For as long as anyone can remember, human beings have “created” wars. Some for the purpose of conquest, others for territorial interests and many others for different reasons. But in all of them, the old and the current wars, children are the most affected.
In wars, children lose their rights
During the last decade, approximately 10 million children died as a result of armed conflicts. They are the smallest, most vulnerable citizens during a war. They are alone and defenseless and many of them are exploited when captured by the enemy.
In a war, the fundamental rights of children are disregarded. They are blatantly ignored and treated mercilessly. This is why many end up traumatized or worse, disabled for life.
War always inflicts great suffering on the populations concerned. And it is the children who are the first civilian victims. During an armed conflict there are many categories of child victims. Among these categories, several types of victims can be included.
Children are civilian victims. It is often the case that the targets of the Armed Forces are schools and hospitals. They intend to undermine the conscience of the population. Although at the end of the conflagration, thousands of anti-personnel mines, cluster bombs and other explosives remain. These become a lethal trap for everyone. Thousands of children die every year playing in minefields.
There are children who are recruited as soldiers. We see children dressed as soldiers wielding a weapon that is bigger than themselves. Children under the age of 18 are victims of these inconsistencies, often without there being a war.
There are thousands of displaced children, taken away from their parents during a war. In addition, among them are those orphaned by the death of their parents. Children who are wounded and disabled. Those who are deprived of their liberty for various reasons, although most of the time it is enough that they are on the enemy’s side.
The consequences of the post-war period
Wars directly affect children because they do not understand it. They do not come to understand the reasons for violence and cannot defend themselves against aggression. They thus become an easy target for enemies.
Finally, the consequences of the post-war period are also terrible. Diseases, malnutrition, disability or sexual violence are the most common. Some time ago UNICEF launched a proposal to protect children during armed conflicts.
Calling on parties to conflict to comply with the rights of children to prevent their suffering. It also called for the punishment of those who violate these fundamental rights of children. However, to this day, once a war is over, those responsible for these violations are forgotten. Actors and actions go unpunished. But children can never again forget what they experienced.
