International Day of Innocent Children - Victims of Aggression on June 4:

A better world for children

By Pramod DE SILVA

Ours is a wicked world and the innocent often have no place in it. Could there be any living thing more innocent than children ? They are perceived as carefree bundles of joy. But children are subjected to untold hardships and abuse in our world.

Many Governments are making a conscious effort to address this problem. Way back in 1982, the United Nations also took notice. The event that triggered the UN response was Israel's aggression against the people of Palestine and Lebanon. A large number of children from both areas were victims of Israel's acts of aggression.

In this backdrop, many UN Member States called for a separate day to mark this horrendous event and also to remember children all over the world who are victims of aggression. This is how the UN General Assembly declared June 4 as The International Day of Innocent Children - Victims of Aggression. The resolution to this effect was passed on August 19, 1982. The International Day of Innocent Children Victims is to raise awareness of the work being done to stem the violence and to look after the young victims of violence or aggression.

The Day of Innocent Children is even more apt now than it could have been 28 years ago as conflicts have widened and acts of aggression against children have increased the world over. We see more child labourers and slaves than ever before; more children are clutching guns and grenades in the world's conflict zones; more children are being sexually and physically abused, more children are becoming victims of crime and vice; millions of children face hunger and homelessness. And there are less subtle forms of aggression - children being deprived of education and becoming victims of disease and injury. They become victims of neglect, exploitation and cruelty. The world has still not seen an end to child marriages. Child trafficking remains a global phenomenon. Girl children face discrimination in many societies. More than ever, now is the time for the world to act against these dastardly acts.

One look at statistics on children paints a bleak picture. It is estimated that more than two million children were killed in conflict in the last decade. Another six million are believed to have been wounded and one million orphaned. In recent decades the proportion of war victims who are civilians rather than combatants has leapt from five percent to more than 90 percent. Children in 87 countries live among 60 million land mines. As many as 10,000 per year continue to become victims of mines. More than 300,000 youth are serving as child soldiers around the world. Many are less than 10 years old. Many girl soldiers are forced into different forms of sexual slavery.

An estimated 158 million children aged 5-14 are engaged in child labour - one in six children in the world. Millions of children are engaged in hazardous situations or conditions, such as working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or working with dangerous machinery. They are everywhere but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, labouring behind the walls of workshops, hidden from view in plantations. In Sub-Saharan Africa around one in three children are engaged in child labour, representing 69 million children. In South Asia, another 44 million are engaged in child labour. These are grim statistics indeed.

In Sri Lanka, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was one of the worst offenders in terms of exploiting children. It conscripted children as young as eight to its baby brigades, depriving them of education and parental bonds. They were kept in subhuman conditions and used mercilessly as cannon fodder. The Government Forces which defeated the LTTE last year saved many child soldiers, who are now being rehabilitated and granted all educational facilities. Many of them are also being united with their families who have resettled in their native places.

This is one example of how Governments could alleviate the suffering of child combatants and reintegrate them in society as useful and law abiding citizens. The Government is also keen to resettle the remaining IDP children as soon as possible, so that they can put the pain of conflict behind them and look towards a brighter future. This is an essential part of the welfare and healing process.

Sri Lanka has also set an example to other countries by establishing a separate body to deal exclusively with child abuse and other complaints. The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA), which also operates a hotline for child abuse complaints, is rendering a yeoman service for the welfare of children who have become victims of various forms of aggression. Several other arms of the State also have units and officials for the welfare of children.

These probably are unique attempts in our region to ensure the welfare of the country's child population, out of which nearly 4.3 million attend school. Education is often the best form of defence against acts of aggression perpetrated against innocent children. and against social conditions such as poverty. After all, an educated child has a good chance of emerging out of poverty.

On June 4, the world should be determined to ensure a better future for the children. Most countries also celebrated the International Children's Day on June 1, giving impetus to attempts to ensure child welfare. Efforts to give every child a better future are being made possible through the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF and other UN agencies are playing a major role in this regard. Nation States must implement the provisions of this Charter for the sake of their children.

Children must be able to lead fun-filled, carefree lives without any form of aggression affecting their growing minds. Governments, civil society groups, teachers, parents and others concerned must make this a reality. They are the future of our world and must be allowed to grow up in a safe and secure environment free of exploitation and aggression. That is the greatest gift that we can bestow on the future generations.