The Political Economy of War-Affected Children

Abstract

is an academic, author, and humanitarian activist. He teaches at Carleton University and is cofounder of War Child Canada. His recent works are a coedited book entitled Human Rights and the Internet and several journal articles on the social implications of the Internet and its application for social activists. He is currently writing a social work textbook; implementing children's rights projects in Palestine, Sierra Leone, and Colombia; and researching the use of educational technologies with universities in Cuba.ABSTRACT: The nature of armed conflict has changed since the rise of globalization and the end of the Cold War. Now wars predominantly take the lives of civilians, over half of whom are children. This article examines the effects of armed conflict on children. In particular, it discusses refugee and internally displaced children, child soldiers, the sexual assault and exploitation of girls, and children traumatized by war. How the international community should respond to protect children and prevent war is explored in relation to the political and economic context within which wars occur.

Obama and Liberal Afro-Pessimism

“…But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants … It is the death sentence of a society to force children to kill in wars (Obama 2009). No single human issue has probably mattered more in perceptions of Africa during the past two decades than the issue of child soldiers (Jensen 1996;Wessells 1998;De Berry 2001;Hick 2001;Fox 2004;Park 2006;Medeiros 2007;Kimmel & Roby 2007). For Western critics, the treatment of children, particularly kidnapped female children, was a continuing source of concern and outrage: "For example, the UK newspapers The Times and The Sunday Times have published more than 60 articles in the past 5 years with reference to child soldiers, and The New York Times has published more than 100 articles since 1996" (Fox 2004).…”

Children and International Relations: a new site of knowledge?

“…22 For a number of authors, it is the place of children, or specific groups of children, during conflict and its aftermath that provide the space in which children's place in the international system can best be analysed. 24 but it also includes work such as Carpenter's analyses of children born of wartime rape, 25 DeBerry's work on child soldiers and the UNCRC, 26 Hick's work on the political economy of war-affected children, 27 and Thompson's analysis of the citizenship issues surrounding children in Mozambique. 28 Notable too is the considerable body of work, from the 1950s and 1960s onwards, on how children acquire their political beliefs, either with regard to allegiance to a particular political party, to how they view political authority, or to the creation, or not, of nationalist feeling.…”

An Econometric Analysis of International Variations in Child Welfare

“…In Myanmar in 1990, an estimated 900 of the 5000-strong Karen army were children under the age of 15 (Dodge 1991). Girls abducted into armed groups are often coerced into sexual slavery, and many become infected with sexually transmitted diseases and increasingly with HIV/AIDS (Hick, 2001). …”

“…Children as refugees often lose their chances of receiving education, proper nutrition, and health care. In Colombia, some 85% of refugee children do not receive primary education (Hick, 2001). Many child refugees die within the first days and weeks of displacement due to malnutrition and diseases.…”

“…In some cases, the numbers are higher. In Angola in 1995, for example, 20% of country's children were estimated to be separated from their parents (Hick, 2001). Clearly, then, any study of the determinants of international variations in child welfare in the contemporary world must take into account the impacts of violent conflict.…”