BREAKINGTHESILENCEGIRLSABDUCTEDDURINGARMED…….

1、BREAKING THESLENCE:GIRLSABDUCTEDDURINGARMEDCONFLICT INANGOLARESEARCHPROBLEMBackground and ContextNearly three generations of Angolans have been affected bthe country 4year civil war. The war has resultedin 500,000 to 1 milli on war-related deaths, the internal displaceme nts of approximately 4.5 mil

2、li on people,and close to 400,000 people flee ing to n eighbouri ng coun tries as refugees. Between 1992 and 1994,fighting centered on the main cities, with both government and rebel forces bombarding civilian populations ina bid to take control of the provincial capitals. The death toll rose as hig

3、h as 1,000 people per day, and fightingled to anarchy and hun ger in much of the coun try. The last phase of the war, ending in February 2002, wascharacterized by violence directly aimed at civilian populations.As in frastructures to deliver social services such as health and educati on were largely

4、 destroyed, childrenbecame increasingly absorbed in the conflict. The direct involvement of children in the con flict has bee ndifficult to docume nt as their existe nce is freque ntly denied and disavowed. However, the in visibility of girlsand wome n ex-combata nts is eve n more problematic as com

5、 mun ities, n ati onal gover nments anddemobilizati on programs have con ti nued to ignore their existe nce. For example, the 1994 Lusaka Protocoldemobilizatio n commissi on which oversaw the demobilization of 9,133 boy soldiers under the age ofeighteen, systematically excluded girls from such progr

6、am ming. Moreover, assista nce packages, which included a supply kit, US$100, six mon ths of vocatio nal training and access to micro-credit ben efits wentstrictly to male ex- combata nts.Research ObjectivesThe main purpose of this study was to gain a greater un dersta nding of the experie nces of a

7、bducted girlsoldiers in An gola, the impact of these war experie nces on their subseque nt integration into community life,and the current coping strategies used to facilitate their rein tegrati on. The aim was to seek, hear anddocume nt the voices of the abducted girls, their opinions on how the wa

8、r affected them and how the embryonic peace process is impact ing upon their lives. This project sought to dissem in ate the results of this studylocally, n ati on ally, and intern ati on ally to gen erate policy dialogue and suggest best practices for mecha nisms in demobilisati on.METHODOLOGYField

9、work for the research was un dertake n from January to August 2004. Of the 157 people in terviewed, 40were in-depth in terviews with formerly abducted girl soldiers. Access to participa nts was facilitated throughchurch groups, com munity leaders and NGOs. Trusted key in forma nts with in these orga

10、 ni zati ons helpedto ide ntify formerly abducted girls as well as their older female relatives, who then identified other potentialparticipants. The formerly abducted girl soldiers ranged in age from 13 to 34, with an average of 21 years ofage. These girls had returned from the war within the previ

11、ous three years.Fieldwork was carried out in two phases. Pilot research was con ducted from January to March 2004 inperi-urba n Lua nda and rural Huambo. This pilot research was used to n egotiate access and con tact tradition al leaders in rural areas, develop research tools, test sampli ng methods

12、, and to probe the communitys and the girlsunderstanding of the war and its impact on their lives.The second phase of the research from April to August 2004, took place in the same fieldlocations, with the adapted and refined research tools.FINDINGSChildrens Abduction*There appeared to be a delibera

13、te strategy of target ing and abduct ing young childre n who were then usedas a pool of forced labour for the military.*Sexual labour and forced marriage became an in tegral and in evitable part of the formerly abducted girlsoldiers livestandsfamong the armed forces.*Followi ng their capture, 9-10 y

14、ear old girl and boy childre n were allocated to houses of high- rankingmilitary officers; they stayed working as servants until they were 14-15 years of age.*Adolesce nt boys went on to become active combata nts or support soldiers for the fron tli ne troops, whileadolesce nt girls worked to suppor

15、t the base and the fron tl ine troops.Gender-Based Labour Exploitation and Life during the Conflict*During captivity, the girls un derwe nt deliberate ide ntity suppressi on; this weake ned previous memoriesof ide ntity, relati on ships and com muni ty.*Girls en dured ongoing hard labour duri ng the

16、 con flict. Gen der-based labour exploitatio n (in cludi ng sexlabour) is a sig nifica nt factor in facilitati ng guerilla wars. Moreover, the systematic exploitation andvulnerability of girls was not only present during the war, but con ti nued in the post-war con text.Bias in Angola Demobilization

17、 and Reintegration Program & Reintegration Challenges*Having worked as logistical support for the fighting forces, consideredwomen s workwere excluded from the DDR process and failed to in depe nden tly qualify for demobilizatio nben efits. To receive demobilizati on ben efits, wome n and girls

18、n eeded to be recog ni zed asex-combatants or to have an official orgoodwilllink to a male soldiers family.*Followi ng the cessati on of the con flict, formerly abducted girl soldiers face isolati on and extreme poverty.Most reported that they were starv ing and did not have the bare n ecessities to

19、 meet their own n eeds orthose of their childre n.*Commun ity accepta nee and assista nee appeared to be depe ndent upon being accepted by a familymember in the area of return, or returning with a husband. However, 42% (17)of the young wome n withhusba nds were later aba ndoned by them on retur n to

20、 his area of orig in.*Formerly abducted girl soldiers were not in cluded in the welco ming and rein tegrati on rituals which wereaimed at men as it was assumed women had not killed.Women-headed Households*One of the direct impacts of the war was that it had created large nu mbers of wome n-headed ho

21、useholds.While the formerly abducted girl soldiers were proving to be tireless micro traders, the sustainability of theirenterprises were constrained by a lack of capital, marketing skills and access to credit.*Social capital is crucial in securing the young women s successful return to their commur

22、Women s access to and control over resources in Angola is largely shaped through marriage.Re-establishing Normalcy and Social Integration*Re-establishi ng no rmalcy and social in tegrati on for the formerly abducted girl soldiers was not simplyabout retur ning home, but about hav ing to recover or e

23、stablish a new ide ntity, defi ne new guid ing socialvalues and establish relati on ships based on a comb in atio n offactors in cludi ng kin ship, socio-ec ono mic in terests, and shared experie nces and circumsta nces. Sucha process was extremely difficult for the young wome n who have lost parts

24、of their pers onal history and identity, and who were cop ing with the psychosocial fallout of war. Reintegration and rebuilding their lives hasbeen especially difficult if they had no support from the family of orig in or their“war family”.RECOMMENDATIONS/LESSONSLEARNEDRecommendations for Future Re

25、search*En sure greater focus on rein tegratio n issues facing childre n in a post-war en vir onment,pay ing particular atte nti on to the childre n of ex-girl soldiers, to their assig ned social roles and con sequent limited access to resources in order to facilitate positive rei ntegrati on.*There

26、is curre ntly a gen der- neutral un dersta nding of welco ming cerem oni es, purificati on rituals andrelated traditi ons. Further gen der sen sitive research n eeds to be con ducted in com mun ities with returning girl and wome n ex-soldiers.Recommendations for the International Community and the N

27、ational Angolan GovernmentThe UNICEF 1997 definition of a child soldier must be adjusted to create a definition of a girl/woman soldier,and to act as an operational criteria for females gibility for DDRReli This definition must be inclusive of allwomen soldiers, attempting to bring to an end the dis

28、t in cti on betwee n wome n combata nts who foughtand girl and wome n soldiers who served.The logistical, health, engineering, intelligence and other soldiering work of girls and womenshould be recog ni zed as such, and non-combata nt girls and wome n should be accorded the title andstatus ofsold-is

29、soldier o . exDDRR fun ders, pla nners and impleme nters like the World Bank and the Gover nment of Angola need tohave plans in place for monitoring the progress of child and gender-specific objectives of n ati onal andintern ati onal policies in post-c on flict sett in gs, and more specifically, in

30、 the impleme ntatio n of the ADRprogram ming.Domestic laws regulat ing sta nding armies and armed groups must be altered to clearly recognize thesoldiering role played by women involved in military logistic and other non- combata nt supportRecommendations for Post-Conflict Programming*Practitio ners

31、 must aba ndon false assumpti ons that all girl/wome n ex-soldiers, widows and aba ndonedwives can prove their war union s/marriages to male ex-soldiers.*Ide ntify girl can didates, con sult with them in private and with their permissi on, facilitate their entry andcontinued atte ndance to social se

32、rvice, vocati onal and support programs.*Utilize the iterative sampli ng process whereby trusted com mun ity orga ni zati ons and local con tacts identify adolesce nt and adult key in formers.*Promote program ming that links Ion ger term reside nts to more rece ntly arrived formerly abducted girlsol

33、diers in order to promote social in tegrati on.Girls and young wome n n eed to be supported to access reproductive and other health servicesin in tegrated /-stopone services. Experie nce shows that poor pe ope in timidated byprofessi on als and are not likely to n egotiate their way though a complic

34、ated system. The childre n of thesewome n also require access to preve ntive health care.Facilitate the acquisition of identity documents at all points in the process of return. This requires therecognition of the girls as autonomous individuals in their own right throughout the process. Early plann

35、ing and preparation for family tracing, unification and integration for former child soldiers is especiallyimporta nt.IMPACTS OF THERESEARCHPresentationsBreaking the Silenee: Girls Abducted During Armed Conflict in Angola. Preliminary dataan alysis of work in Progress, presented at theWar and Childr

36、e n: Impact -3 conferen ce, 1April 2004, Edmo nton, Ca nada.*Research findings presentedo UNICEFs InteAgency Regional Consultations for East & Southern Africa: CapeTown Principles on Child Soldiers, Nairobi, 8-9 November 2005.*Prese nted research findings at the UN1325con fere nee, San Diego, No

37、vember 2004.*Presentation on Children and DDRR: An Angolan Case Study on Girl Soldiers, 20 January2005. This was the 8 Annual Peace building and Human Security Consultations hosted byForeig n Affairs Can ada in collaborati on with the Can adia n Peace buildi ng Coord in at ing Committee and theCan a

38、dia n Con sortium on Huma n Security.*Briefi ng on theAbducted GirlsreseadDAtisdyfftonembers on 21 Jan uary 2005.*Prese nted on the research findings at a conference on Mothers in FigGiiihg Forces and Their Post-WarReintegration in Southern and Western Africa April 12 -18, 2005, the Rockefeller Foun

39、dation Bellagio Center,Bellagio, Italy.Use of Findings in PolicyThe research findings have in flue need the An gola n child protecti on community sinceCCF is a lead agency concerned with child protection in Angola. Likewise within the An gola n Demobilisati on andRein tegrati on program. Members of

40、the research team were part of the organizing committee of the GoA and theUNDP re preparation and impleme ntati on of ADRP re wome n and childre n associated with the armed forces.Use of Findings in Further ResearchThe research findings and the research team con tributed to the Childrenand Armed Con

41、flict 4-country Data Collection Project in Angola (+ DRC, Colombia, Sri Lanka). The InternationalResearch Network on Children and Armed Conflict Program, orga ni zed by the Social Science Research Coun cil,an intern ati onal non profit orga ni zati on, and the Office of the Special Represe ntative of the Secretary Gen eralfor Childre n and Armed Conflict. The research results have been shared with h