From Child Soldier to Head Girl and Global Advocate.

Studying to catch up after time with the LRA

Studying to catch up after time with the LRA

When Juliet was just 12 years old she was abducted from her home in Northern Uganda by rebels from the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Juliet was held in captivity for six years, taken from Uganda to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. She was forced to marry a senior commander when she was only 14. Juliet says, ‘girls have to get married by force, this is the really bad thing.’

At 16, Juliet became pregnant. Even during her excruciating labour, the LRA moved her constantly. Juliet suffered immense pain for a week before the baby eventually died inside her. It was days before a local doctor performed an operation to remove the baby. There was no anaesthetic, and the doctor used an ordinary razor blade. Juliet explains, ‘When you are pregnant there is no hospital in the bush, if the baby dies inside you they will rip it from you by force. It happened to many girls not just me.’ Unsurprisingly, Juliet passed out from the pain and her subsequent state of health was extremely bad. She developed a fistula and had other complications.

After Juliet escaped from the LRA, one of War Child’s partner organizations helped her locate her family back in Northern Uganda.

Juliet now attends a school in Northern Uganda created especially for girls like her who have missed out on education because of the conflict. She is working hard to catch up on the years of schooling she missed whilst in captivity with the LRA. As she says, ‘When I came back I really wanted to go back to school. I always dreamt about school and my friends from before even when I was in the bush.’

Her efforts are paying off. She has refused to allow her past to shape her future, and her confidence and warmth to the other girls has helped her win the role of Head Girl. Juliet dreams of becoming a nurse and stresses the value of an education, telling us that ‘many girls have been through hardship like me, they are denied an education. If you are not educated, you are nothing.’

To read more please visit War Child at http://www.warchild.org.uk/news/special-visitor-from-uganda

Somalia’s gov’t orders probe into child soldiers

Somalian child soldier

Somali child soldier

By MALKHADIR M. MUHUMED (AP) – Jun 17, 2010

NAIROBI, Kenya — Somalia’s president has ordered an investigation into reports that the Somali army is recruiting children in its fight against powerful Islamic insurgents, a decision welcomed by rights groups on Thursday.

The recruitment of child fighters in Somalia is on the rise. The country’s continuous violence appears to have increased recruiting efforts of young fighters, minors who can easily be indoctrinated.

Human rights groups and media outlets have been reporting about the existence of child soldiers in Somalia for years. The Associated Press reported in May that militants are increasing their use of the child soldiers, but that government forces also have minors in their ranks. The New York Times reported this week that the Somali government is using child soldiers and noted that the military is funded in part by the United States.

Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed said late Wednesday that he had ordered his army chief to conduct an investigation of the use of child soldiers and report back to him in a month.

“The president also instructed the army to demobilize any underage recruits without delay,” a government statement said.

A Somali human rights group estimated that thousands of child soldiers are used by both the government and Islamist militias like al-Shabab. Ali Yasin Gedi of Elman Peace and Human Rights Center welcomed the government’s announcement.

“It is a victory for us, human rights groups, that called time and time again to demobilize children,” said Gedi. “Our children have borne the burden of the conflict in this country far too long.”

Ahmed, in his announcement, also asked the international community to provide his cash-strapped government with the resources it needs to deal with about 100,000 armed militiamen of all ages in the country.

Ahmed accused al-Shabab militants of “intentionally and many times forcefully” enlisting underage children. Children make up the bulk of Somalia’s estimated 7.5 million residents.

Gedi said al-Shabab’s recruitment of children may partly stem from a lack of willing adults alienated by the group’s extremist views. But the government is also so desperate for fighters that it has been reluctant to kick out gun-carrying children from its ranks.

“The only chance open for the children in Somalia is to join the army — be they the government’s or its enemies’,” Gedi said. “The children get excited whenever recruitment opportunities beckons, because they don’t have any other opportunities.”

The U.N. believes that children as young as nine are being targeted and often taken through force or deception.

On Wednesday, the Security Council approved a presidential statement urging the U.N.’s most powerful body to consider tough measures — including possible sanctions — against countries and insurgent groups that recruit child soldiers and violate international law on the rights and protection of children in armed conflicts.

In a recent report, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accused both Somalia’s government and its enemy, al-Shabab Islamist militants, of trying to maim or kill children by putting them in the line of fire.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since clan-based warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on each other, sinking the Horn of Africa nation into chaos.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

To read the AP article on Google: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hi-HKi4d2fh01ZzqxodVPZZzACXAD9GD1N703