Statement by Christine Knudsen
Save the Children’s Children in War Specialist
At a Press Briefing Prior to President Bush’s Trip to Africa
July 2, 2003
I am Christine Knudsen. I am a Children and War Specialist for Save the Children.
I want to join my colleagues in supporting President Bush’s visit to Africa next week. We all share the hope that the President’s visit will result in a renewed focus – and a strong determination – by the administration to bring peace and security to a continent that has been repeatedly torn apart by war and conflict.
In our seven decades of work in humanitarian crises all over the world, Save the Children has seen a disturbing trend in conflicts. The nature of war has changed dramatically in the past century. A century ago, only 10 percent of casualties in war were civilians and 90 percent were combatants. Today, those numbers have reversed. Today more than 90 percent of modern war casualties are in fact civilians, most of whom are women and children, as conflicts are being fought in backyards and city streets instead of remote battlefields.
This trend has not spared Africa. In countries like Sierre Leone, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan – war has made life a living hell for millions of women and children. Atrocious crimes are being committed, over and over again, with women and children bearing the brunt of the conflict. Across sub-Saharan Africa, where the poorest of the poor live in the worst conditions imaginable, war and conflict are making life even more intolerable.
Save the Children recently published our annual State of the World’s Mothers report, containing our first-ever Conflict Protection Scorecard that analyzes 40 conflict zones around the world. It points out where women and children face the highest risks to their protection, safety, and well-being around the world. As you can see, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierre Leone head the list. Of the 40 most dangerous war zones, 4 of the top 5 – 8 of the top 10 – are in Africa.
And in four African countries alone – Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierre Leone, Angola and Burundi – 8 million women and children are imperiled by war, according to our report.
The statistics are staggering, but the reality on the ground is even more so. Rape is an increasingly common weapon of warfare; HIV/AIDS spreads even more rapidly during armed conflict; education is interrupted with lifelong consequences for girls and boys across the continent. Childbirth, already a leading cause of death among women in many poor countries, becomes even more life threatening in times of war.
We cannot forget the women and children of Africa, and we know that there are actions that can help. In some cases, that may be one girl at a time.
Earlier this year, I met Aminah, a 15-year old refugee girl from Liberia in Guinea. She was snatched from her home when she was 10 years old. She was forced to take up arms and to fight. She was raped repeatedly. She escaped finally and found her way into a refugee camp, where she was raped again because she was on her own without any protection. When I met her she was trying to determine which was the better choice for her: trading her body for food or returning to the bush to fight. What can we do for her and her future?
Save the Children got her registered for her own ration card, enrolled her in a basic education course, and has been able to get her into one of our programs where she has learned to be a hairdresser. And now she has a way of making an income, of feeding herself with dignity, and now she is optimistic about the future for the first time in many years.
President Bush has mentioned the need to bring peace to Liberia, Aminah’s home country. It is important to note that she and others like her are not just survivors of war’s atrocities; they are also agents of change for the future stability of their country. Women have been critical to recent peace-building initiatives in Afghanistan, Guatemala and the Balkans, to name just a few.
Investing in the protection of women and children during conflict, restoring stability, and sowing the seeds of long-term recovery are essential to the future of Africa.
It may come as a surprise to many – but women and children are among the least protected people during wars, even when countries like the United States launch humanitarian response operations.
Traditionally, humanitarian efforts focus on providing food, water, medical care and shelter needs to civilians, while placing less emphasis on the safety and security of women and children. Few programs, in fact, exist to prevent violence against women and children, especially if they are refugees or internally displaced persons.
Save the Children has spearheaded new legislation now before Congress – called The Women and Children in Armed Conflict Protection Act – that would create a $45 million protection fund to provide for the physical and psychological security of women and children caught in conflict situations.
The legislation would provide funds for additional health services for women and their children impacted by war. It would help develop an early-warning system to identify increased risk of gender-based violence and exploitation of women in conflict situations and it would help train peacekeepers and police to watch for signs of rape and violence against women in these situations.
This legislation has bi-partisan support in Congress. We would consider the president’s visit a success if it helped encourage Congress to enact this important piece of legislation that would help protect women and children – including millions in Africa – from the ravages of war.
Thank you.
