11 July 2001

Panelists Discuss Children and Small Arms at UN Conference

United Nations -- While diplomats negotiated a plan to help curb the flow of illicit small arms and light weapons, a group of activists who have experienced the devastation of such weapons discussed their impact on children, hoping their views will influence the deliberations.

Talking about the impact of small arms on children and the violence that results from living with guns, a panel of small arms experts and activists said July 11 that they would like to see the final action plan drafted by delegates at the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons take a strong stand on illicit weapons flows.

The goal of the two-week conference is to have United Nations member states agree on a political action program that would define ways nations can curb and eliminate illicit trafficking of small arms and light weapons internationally.

Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, panelist and former commander of the United Nations Observer Missions in Uganda and Rwanda, said the panelists give a "human face" to statistics on violence and destruction caused by small arms and light weapons. He said that the purpose of the conference must be to save the world's children.

Children are affected by small arms and light weapons in many direct ways. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reports that since 1990 more than two million children have been killed in wars, six million have been injured and 22 million have been driven from their homes. It estimates there are 300,000 child soldiers fighting in conflicts around the world. In war zones children are used as bodyguards, assassins, combatants, porters, and cooks, the U.N. says.

Reports also indicate that small arms and light weapons violate children's human rights; cause psychosocial trauma; and prevent them from receiving healthcare, food, and education. Children lose out on delivery of humanitarian assistance, lose access to economic opportunities, and eventually find themselves in a culture where self-worth is defined by weapons.

Panelist Rachel Stohl, a senior analyst for the Washington D.C.-based Center for Defense Information and author of a new study on the impact of small arms on children, discussed several actions that would benefit children if included in the final draft program that will be presented at the end of the conference.

Stohl's recommendations include:

-- controlling the trade in small arms, which will reduce the availability of weapons and decrease the incidence of child death and injury;

-- taking measures to eliminate the use of child soldiers;

-- insuring the protection of women and girls who are especially prone to rape and sexual violence due to the possession of arms during conflicts;

-- protecting the security and rights of children and adolescents;

-- focusing efforts on education in the reintegration of young people into post-conflict societies;

-- including children in demobilization and reintegration programs; and

-- continuing to collect hard data and research.

Stohl estimates that 500,000 deaths each year are caused by small arms. She said 80 percent of this violence involves women and children. Of this percentage, 58 percent of the violence is found in Colombia.

Children's Movement for Peace activist and youth panelist Juan Elias Uribe of Colombia said he doesn't think his government understands how guns come into the hands of children. He said he lives in a culture of violence where "it's easier to have a gun than a toy."

Uribe called for political movement toward peace -- such as voting for candidates who stand for peace -- and programs that do not glamorize violent images.

Stohl said that drugs are often given to children to embolden them to fight on the front lines. In Columbia, children themselves are heads of drug gangs.

Dallaire said success in eliminating small arms and light weapons from the lives of children comes from "education, education, education."

Other panelists were Cora Weiss, president of the Hague Appeal for Peace, and Lieke va de Wiel, project officer for UNICEF.

In September a UN Special Session on Children will be held where discussions will continue on how to reduce the negative impacts of small arms on children.

Additional information on the UN Small Arms Conference is available on the Web at http://www.usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/arms/smllarm/smarmcnf.htm and further information about U.S. policy on small arms may viewed at http://www.usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/arms/smllarm/