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.

HIV/ AIDS: A Global Crisis and an International Responsibilty

I just recently discovered and joined the vast world of the blogosphere; initially I thought my scope would not extend any further than publishing my own thoughts on the current circumstance of the African third world, but I have come to appreciate the insight other blog contributors can provide in my own drive to improve the present conditions that exist on the continent. While I was pouring through blogs relating to the challenges faced by African nations, I became increasingly conscious of the number of entries that pertained to raising global awareness for HIV/AIDS. Millions of people throughout dozens of African nations are dying at staggering and increasing rates from diseases and viruses that people in first world countries don't even recognize as legitimate threats. Most of us have been taught the risks and consequences of HIV/AIDS, but view it as a faceless tragedy at a distance- we recognize the fragility of mortality but don't feel personally affected. Most places in the world aren't as fortunate; in Botswana, over twenty-four percent of the adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS. This story follows suit with many other third world countries where large proportions of the working age population are infected with the virus and are rapidly spreading it because of a total lack of prevention information and treatment funding. Since I began exploring the blogosphere, I have come in contact with people like me who are actively trying to get this devastating truth out to as many readers as they can. The first blog I have commented on is part of the online branch of the ONE campaign where distinguished political figures and humanitarians offer their positions on international poverty and disease eradication. The entry "Senator Durbin on Bush's Africa Trip" was posted as a direct response to the President's policies and actions towards the prevention of AIDS in Africa. The second blog post, "Doctor Urges Creation of 'Science of Healthcare Delivery'" is from the blog spot Wired Science; the entry discusses the need for funding towards the HIV/AIDS crisis to unify and address both prevention and treatment of the virus. I have responded to both pieces directly on the respective blogs and also provided my reactions below.


"Senator Durbin on Bush's Africa Trip"
Comment:
While the monetary donations made to third world countries by the United States and the international community are monumental, our primary emphasis should be towards bringing doctors into countries where the HIV/AIDS crisis is rampant. As the Senator noted, only three percent of the world’s health care workers are in Africa even though it overwhelmingly bears the burden of the virus. Of course it is imperative that donations continue to be made, but initiatives should focus on bridging the disparity between infected people and the availability of health care professionals. Large scale international programs should be implemented that would encourage doctors and nurses to travel and work in places where the HIV/AIDS rates are out of hand; smaller organizations like Doctors Without Borders should be expanded, and the government should provide tax reduction benefits to professionals who volunteer. In addition, great lengths need to be taken to allow more students into medical school, a change that would not entail a lowering of academic standards. Currently in the United States, the American Medical Association only allows a minuscule percentage of students into medical schools annually, keeping the supply of doctors low and maintaining their exorbitant salaries. This monopoly is extremely petty in light of the international shortage of doctors.

The concluding challenge- a need to push ourselves and each other to make a greater impact- is vital if we want to be wholly successful in eradicating the HIV/ AIDS epidemic. Globalization and the successive technology revolution have enabled people who are not doctors or lawyers to take an active role in combating the international health crisis. However, few are aware of just how much of an impact they can make. The One Campaign has been extremely successful in educating the masses on global phenomena that have been largely ignored for decades. Still, more should be done to provide information on involvement opportunities, especially to younger generations. I believe if this challenge was more than just a statement but actually provided a means through which the public could donate their time and talents, there would be a surprising turn out of volunteers. Our media overwhelms us with heart wrenching stories, but we are never told how we can make a difference to ensure that our children don't have to bear the burden of problems we left unsolved. Perhaps the most successful plan to eliminate the threat of HIV/AIDS for future generations is to create an accessible, straightforward system through which the masses could become involved.

"Doctor Urges Creation of 'Science of Healthcare Delivery'"
Comment:
This article has such a deep, but overlooked bearing on the international society we live in today; I am extremely grateful to people like Jim Yong Kim who acknowledge that- despite actions like the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and PEPFAR- the United States and the international community could do more to help those already living with HIV/AIDS. As one of the more highly developed nations, we have so much potential to help raise the basic survival rates for people in Africa, yet we do not share the knowledge of medication technology and other treatment methods we have already acquired on the basis that it has not yet proven to be as effective or complete as possible. As Kim put forward- we need to “start rethinking the relationship between finding treatments and actually treating patients”. While we are all painfully aware that there is currently no cure for the virus, treatment plans that delay and alleviate its symptoms do exist. In the United States, these pill cocktails are relatively expensive because our medical and pharmacology systems are businesses and operate under market conditions. However, agreements should be reached to make these drugs available at drastically reduced prices to those who have already been infected in Africa as a way to help execute the Millennium Development Goals put forth by the World Health Organization. This step along with Kim’s suggestion to expand health care delivery on a national scale in African nations would begin the preliminary steps of implementing the practice of preventative medicine throughout third world nations. It is imperative that policies directed towards HIV/AIDS eradication entail a melding of prevention and treatment systems because there are two sides to this crisis that need to be addressed. If only preventative methods or treatments are applied, then only half of the issue is being resolved; this in turn drastically slows the rates by which we could be improving basic standards of living and health in third world nations. This article elucidates our fundamental human obligation to do all that is in our power to begin equalizing basic health as it extends to the entire global population.