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FROM THE FIELD

West African children suffering in silence, says report
20 Apr 2009 16:28:00 GMT
 Source: Plan Asia Regional Office
Stuart Coles

Website: Website: http://www.plan-international.org

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A former girl soldier in Liberia.
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A former girl soldier in Liberia.
Alf Berg/Plan

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CHILDREN in West and Central Africa are suffering extreme psychological trauma as a fall-out result of civil war, AIDS and child trafficking, a new report by a leading children's organisation says.

Plan International's unique study psychologically assessed more than 1,000 children and young people chosen at random in affected communities Liberia, Togo, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.

The research also revealed that even young people not directly caught up in such terrible events were also badly affected because they were in the care of traumatised adults.

Much of the report makes for disturbing reading. For example, of former child soldiers interviewed in Liberia (most of whom were 'recruited' by force), 60% said they had witnessed another child being punished to death. And 87% said they had seen a family member threatened to be killed or killed. Of the same group, 84% had found themselves "surrounded by, lying underneath or stepping on" dead bodies.

'Silent Suffering' - carried out in conjunction with Family Health International, is a detailed investigation of mental trauma and reveals an entire generation of children vulnerable to the moods of parents and adult guardians who themselves are struggling to cope with often tragic and difficult circumstances.

Psychologists and researchers admitted they were taken aback by the distressing stories they uncovered.

Uniquely, the study also interviewed control groups of children who were not orphans, had not been abducted to join fighting forces, had not been trafficked, and so had not been directly caught up in violent experiences.

The surprise for the researchers was that levels of trauma among these control groups were still high and they concluded they had been affected by a spill-over culture of violence brought about by years of social instability.

Levels of post-traumatic stress syndrome diagnosed, mental illness and suicidal tendencies uncovered were extremely high, said researchers. In Sierra Leone assessed suicide risk among children with no parental support was 70 % in girls, 80% of boys - with 56 of one group of 183 interviewees (30%) already having attempted to kill themselves.

Mobile units made up of trauma counsellors and psychologists were set up to give emergency counselling and treatment to those children judged most at risk, including former child soldiers, orphans and trafficked children.

Researchers said they were impressed by the children's extraordinary resilience in extreme circumstances. For many victims it was the first time they had properly discussed the atrocities they witnessed. Plan is calling for many more such psychosocial services in the region to help families end this cycle of violence.

One of the report authors, Alice Behrendt said: "The children and young people in our studies have already been exposed to more violence in their short lives than most of us will ever experience in our lifetime.

"This violence is caused by adults engaged in war and strife; some of it is caused by adults in their own homes, beating and humiliating children because they don't know any other way.

"Often the emphasis is on rebuilding buildings, roads and infrastructure in countries like these, while the importance of 're-building people' and their fragile mental health is overlooked and dismissed."

Co-author Stefanie Conrad said: "Time and time again we found adults trying to raise children in societies in which they are themselves under enormous pressure - from economic insecurity, inter-ethnic hatred, political violence, the terrible aftermath of civil war and their own trauma.

"Deprived of the right economic and psychological resources, these guardians can barely offer a caring and supportive environment for their children."

Plan says children need understanding, supportive, non-violent adults around them and that violence in homes and communities must be challenged through simple, humane programmes that focus on adults as much as on children.

"We believe that only by empowering and supporting families in their daily care of children, will the goodwill and kindness of adults and the capacity of communities to respond to the psychological needs of children be improved," said Ms Behrendt.

Plan is now calling for:

• Increased child protection - a wide range of measures including: training in children's rights, community support programmes and creation of child-safe spaces

• Increased psycho-social support - including widening the availability of quality services, training to help identify vulnerable children and establishment of permanent mobile trauma healing units

• Greater social protection - better access to reproductive and other health care, improved education access and livelihood opportunities

• A pdf version of the full report, 'Silent Suffering - the psychological impact of war, HIV, and other high risk situations on girls and boys in West and Central Africa', can be downloaded from: www.plan-international.org or is available on request.

For further information, VNR footage & stills please contact:

Stuart Coles Senior Press Officer Plan, International HQ Stuart.coles@plan-international.org +44 (0) 1483 733 211 Mob. +44 (0) 7500 066 891

In Africa:

Alice Behrendt Plan West Africa Alice.Behrendt@plan-international.org +221 33 869 74 30

Stefanie Conrad Regional Communications Manager Plan West Africa Stefanie.Conrad@plan-international.org +221 33 869 74 52

'Silent Suffering' key facts Aim & Background: West and Central Africa is home to ever-growing numbers of children living on the streets, who are trafficked and exploited as cheap labour, neglected or sexually abused, or who are forced into combat in a civil war. Wanting to learn more about the impact of these difficult circumstances on children, Plan's West African Regional Office in partnership with Family Health International initiated a five-country study entitled "Psycho-social support to children in difficult circumstances". Between January 2007 and February 2008 over 1,000 children and adolescents were interviewed. Of them, 280 participants were identified as being in acute life-threatening or risky situations, and were given follow-up psycho-social support over several months.


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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