Child Soldiers in Uganda (by Jessica Chee-Hing)

The stark difference between childhoods in developed countries to the childhoods in developing countries is a crisis that affects millions of children everyday. To be born in a 3rd world country should not be a punishment, but unfortunately in many developing countries, to be born in a country that is infested by disease, famine, drought, and war is a death sentence.

The sharp contrast between the two worlds can be as different as walking from a utopia into a battle zone for the thousands of children who are faced with immeasurable horrors on a daily basis in Uganda. For many children, to turn seven, it means to become of an "acceptable" age to be recruited as a child soldier, while in developed countries, turning seven is celebrated with presents and birthday cake. This circumstance isn't familiar to most, though it is what thousands of Ugandan children are forced to deal with everyday of their childhood, and millions more are affected by it.

The world has reached a point in history that is characterized by internal conflict and violence. Atrocities are committed on a daily basis against innocent civilians in disturbingly violent and cruel manners. Since 1986, a civil war has been taking place in the Republic of Uganda in Africa. For 19 years, Ugandan civilians were afraid to walk to the city markets, afraid to let their children walk to school, and afraid to sleep in their own homes. Hundreds of civilians have died because of a rebellious group that is trying to overthrow the government. The "Lords Resistance Army" has ripped families apart, burned down homes, and caused unnecessary fear to civilians. However, the most unforgiving act that the LRA commits presently is the kidnapping of children for the purpose of forcing them to become child soldiers.

This civil war in Uganda is between the Government of Uganda's (GOU) army fighting against the Lord's Resistance Army. The 19 year old conflict has forced 1.6 million people to relocate to safer locations. Those who stay in the villages are typically killed by the LRA, and in most cases, by the child soldiers who were abducted in the previous village.

The most alarming aspect of this humanitarian crisis is that child soldiers account for 90% of the LRA. The children are brutalized and forced to commit murder on fellow abductees and even siblings. Those who attempt to escape are killed. For those living in a state of constant fear, hostility is not unfamiliar. It becomes a common routine and the psychological suffering is immeasurable. The LRA targets children as their "main" abductees because their proportional agility, small size, and the ease with which they can be physically and psychologically controlled, are regarded as advantages by military commanders.

Fearing abduction, large numbers of children, often with their families, leave their homes and make a long and tiring journey to a safer location. Walking at night, the safer location - usually a town square - can be miles away. They leave back to their homes at first light, hoping their house has not been burned down and raided. They are called the 'night commuters', and they sleep in churches, schools, and town squares, and hopefully with many other families to increase their security.

Since 1986 more then 30 000 children, between the ages of 7 and 16, have been abducted from their own homes and villages by the LRA in Uganda. Used as child soldiers, these children are faced with inescapable horrors that no child should ever witness. From the time they are abducted to the time they are released, the children are given a weapon and forced to obey the LRA's commands, with the threat of being killed if they oppose.

Boys are forced to fight in the front lines of the war against the government, and they must slaughter any other children that refuse to fight. Girls, as well as being forced to fight, are subjected to life as a sexual slave for an older soldier. Many girls become pregnant and must care for. The risk of HIV and AIDs increases due to the carelessness of the male soldiers who force sexual intercourse upon the adolescent girls.

The convention on the Rights of the Child is a commonly agreed upon set of non-negotiable standards and obligations. It spells out the basic human rights of children everywhere without discrimination. Children have the right to survival, the right to develop to the fullest, the right to protection from harmful influence, the right from abuse and sexual exploitation, and the right to participate fully in social and economic life. These standards are not given to the children born in Uganda. They are forgotten in a bloody and vindictive war that rages through their towns. Children are no longer learning to read or write, but instead are taught how to kill without remorse.

How can one even imagine living in conditions that millions of children are forced to live in everyday? No longer can we live our lives to the fullest while boys and girls alike are subjected to horrific brutalization. Dolls and toys are replaced with machetes and rifles. The "wonders" of growing up turn into the "hope" of growing up, as life expectancy of child soldiers living in Uganda is an incredibly low twenty-one, as of 1987.

Child soldiers are often harassed with alcohol and drugs before going into battle. In addition, these children are treated as harshly as their adult counterparts. Many children are maimed or killed in battle due to their lack of maturity, training and education. The psychological consequences of children's participation in armed conflict ranges from aggression and revenge, to anxiety, fear, anguish, and depression.

Despite the "success" story that the Ugandan officials present, if humanitarian aid workers and the civilians in developed countries don't act quickly, thousand of lives will be sacrificed by the LRA, and many more childhoods will be full of blood, death, and terror.

This problem is not confined to Uganda, but is presently happening in more then 30 countries, where there exist more then 300,000 child soldiers. Of that 300,000, there are 120,000 child soldiers living in Africa.

It is possible to work together to quit feeling sorry for people who are in desperate need of aid when we see them on the television, or read about them in the newspaper. Instead of continuing to eat our dinner, we can actually send money to aid different organizations that target the cities of Uganda and the children that are affected by the war. One day, each child will live in a country that abides by the Universal Humanitarian Standards and Rights of the Child. It may seem like quite a ways away and incredibly hard to achieve, but each day that we wait, hoping that someone else will do something, thousands more children are killed.

In a world of diversity and disparity, children are a unifying force capable of bringing people to common ethical grounds. Children's needs and aspirations cut across all ideologies and cultures, and should be at the forefront of our list of priorities.

Sources

"The Convention of the Rights of the Child." UNICEF. 30 Jul. 2005. <http://www.unicef.org/crc/crc.htm>.

"Ugandan foes negotiate ceasefire, plan talks." CBC News. 30 Dec. 2004. 30 Jul 2005. <http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/12/30/ugandanpeacedeal-1230.html>.

White, Robin. "Portraying violence on air in Uganda." BBC News. 30 Jul. 2005. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1738_respect/page7.shtml>.

[ issue contents ] [ fmm home ] [ send feedback ] [ tell a friend ]