issue had grown, and spoke about "".
He stressed that the invisible effects last longer than the spine-chilling violations. From stigmatization to loss of education, former child combatants who have joined the (WPDI) explained that their families and communities often refuse to take them back.
Mr. Whitaker, for example, told the story of 24-year-old Auma Susan, who is now a counselor with the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative and a respected community representative, teaching peace education and mediating in land disputes. At the age of seven, she was abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and only escaped beatings and forced labor when she was hit by shrapnel and fled. Rejected by her community, stigmatization has defined her life. Trauma is another invisible effect," he said.
Recalling a visit to Uganda, Mr. Whitaker said that an aid worker who had launched a program for players in a soccer project for ex-combatants turned refugees and students, told him that a boy he had helped return home had then killed his eight-year-old sister. The boy's brain had been transformed to know only violence, he said, stressing, "Children affected by conflict can't get out of their night in a day."
Elsewhere, he spoke of one of the volunteers, a former child soldier called Benson Lugwar, who has become a respected figure in his northern Ugandan community. Benson Lugwar was abducted by the LRA in a raid in 2004 that killed his family. For two years, he was forced to witness and commit acts of violence, including the infamous Lira massacre in a camp for displaced persons. Today, he is an elected official, hosts a radio program and has helped his community. He quoted Mr. Lugwar's words, which perfectly sum up why the Council was gathered on June 28, 2021:
I haven't lost sight of the seeds of hope that were planted and nurtured in me, from former child soldier to role model who influences many young people within my community and beyond.
A strong message of hope and resilience emanates from Mr. Lugwar and others, whose questions are simple as they ask Council members if they will take the time to listen to them and if they will have the strength to see the positive in them, said Mr. Whitaker. Although often stigmatized and marginalized, young people like him have a message of hope and resilience.
Reintegration will not succeed without patience and determination, he continued, adding that it is essential to provide a continuum of care spanning childhood, adolescence and youth to meet their needs. Highlighting his organization's work in South Sudan, Uganda and other countries, he said its efforts were aimed at rekindling the link between conflict-affected children and their communities, providing skills, opportunities and helping them heal from trauma. Other groups are working along the same lines, he said, citing War Child, which works worldwide, and groups in Uganda such as Hope North, which provides shelter and vocational training, and an orphanage in Gulu, suitable for girls rescued from armed groups.
Mr. Whitaker highlighted these stories of hope and resilience to make the point that these traumatized young people deserve a chance in life, which society often denies them because of their past links with violence and war. He stressed the need to remove the stigma so that these young people are seen for what they are: a source of vitality, hope and courage that our world desperately needs to harvest in these uncertain times.
They ask us and the members of this assembly some simple questions. They ask: "Will you take the time to listen to us? Will you work with us? Will you have the strength to see the positive in us?". We must.
