17 September 2000 Ambassador Southwick Examines Wars' Effect on Children and U.S. Efforts to Ameliorate the Impact (This article, prepared by the head of the U.S. delegation to the International Conference on War-Affected Children held in Winnipeg, Canada September 10-17, has no republication restrictions.) The U.S. Commitment To Children Affected By War By Ambassador E. Michael Southwick The scope of the problem of war-affected children cannot be exaggerated. The United Nations estimates that over the last decade, two million children have been killed in conflict situations. This statistic is shocking enough, but wars affect children in many other, less visible, ways. For example, more than one million children have been made orphans, over six million have been seriously injured or permanently disabled, and at least 10 million children have been left with deep and lasting psychological trauma. More than 20 million children have been displaced by war, within and outside their countries. Approximately 300,000 young persons under the age of 15 are currently being exploited as child soldiers and nearly 800 children are killed or maimed by landmines every month. We are heartened by the attention the international community is now paying to this critical issue. The UN Special Representative for children and Armed Conflict, Mr. Olara Otunnu, has been a persuasive and tireless advocate for the millions of war-affected children. The concerns of children affected by war have been extensively discussed at the highest levels of the UN, in the Security Council. Several regional conferences have been held -- in Asia, Africa and South America -- and have led to the adoption of declarations designed to protect war-affected children. And we note that eight countries, including the United States, have signed the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Additionally, more than 30 states, including the United States, have become parties to ILO (International Labor Organization) Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor which inter alia prohibits the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under the age of 18 for use in armed conflict. The leadership of our host nation, Canada, on this issue has been vitally important. Conferences, deliberations and declarations can be useful, yet we firmly believe that it is now time to move from advocacy to implementation. There can be no higher priority than preventing the further abuse and brutalization of children. The United States will continue its vigorous efforts to assist children who are forced to take up arms in support of militias and paramilitary groups engaged in hostilities, in every region. Concurrently, we are working to ameliorate the effects of conflict on children. And last but certainly not least, we are strongly supporting more effective methods of avoiding conflict and building peace. The U.S. government has targeted war and conflict-affected children as an important part of its overall humanitarian assistance efforts. As part of our support for Colombia, the United States recently allocated $2.5 million specifically for the rehabilitation of child soldiers. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has several programs and funds that assist war-affected children, including the Displaced Children's and Orphans Fund (which has spent more than $74 million in the past decade) and the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund (over $60 million since 1989). Many other USAID programs assist war-affected children in areas such as family reunification, community reintegration, education, and psychosocial rehabilitation. The U.S. Department of State, through the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, will contribute nearly $10 million this year for programs for refugee children, most of whom have been affected by conflict. The State Department also sponsors a vigorous humanitarian demining program ($400 million since 1989), whose programming includes contributions to UNICEF for mine awareness and programs for training, clearance and medical assistance. Ten years ago at the World Summit for Children in New York, we pledged to "work to ameliorate the plight of millions of children who live under especially difficult circumstances -- as victims of apartheid and foreign occupation; orphans and street children and children of migrant workers; the displaced children and victims of natural and man-made disasters." We have made a great deal of progress in many areas since then. However, the extent to which children are victims of war and conflict has grown over the past decade, and the challenges of protecting and assisting these children at risk are immense. The United States therefore calls on the international community -- both governmental and non-governmental -- to tackle this tough issue head-on. We must demonstrate the political willingness to address effectively the tragedies visited on so many children by war and conflict, and we must back up that political will with resources. At the opening of the 21st century, we can do no less for the children of our world. (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) Return to the Washington File