One Global Conscience: We Can Do More

This week I have once again explored the blogosphere in search of others who are interested in bringing a better tomorrow to many of the third world countries in Africa. I chose a great day for this type of hunting because today was specifically set aside for global recognition of the crisis in Darfur. While it is unfortunate that we should even have to have such a day, it is hopefully a sign that there are great changes to be made in the future. The world is finally going to recognize that they have yet again been a witness to another genocide. As an international community and as human beings, we have let this go on too long; we have let too many people be victims. In light of today, I have done an exorbitant amount of reading and have learned even more about the devastation from first hand accounts. I have also left comments on two blogs that both discussed the global crisis that is ensuing in Sudan. The first blog where I responded, entitled The Unapologetic Mexican, looked into different tactics we can take as individuals to make a difference in this war; his post was entitled "In Solidarity: Global Day for Darfur." This blogger responded very insightfully to me almost instantaneously which was extremely rewarding to see both as a student and as a human rights activist. On the second blog, Dallas South, I found another globally conscious-minded individual who has taken a stance very similar to my own; in today's post entitled "Darfur Day of Action," there is in-depth discussion of the sexual plight faced by the women and children while the politicians have "washed their hands" of the matter as this blogger says. The comments I have written in can be found on their respective pages and are also provided below.

Comment 1:
First of all, I would like to thank you for being a conscious, informed person because by just writing about the genocide in Darfur, you are helping to educate so many people around the world who have let this crisis go unseen. As an international relations student, I have read so many articles and studied so many books about what is going on in Sudan, yet I have also increasingly come in contact with dozens of people who are wholly unaware of the magnitude of the situation. Outside of Darfur, few people are willing to recognize that such brutalities are still going on; many believed after Hitler massacred six million Jews that the world would never have to endure and be a witness to another genocide. However, as you believe too, we have let this go on far too long. I have written a few papers about how to stop this atrocity, but it never occurred to me to boycott the Coca-Cola Company in light of the Olympics in Beijing this summer. While this may be effective for hurting their revenues short-term, after the games are over in August the company's name will no longer be as synonymous with China, let alone the Chinese policy towards Sudan. Thus I have to wonder if you have other ideas that are just as direct in addressing Chinese policy but that also incorporate a longer time dimension. You briefly mentioned letter writing in petition to the Internal Olympics Committee, do you legitimately think this is something that will make a difference in changing Chinese policy? I have always been of the mindset that there are actions more powerful than stacks of papers and emails. With all this being said, it is heart rendering that any country, especially a permanent member of the UN Security Council, would help a government that is executing a genocide. However, perhaps the silver lining to this cloud is that in light of the Olympics this summer, massive global attention is now being directed towards Darfur, forcing China among others to reconcile with their current policies.

Comment 2:
I acknowledge just as you do, that this is not an easy topic to "broach," but I am so glad to see that there are other Americans just like me who are as concerned for the Sudanese people who have been victims of an alleged "tribal clash." You are right in saying that this is more than just a clash because the death toll does not even begin to describe the atrocities these individuals have been through. You would have thought that after Rwanda when President Clinton disregarded the genocide that the American public and our government would not have flagrantly ignored what has been happening in Sudan. However here we are again confronted with another horrific war that we have watched idly for too long. While I am thankful that Tibet may come out of this summer in a better situation than when this year began, I also hope like you that international attention is turned towards Darfur and beginning to see a difference there. You could not have been more right in saying that countries pointing their fingers at China is "akin to washing their hands of the matter." I believe that in the United States we have so many resources, including a massive population and much esteemed international clout, that we do not utilize to our full potential. While you suggested writing letters to presidential candidates, have you ever looked in to organizing a group to physically travel to Darfur as medical aid or to help build semi-permanent shelters for those living in the camps for internally displaced people? You sound extremely well versed in terms of what is actually going on, between the political fiasco and the brutal rapings of women, so have you considered actually trying to get in direct contact with your congressmen? Personally I think the more powerful people who have this shoved in their face, the more likely we are to see a drastic change in the United States' actions in Darfur. Perhaps mobilizing voters to include human rights issues in their eyes of what makes a good leader would help to bring more international activists into power. While these are just my own suggestions on effectively making sure we see a difference in Darfur, I am extremely grateful to you for helping raise awareness to a topic that has gone ignored for too long.

DDR: Rebuilding the Lives of Child Soldiers

In a previous post entitled "Child Soldiers: A Global Crisis" I briefly discussed the intricacies associated with bringing youth armed forces back into their societies. This topic is something that needs to be examined in much greater depth in order to begin grasping the gravity of the situation of hundreds of thousands of juveniles around the globe. The most immediate problem to be addressed is recovering children from places where they are forced to fight, but what is the next step? How does one bring such a young person who has witnessed and performed so many atrocities back into a functioning, peaceful civilization? The solution is not simple, cheap, or fast. Rather, these adolescents need to go through a rigorous progression of psychological, emotional and physical healing. With the rise of the child soldering phenomenon in the last few decades, the international community has been pressed to find a means to amply tackle these new layers of modern warfare. Their response that aims to stop the cycle of violence from continuing to spiral from one war-torn generation to the next has become known as the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration Process (DDR). While the development of this course of action has led to the beginning of many happy endings for individuals, it cannot account for several societal factors out of its control that ultimately are the make-or-break factors in success stories.

The DDR program was created to deal with the post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) experienced by soldiers returning from war; when young boys and girls began to be used to fight, an entirely new element needed to be taken into account: pre-adolescent vulnerability. As one humanitarian writes, "Child soldiers, having grown up within an armed group and having been exposed to atrocities since a very young age, are often the most difficult ex-combatants to reintegrate into society." Because all they have known and can remember is conflict, they lack the norms of behavioral interaction with other people. As the United Nation's DDR Center explains, these young people are entirely unaware of how to interact without resorting to violence. Therefore when it comes to rehabilitation, after they are taken out of the conflict zone and demobilized, the process becomes convoluted and varies with every case. Through the first hand research that has been done in correlation to the wars in Sierra Leone, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a few key over-arching actions emerged for creating the most effective agenda for reintegrating juveniles. These entail separating the young combatants from any other soldiers, finding their families and reuniting them as quickly as possible, providing a strong education and basic skills for entering the work force, and long term out-patient therapy sessions to help unite the two worlds the child has lived in. The most crucial piece is to provide the child with a consistent, stable daily life and environment, so they are less inclined to revert to aggressive and hostile behavior when faced with a challenging situation. If each of these steps can be taken for every individual, then their chances of remaining out of warfare dramatically increase.

While the process has proven to be extremely successful, DDR cannot address all of the complications entangled with the horrific experience of child soldiers. One of the major barriers is persuading societies to allow these former combatants back into their homes. Many families do not accept their kids out of fear of violence and of being shunned by the public for housing vicious murderers. This story becomes even more complex when the former militants are female because they are often victims of brutal rapes, genital mutilation, and forced prostitution. The UN's site for the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children says, "Wartime rape often has a tragic ripple effect that extends far beyond the pain and degradation of the rape itself. Rape victims who become pregnant are often ostracized by their families and communities and abandon their babies. Some may even commit suicide." When organizations focused on reintegrating soldiers are faced with such monumental roadblocks, the struggle to achieve the goal of the programs can be instantaneously rendered ineffective. With this in consideration, suddenly breaking cultural taboos then becomes yet another issue to be dismantled and reversed.

Addictions and diseases are yet another impediment the DDR process struggles to address. Militia leaders are notorious for giving youth highly addictive drugs as a way to relieve anxiety and to make those under the influence more brutal on the battlefield. Brown-brown, the most pervasive substance utilized, is made from a mixture of cocaine and gun powder that is administered by being packed into open wounds or by injection into the bloodstream. Through both the reuse of dirty needles and unprotected sex, many of the juveniles who participate in conflicts are exposed to lethal diseases like HIV/AIDS. Even the most well equipped cities in Africa lack the proper funding and tools necessary to treat such an overwhelming number of infected and addicted people, so when soldiers are released from their rehabilitation programs they are left with little access to adequate medical attention. Of course it is absurd to infer that one single DDR program should be able to account for all of these obstacles. This just shows that while so much has already been improved in removing the children from conflict and helping them to rebuild a new life for themselves, broader pushes need to be made in the political, economic and socio-cultural spheres in order for reintegration to be entirely successful.

When all of this is taken together, it is hard to conceive of a way to fully save future generations from repeating our mistakes, but massive undertakings need to be pursued because the stakes are exceedingly high. Currently there are over six million child casualties world-wide along with another one million orphaned. If we cannot help them now, then their kids too will turn to violence when facing economic suffering and political turmoil. The costs of war and of stopping war in future years are not just monetary but are also a matter of security, a sum that far exceeds the price of implementing an all-encompassing effort to rehabilitate those presently affected. International efforts and funds need to be more directly allocated towards both ending clashes today and minimizing the effects of imminent disputes. While we tend to largely disregard the cliché adage "the youth are our future," the statement is full of immeasurable truth, especially in regards to adolescents engaging in combat. The only way to ensure peace for tomorrow is stop the fighting today, to save those who are fighting today.