| THE
IMPACT OF WAR ON YOUTH |
The youth of Sierra Leone face a number of challenges
from the moment they are born, such as short life
expectancy, low literacy rate, poverty and/or
hunger, lack of role models, unemployment, and
the highest rate of under-five in the world. Those
challenges have become even more extreme due to
Sierra Leone's recent war. While the country is
slowly returning to stability, this generation
faces a larger burden: coming to terms with the
war during which Sierra Leone's youth were impacted
in a number of ways, ranging from displacement,
educational disruption, to active conscription
as child soldiers.
Displacement
"My
family moved around Freetown after our home
was burnt down." Mohamed,
20
Sierra Leone's civil war
caused major chaos, especially in the capital,
Freetown. RUF forces frequently burned down
villages after invading them, forcing families
to flee for their lives, leaving everything
behind. Although numbers vary, the United Nations
places the figure of internally displaced persons
at over 247,000 and 180,000 refugees living
in neighboring countries which includes many
children and their families. As a result, educational
opportunities have been limited or non-existent
for those children because schools were often
closed or barely functional.
Conscription
"I
was beaten regularly and forced to join them.
Some even threatened to kill me if I refused."
Fatmata,
19
One of the more brutal aspects
of the war in Sierra Leone was the widespread
use of child soldiers. The UN estimates that
10,000 child soldiers fought during the war
and consisted of children with nowhere else
to go, volunteering for the promise of food
to children taken from their families and actively
conscripted. More about Sierra Leone's child
soldiers here. Throughout the war, various atrocities
committed against girls were documented. To
learn more about the impact of the war on girls,
http://www.un.org/rights/concerns.htm.
Emotional Trauma
"The
saddest part of the story was that I was forced
to kill my own mother." - Alpha,
21
Although it is not visible
to the naked eye like dismemberment or battle
scars, the bulk of the youth in Sierra Leone
suffered emotional trauma due to the civil war.
Even those who were not directly affected by
the war still suffered from the stress of growing
up in a conflict zone. This generation of youth
in Sierra Leone have had their innocence taken
away far too young, and must turn these terrible
experiences into positive results so that a
better future can be built for themselves and
those who follow them.
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