When Elephants Fight Read Online Free PDF

a boy or girl under the age of eighteen who willingly joins or is forced to become a member of a government army or rebel-armed military. These child soldiers are commanded to perform a variety of duties, including armed combat, laying mines andexplosives, scouting, cooking and labor, and are often victims of sexual slavery and exploitation.
    Today, children are directly participating in conflicts in over 20 countries worldwide, with more than 100,000 children on the front-lines in Africa; most prominently in Sudan and Uganda, where it is estimated that the Lord’s Resistance Army has abducted 50,000 children and forced them into conflict.
    While thousands of children are indeed abducted or recruited by force, many more join voluntarily. However, they often enlist as a means of survival: joining because of extreme poverty, lack of education or family support, along with the promise of a steady income, status and power, which most often never comes. The military is seen as their only opportunity to get ahead during a time of unbelievable desperation. The majority of child soldiers are between the ages of 14 to 18, but there are children as young as 9 years of age who have been forced into conflict.
    For those not familiar with the child soldier phenomenon, it’s difficult to understand the value of an army of young children. When we hear the word “soldier” we automatically think big, strong, adult men. However, with lightweight, easy-to-use firearms readily available—big and strong are no longer necessary. Even a young child can carry, and use, a gun.
    Along with being able to handle guns and ammunition, children are also seen as both physically and emotionally vulnerable. They can be easily intimidated. In the case of abduction, it’s commonplace for one of the abducted children in a group to be killed. This example sends a message to all of the others that if you try to escape or if you do not obey your commanders, you too will be killed. This is the “initiation.” In fact, children are even sometimes forced to commit atrocities in their home villages, against friends and family, putting them in an even more desperate situation because they can never return home.
    Child soldiers are often considered “cheaper” to keep. They eat less, they are more resilient and need less medical care (or at the very least are provided less care) and are much more predictable in their actions.
    There is much global talk of nuclear conflict and “weapons of mass destruction.” Lt. General (Ret.) Romeo Dallaire, commander of the UN forces in Rwanda in 1994 and now a Canadian senator, uses that same language when talking about the use of child soldiers. “Children have become the new weapons system,” he explains. “They’re not high-tech, but they are weapons ofmass destruction. How do you fight a war against children?”

    Fires are a constant threat to families in the internal displacement camps. The tarped huts are evidence of recent fires in the region
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    That question alone, is a moral dilemma that may never have any answers.
    Human rights organizations worldwide are working with the United Nations and individual countries to end the use of child soldiers. Much work is also being done to support child soldiers after the end of their time in conflict. Regardless of the length of time as active participants in war, the trauma is life-altering. The current stream of support is through Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) programs that are focused on providing psycho-social support, along with education, training and skills for these children so they can make an attempt at life back home in their communities.
    While these DDR programs do exist, there are too few of them worldwide. And when they do exist, they lack the resources necessary to provide for the needs of these now incredibly vulnerable returnees. More often than not, these children are left on