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AUTHOR Sommers, Marc TITLE The Children's War: Towards Peace in . A Field Report Assessing the Protection and Assistance Needs of Sierra Leonean Children and Adolescents. INSTITUTION Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, New York, NY SPONS AGENCY Ford Foundation, New York, NY.; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago, IL. PUB DATE 1997-06-00 NOTE 31p. PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Adolescents; Change Strategies; Child Welfare; *Children; Foreign Countries; *Human Services; Peace; Refugees; Violence; *War IDENTIFIERS *Sierra Leone; High Commissioner for Refugees

ABSTRACT Based on a 3-week field visit to Sierra Leone and Guinea, this report investigates why children (ages 0-17) have become key figures in Sierra Leone's civil war, and explores the problems that war has caused them. The report describes significant new effects of violence on three groups of Sierra Leonean children, very few of whom have received any humanitarian assistance thus far:(1) those who have spent prolonged periods in forest "bush camps";(2) unaccompanied adolescent who have been claimed by a variety of captors; and (3) young boys working in mining camps. The report also reviews two sets of problems besetting children in Sierra Leonean refugee camps in Guinea:(1) difficulties arising from the high ratio of females to males in the camps; and (2) the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees'(UNHCR) role as the central agency for the protection and support of refugees. The report notes that the Women's Commission advocates investing in Sierra Leone's future by directing education, skills training, and small credit programming at the majority of Sierra Leone's citizens--its youth. The report also discusses several other Commission recommendations. (EV)

******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) NAThis document has been reproducedas received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality.

Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. The Children's War Towards Peace in Sierra Leone

A field report assessing the protection and assistanceneeds of Sierra Leonean children and adolescents

PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Women's Commission a X10.... for Refugee Women and Children '

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 March 26-April 16, 1997

2 Mission Statement The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Childrenseeks to improve the lives of refugee women and children through a vigorous programof public educa- tion and advocacy, and by acting as a technical resource.The Commission, founded in 1989 under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee,is the only organi- zation in the United States dedicated solely to speaking out onbehalf of women and children uprooted by armed conflict or persecution. As part of an ongoing project to look into the protectionof children in refugee settings around the world, the Commission sent a consultant to Sierra Leoneand Guinea in March/April 1997 to investigate the conditions forwar-affected children.

The Women's Commission would like to thank the Ford Foundation and John D. and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation without whose support this project would not have been possible.

Copyright © June 1997 by Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children 122 East 42nd Street New York, NY 10168-1289 Tel: (212) 551-3088, Fax: (212) 551-3180, E-mail: [email protected] Web site: http://media.hypernet.com/wcrwc.html

Cover: Mohamed was a rebel captive who had lived in a "bush camp." His drawing, which lacks arms and mouth, is typical of pictures drawn by traumatized children who have spent time hiding in the forests. CO Marc Sommers TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary 2

The Women's Commission's Objectives in Sierra Leone 3

Background 4

Targeting Children for War 6

Change Inside Sierra Leone 7

Out of the Bush 7

Unaccompanied Children 10

Young Women as Commodities 12

Young Men as Fighters and Miners 15

Problems in the Refugee Camps 17

A Conflicted Society 17

UNHCR Remedies to Refugee Problems 20

Responding to Children's Needs in Sierra Leone 21

Recommendations 22

Acknowledgements 24

Endnotes 27

4 ods in forest "bush camps"; Executive Summary 2) unaccompanied adolescent girls who Before the coup in May, 1997, Sierra Leone's have been claimed by a variety of captors; war was probably the most overlooked con- and, flict in Africa. Dwarfed by other humanitari- 3) young boys working in mining camps. an crises in Africa, the ongoing crisis in The report also reviews two sets of prob- Sierra Leone needs continued and now lems besetting children in Sierra Leonean increased recognition and programmatic refugee camps in Guinea: difficulties arising from the high ratio support. Perhaps half of the nation's population of females to males in the camps; and has been uprooted by conflict, including UNHCR's role as the central agency for those recently affected by warfare in the the protection and support of refugees. capital city of . Before the coup, The May coup and its violent aftermath most of the displaced had recently returned underscore the need to respond to the tar- to villages ransacked by combatants. A geting of children for war by targeting chil- quarter of a million Sierra Leoneans remain dren for peace and stability. The Women's in refugee camps in Guinea, which now has Commission for Refugee Women and Africa's largest refugee population. Children advocates investing in Sierra But perhaps worst of all, the degree of Leone's future by directing education, skills suffering that Sierra Leone's children and training and small credit programming at the adolescents have endured has been unusu- majority of Sierra Leone's citizens - its youth. The Commission also calls for: ally high; for six years of warfare, children have been prime targets, and often the pri- a reorientation of humanitarian services that accounts for the shift of displaced pop- mary victims, of violence. Children comprise ulations from urban centers to rural villages; half of the 10,000 Sierra Leoneans who have rapid assessments to adequately mea- lost their lives in war and 700,000 of the country's 1.8 million displaced. The war has sure and understand the needs of "bush disabled up to 20 percent of the population, camp" children, unaccompanied adolescent girls, and boys in mining camps, and out- most of whom are children. As many as 80 reach-oriented programs to begin to address percent of rebel soldiers are between the their concerns; ages of seven and 14, and recent escapees revision of the Children in Especially from rebel camps have reported that the Difficult Circumstances (CEDC) guidelines majority of camp members are young cap- and proposed legislation to account for: tive girls. In rural areas, the number of chil- (1) the health and protection needs of unac- dren in need could reach into the tens of companied girls who have been claimed thousands. and absorbed into households against their Based on a three-week field visit to will, and boys who populate the mining Sierra Leone and Guinea, this report investi- camps, and (2) the scope and implications gates why children (ages 0-17) have become of the "African tradition" form of care for key figures in Sierra Leone's civil war, and unaccompanied minors; explores the problems that war has caused a thorough and swift response to them. The report describes significant new long-standing concerns over the approach effects of violence on three groups of Sierra and operations of UNHCR programs for Leonean children. Very few children in Sierra Leonean (and Liberian) refugees in these groups have received any humanitari- Guinea. an assistance thus far: 1) those who have spent prolonged peri-

2 Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children

5 The Women's Commission's pose is twofold: (1) to identify critical issues of concern for children and adolescents Objectives in Sierra Leone who have been uprooted by conflict in Sierra Leone, and (2) to suggest remedies A recent Women's Commission for Refugee for addressing their needs more effectively. Women and Children assessment trip to Sierra Leone and refugee camps in nearby The report will consider the reasons why Guinea found that Sierra Leone's future is as young Sierra Leoneans became the central unsettled as its security is tenuous. In addi- targets of war. Three consequences of this tion to violence in Freetown, the coastal targeting for children and adolescents will capital, there continue to be spasms of then be explored, followed by a report on bloodshed and banditry in the interior of two important issues in the Sierra Leonean the country.It is widely believed that refugee camps in Guinea. The concluding "rebels" may infiltrate communities by dress- section will recommend ways for improving who are ing as government soldiers critical services to Sierra Leone's children already widely held under suspicion or even as the villagers' local heroes and hired and adolescents. This report is based on a defenders, the Kamajors. three-week visit (March 26-April 16, 1997) to While this report will update the general Sierra Leone (up-country and the capital, situation of Sierra Leoneans, its central pur- Freetown) and to refugee camps in Guinea.

du Voinj;

LIBERIA

The Children's War: Towards Peace in Sierra Leone 3 6 BEST COPYAVAIL BLE Renamo', they have instead resorted to sur- Background prise raids designed to spread terror, loot In the days after President Ahmad Tejan property and capture young men and Kabbah of Sierra Leone and Foday Sankoh, women. The RUF's reputation for dismem- the leader of the Revolutionary United Front berment is widespread. "The rebels told me (RUF), signed a peace accord on November that they already had enough women to 30, 1996, hundreds of thousands of Sierra help them, so they came only to cut us up," Leoneans displaced by war began to return a 15 year-old related after her right hand to their homes. Still fearful of the unruly had been amputated. The United Nations ways of both the government "soldiers" and Children's Fund (UNICEF) has estimated that the RUF "rebels," communities hired up to twenty percent of the population, Kamajors, local civil defense units empow- largely children, has been disabled by the ered by bullet-deflecting charms, to protect war.' them. While local Kamajors have supplied a Although the earlier stages of Sierra sense of security, most of the villages that Leone's civil war may have been somewhat Sierra Leoneans returned to had already comprehensible, conversations with Sierra been flattened and plundered by roving Leoneans both young and old, well educat- bands of fighters. Armed with limited mate- ed and poorly educated, rural and urban, rials, little cash, very few government sup- suggested that uncertainty over why the ports and scant attention from the outside fighting continues is widespread. In a coun- world, Sierra Leoneans have begun to liter- try slightly larger in size and population ally rebuild their lives. than Ireland, the six-year war, which has This reconstruction is taking place while displaced 1.8 million and left thousands the war continues. The recent overthrow of dead or lacking arms or legs, boils down to Sierra Leone's democratically elected gov- matters of personal security. For Sierra ernment by military coup, and the subse- Leonean civilians interviewed for this report, quent advance of RUF troops into Freetown the concept of the notorious "sobel" (sol- has shifted the central theatre of war from diers who impersonate and terrorize like upcountry forests to the capital city. Yet rebels), which outside observers continue to while fighting has arisen in Freetown, much dispute,' was largely irrelevant. A rebel, of the countryside remains dangerous. quite simply, is a person who behaved like Most Sierra Leoneans consider the contin- one. Trying to figure out whether a fighter uing war pointless, which is one of the was actually an RUF fighter or a government ways it is so unusual. The war began in soldier is as difficult as knowing whether 1991, when a small band of fighters entered the young man in question was forced to Sierra Leone from Liberia, declaring their terrorize or chose to. Tired and bewildered opposition to corruption and their support by the war, issues of motivation and ideolo- for democracy while raiding villages. gy have come to matter little. The devastating war that ensued was not Yet certain aspects of the conflict seem to inspired by ethnic rivalry. The combatants be widely understood. It is generally have employed few landmines. The RUF assumed, for example, that the command forces, who have opposed four successive center for the RUF is Kailahun, a peninsula- governments in Freetown, have never shaped district surrounded on three sides by amounted to more than a few thousand, Guinea and Liberia, from which the "rebels" and have never controlled much territory or exchange coffee and cocoa for rice and a significant proportion of the population. ammunition. The RUF's particular preference Apparently drawing upon the techniques of for turning captive children and adolescents Peru's Shining Path and Mozambique's into fighters, laborers and concubines is also

4 Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children well-known, and it is not coincidental that Kamajors challenged the soldiers' right to most of the unrest has taken place in the dig for diamonds, fighting broke out, and vicinity of diamond mines. eventually led to a brief gunfight in down- Three recent events, all of which took town Kenema. place while the Women's Commission field While villagers have already started to assessment was underway, capture how vio- rebuild their houses and prepare their fields lence in the countryside remains fluid and for planting, reconstructing rural communi- dangerously unpredictable. While the long- ties has proven more difficult. Villagers scat- standing RUF leader, Foday Sankoh, remains tered in terror when rebel fighting forces, under house arrest in Nigeria, his leadership and sometimes even government troops, is being contested. One contingent, led by entered their villages. As a consequence, Captain Dean Palmer, publicly challenged former village residents are returning from Sankoh's authority. In March, 1997, the as many as seven different wartime experi- Sierra Leonean ambassador to Guinea ences. Many of those displaced from rural arranged a meeting between existing RUF homes found relatively stable refuge in leaders in Kailahun and Captain Palmer's camps in provincial towns, particularly Bo delegation at the Guinean town of Nongoa, and Kenema, in the Sierra Leonean capital, located across the Makona River from Freetown, or in refugee camps along the Kailahun District in Sierra Leone. Major border, mainly in Guinea. Some villagers Mosquito, then considered a Sankoh sup- chose to spontaneously settle in urban porter, ambushed the visiting delegation as areas, while less fortunate families hid in soon as they crossed into Sierra Leone. With "bush camps," often referred to with the hostages in tow, Major Mosquito declared Mende term soqoihun, or "in the corner." himself the new RUF leader. The least fortunate were those young men Meanwhile, young rebel fighters, some as and women who were war captives or com- young as eleven years of age, were cap- batants, and they will be the most difficult tured by a squadron of Kamajors in to assimilate into village life again. Tonkolili District. Following an elaborate The spillover of warfare into Freetown, handover ceremony to government authori- and the sudden return of hundreds of thou- ties, the captured combatants described sands of Sierra Leoneans to their homes has three separate contingents of RUF groups dramatically altered the social landscape of that maintain bush camps in forests in cen- the country. Children were both primary tar- tral Sierra Leone. All three groups, they gets and victims of the war; they comprised reported, are led by Liberian commanders, half of the 10,000 Sierra Leoneans who lost exiles from that country's civil war. Ranking their lives in war and 700,000 of the coun- just below them are RUF leaders from try's 1.8 million displaced. It is vital that the Kailahun. The ex-combatants reported that situation and specific needs of Sierra the Liberians are not inclined to surrender. Leonean children become better understood They also reported that the majority of and directly addressed. camp members are young captive girls. In a third district of Sierra Leone (located between Tonkolili and Kailahun Districts), in the diamond-rich area around Kenema, a gunfight arose in a mine near Tongo late in March, 1997. This particular skirmish did not involve RUF fighters at all, but armed Kamajors who, reports suggest, discovered government soldiers in the mines. When the

The Children's War: Towards Peace in Sierra Leone 5 Targeting Children for War

The rebels amputated me. 16-year-old girl, who lost her hand.

The RUF was mainly concerned to round up and conscript young people, including children. Richards (1996:7)

I've been to eight wars, but this is the first I don't understand. Veteran humanitarian aid official.

The disparate threads of diamonds, the tar- geting of children to serve as combatants and captives, the bush camps and the RUF troops used amputation to instill terror in Liberians were once woven more closely villagers. Up to 20 percent of Sierra Leone's together. The RUF's initial entrance into population is believed to have been disabled during the war. It is generally believed that many of the rebel camps, particularly those outside of Sierra Leone took place in Kailahun District Kailabun District, are short of food sup- on March 23, 1991, but the invasion was plies. Many of the stories about rebel inspired by one of the Liberian war's central attacks are connected not only to captur- figures, Charles Taylor. Evidently seeking to ing youths, terrorizing villagers and loot- punish Sierra Leone for its support for a ing, but to food, as well. Here is a 15- West African peacekeeping force (the pres- year -old girl's story: ence of rich diamond mines just across the border was undoubtedly a second motiva- I was injured at Tin Konko, near Bo. We tion), Taylor sponsored and promoted the were cooking, late in the evening. When RUF incursion into Sierra Leone. [the rebels] came, we fled into the bush. I The incoming RUF troops, initially not was running behind my sister, who was more than one hundred in number, immedi- pregnant.... This [rebel] threw a rope, ately employed strategies that Taylor's fight- entangled me, and I fell. My sister got ers had already found successful: "The basic away, but I got dragged back into town. tactic was ... youth conscription, to consti- When we arrived, the rebels had eaten tute a viable fighting force and suggest a the food we had prepared. There were credible 'popular uprising.' "' Drugging three [captured] women two elders youths before raiding a village or entering and myself. The rebels lay us down on a combat became commonplace. Ambushing metal sheet, cut our hands off and told us government troops once they entered Sierra to tell the military in Bo that the rebels Leone's dense carpet of forests became did that to us. Then the rebels left, after another useful tactic. Camps housing the looting the town, and left us undressed. young troops some estimates suggest that I don't know what I did to them to get as much as eighty percent of all RUF forces this. Now I trust God. God will repay the are between the ages of seven and fourteen'' people that did this to me. as well as the growing number of young war captives, were established in forest

6 Women'sCommission for Refugee Women and Children

9 hideaways. The RUF's purported political Change Inside Sierra Leone agenda to root out corruption and restore democracy in Sierra Leone has In the fall of 1996, the estimated number of been severely compromised by their exces- internally displaced persons (IDP) in IDP sively violent behavior. And yet, given their camps numbered about 700,000. Three small numbers, spreading terror by raiding months into 1997, only about 25,000 people villages and committing atrocities has remained in those camps. The sudden, become a cost-effective way of influencing spontaneous return of Sierra Leoneans to large numbers of people. Wreaking havoc their villages has left humanitarian organiza- simultaneously stretched the government's tions with very little institutional knowledge crisis management capacity and strength- of the new situation in recently repopulated ened the RUF's standing as a fierce, and for- rural areas of Sierra Leone. midable, adversary. In the end, the negotiat- In order to address this dramatic change, ed peace treaty awarded RUF leaders with field investigation of the problems of chil- considerable political gains, and forced the dren and adolescents in Sierra Leone was government to withdraw their Executive balanced between examining existing pro- Outcomes' mercenary contingent from the grams and approaches in Freetown, Bo and country. Kenema and visiting newly settled villages Beyond sheer terror and destruction, one in Pujehun and Moyamba, two districts of the RUF's enduring legacies has been its where war had displaced most of the local use of young men (as well as women) as population. highly effective combatants. This has been Findings from this field research will cen- paralleled in the national army, which ter on three groups of Sierra Leonean chil- tripled in size to 10,000 during the military dren and adolescents that are currently regime of Captain Valentine Strasser from receiving little or no assistance: "bush camp" 1992 to 1995, and now has an estimated children; unaccompanied minors, particular- 13,000 soldiers. Many of the army's new ly girls; and young boys working in mines. recruits are youths, some as young as nine years old. Military discipline is uneven at Out of the Bush best. The previous government had been afraid that downsizing the army could exac- We displace dem, we sorry -o erbate growing disloyalty in the national We don loss we mama, we don loss army, and even inspire soldiers to "grab and we papa loot" before they handed in their weapons. we don loss we pekin dem, we nob get Consequently, many in the government food for eat turned to the Kamajors for military support. we nob get doss for wear, we nob Under these circumstances, it is hardly sur- know wusai we day go prising that Kamajors, not government sol- diers, pushed "rebel" RUF fighters out of vil- (We the displaced are sorrowful lages in the south and east of the country, We have lost our , we have lost while elements of the army staged a coup in our fathers the capital. We have lost our children, we have no food to eat We have no clothes to wear, we do not

know where we are going) Displace (sung in the Krio language), by Ngoh Gbetuwai and The Kamajors8

The Children's War: Towards Peace in Sierra Leone 7 following a rebel raid. Often using ropes to Every time you go to a village, there are trip their prey, the invaders sought to cap- more and more people coming out of the ture adolescent boys and girls before they bush. fled. They burned huts, sometimes with -- Humanitarian agencyofficial. people trapped inside, amputated limbs, and looted goods, particularly food. Rebel Sierra Leonean children in need have largely attackers rarely remained long in villages. been defined by previous circumstances. Instead, after demonstrating their might to War in the rural areas has meant that those the fleeing villagers, they loaded their cap- who fled into towns became the primary tured youths with food and possessions and recipients of humanitarian assistance and returned to their military outposts in forest- services. Most children's assistance projects ed hill areas. have retained their urban focus, and have In the panic following a rebel invasion, yet to adjust to the sudden return of the many children were separated from their internally displaced to their villages. As the parents. Since the RUF's reputation for cap- organizations have seen the size of their tar- turing boys and girls above the age of about get groups dwindle in towns, competition seven was well-known, children that age has intensified. In Kenema and Bo, the may have been especially terrified. Indeed, number of children who may qualify for fears that the RUF would steal more chil- assistance probably ranges between several dren influenced the development of bush hundred and a couple of thousand. In rural camp society. Surviving groups organized areas, the number of children in need could themselves into units of approximately 30 reach into the tens of thousands. people. After establishing a bush camp, men During visits to villages where displaced and adolescent boys would fan out as persons had already returned to their patrols, prepared to sound the alarm if they homes, the Women's Commission investigat- spotted any rebels in the area. Women and ed the range of children's war experiences. adolescent girls would search for wild yams, Returnees described that when rebels (or, potatoes, roots and cabbage. After wild veg- less often, government soldiers) entered etables were exploited, trips in search of their villages, the residents scattered. In abandoned farmland crops were periodically speaking with Sierra Leoneans who had risked. Such trips were always dangerous been displaced from different villages, a because of the chances of meeting RUF similar pattern emerged. The relatively few commandos also searching for food. villagers with sufficient cash resources man- A series of precautions were taken to aged to pay for transport to the nearest avoid notice by rebels. As smoke could sig- large town, mainly Bo and Kenema. Some nal their location to rebel patrols, bush eventually escaped to Freetown. But most of camp residents only cooked after nightfall. Sierra Leone's displaced fled directly into Bush yams and other collected foods were nearby forests. Although many would even- placed over fires made in holes in the tually arrive in major towns, it appears that ground and then smothered with leaves. If a quarter of a million or more Sierra someone did not return to the bush camp at Leoneans may have remained in the forests, night, after patrolling or foraging all day, it and most of the displaced experienced was assumed that they had been captured "bush camp," or soqoihun (hiding place) by the RUF. Preparations to move camp life, at least for a while. took place immediately, and the group trav- Sierra Leoneans from different districts elled at night. The near-constant shortages and provinces related similar descriptions of of food meant that weak and sick communi- the turmoil and terror that overtook villagers ty members had to be abandoned. Often,

8 Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children 11 In the village of Sahn Ma len, in Pujehun District,"Bo Camp" children (that is, children who had been in organized IDP camps in the townof Bo) were paired up with "bush camp" children, and asked to draw a picture ofthemselves. The bush camp children were barely able to draw on their own, and usually tried to use the Bo camp children's drawings as amodel. Even when they did this, signs of dis- tress the lack of an arm or a mouth were apparent. This informal experiment also suggested that the basic needs of Bo camp children were adequately addressed. Two matched pairs of Bo camp and bush camp children are shown below:

Bo Camp Children Bush Camp Children

The Children's War: Towards Peace in Sierra Leone 9

12 malnourished mothers without breast milk population without conducting an in-depth would have to wrap their infants in cloth to survey, field interviews indicate that it is sig- muffle their cries, and leave the child nificant, and could amount to more than a behind. Sometimes mourning mothers quarter of a million people. Evidence further would remain with the child. The group suggests that the experiences of "bush would also have to abandon any elderly camp" and town life during the war have people who could not keep up. led to dramatically different effects on chil- Silence appears to have been a common dren. Many of those who fled to towns had method for protecting children in bush never been there before, and the exposure camps. Afraid that the sounds of children's created several positive outcomes. In addi- voices would attract RUF patrols, many par- tion to receiving reasonable levels of securi- ents and guardians felt compelled to terrify ty, nutrition and medical care, the suspi- children to keep them quiet. One group of cions that many parents held about girls' bush camp survivors explained how "the education, particularly the learning of children were told: 'If you talk, the [RUH English, were challenged. Parents from rural people will come and kill you. So stay areas often contend that learning English quiet." Not surprisingly, silent play at the makes girls "wayward," and can lead them base camp was a common activity for to migrate to cities (where English is spo- young children. Forced to live in these iso- ken), and assume inappropriate, dangerous lated bush communities with little food and behavior, such as wearing shorts, going to under highly stressful conditions, bush camp cinemas, consuming soft drinks and having life has severely affected child survivors. many boyfriends. Yet parents who returned Almost nothing is known about Sierra from urban areas, as well as educators, both Leoneans who survived for extended peri- reported that education for girls had ods in these bush camps. Although many become more popular among those who who eventually surfaced in Bo, Kenema, resided in urban areas during the war years. Freetown and other towns had some experi- In contrast, teachers in the makeshift vil- ence of bush camp life, those who were lage schools related that the educational forced to remain there for as long as several abilities of students who have recently years were neither likely to be counted in returned from bush camps have been seri- wartime statistics nor become recipients of ously impaired. While children who attend- humanitarian assistance. Statistics provided ed schools in IDP camps or in urban by the United Nations Children's Fund schools tended to be alert and confident, (UNICEF) in Freetown suggest that war dis- the "bush camp" students were generally placed 1.8 million Sierra Leoneans from unresponsive. Some have serious difficulties their homes. Yet this "displaced" category in expressing themselves at all. In general, only contains those who could be counted many bush camp children appear to have in refugee or IDP camps, or those estimated developed significant emotional and learn- to have found refuge in towns. The remain- ing disabilities. ing population of Sierra Leone 2.4 mil- lion people is considered "undisplaced Unaccompanied Children but affected." Those who "took to the bush" for refuge and remained there would thus Most of the widely recognized programs become part of this second category. They designed to assist children in need in Sierra were, of course, seriously affected by the Leone fall into two types. One kind centers war, particularly the child survivors. on child soldiers and is largely carried out Although it would be difficult to arrive at by Children Associated with the War (CAW), an accurate estimate of the "bush camp" which will be examined in the following

10 Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children

13 section. A second kind serves unaccompa- of organizations oppose this approach, nied minors, and it includes orphanages, apparently because it would create an insti- unaccompanied minor homes, and the tution that lacks local cultural roots. Several process of tracing and reunifying lost chil- local and international organization officials dren with their relatives. While the recent explained that an orphaned child, according return of approximately 675,000 internally to local tradition, would be raised by other displaced persons to their rural homes has relatives, such as an uncle or grandmother. obviously not affected programs such as Accordingly, orphanages should be consid- Catholic Relief Services' (CRS) urban youth ered intrusive or, at the very least, unneces- centers, other programs, including services sary. It should be noted, however, that an for unaccompanied minors and orphans as orphanage already exists in Kenema. well as youth training, school assistance, The second issue concerns those local amputee support and child nutrition, are still NGOs that have received recognition and adjusting to the change. As one United assistance from international donors and Nations official observed, "people who have partner organizations, and those that have gone back [home] haven't received much not. This rivalry has directly included a direct support." number of local church-based organizations. The total number of unaccompanied Clearly, those with Catholic connections, minors in Sierra Leone, another UN official such as the Kenema Diocesan Development reported, is estimated at 9,500. Among the Office (KDDO), CAW and the towns overwhelmed by civil war, Bo Unaccompanied Minors Project of Bo, have appears to have been most affected by com- generally fared well. Others, such as New petition and rivalries between local NGOs Life Services, the Young Women's Christian with unaccompanied minor programs. This Association (YWCA) and the Anglican rivalry has involved local United Nations Diocese, are seeking to improve their con- and Government officials and international nections to local representatives of the inter- NGOs operating there. Reportedly, the national community. Ministry of Labor, Social Welfare and Sports The third issue is the widespread criti- and UNICEF were jointly involved in select- cism that UNICEF-Sierra Leone has received ing representatives in each of the country's for lack of leadership and vision. However, four provinces to handle the local activities UNICEF's performance is expected to of the national retracing program. The pur- improve significantly: there has been a pose of the program is to reunify unaccom- recent infusion of new personnel who are panied minors with their families. With the aware of the organization's problems and war winding down, officials in some organi- committed to solving them. zations have been accused of not participat- The disorder that has increasingly charac- ing fully in the retracing program. Some terized child-centered assistance projects in officials contend that returning minors to Sierra Leone is now being addressed. Under their families would eventually reduce the the coordination of the Ministries of number of minors in their programs. This National Reconstruction, Resettlement, and reduction could, by extension, also threaten Rehabilitation (MNRRR), Labor, Social their jobs. Such concerns may be fueling Welfare and Sports, and Gender and some officials' reluctance to participate. Children's Affairs, and with support from At least three other issues concerning United Nations Humanitarian Assistance unaccompanied minors in towns remain in Coordinating Unit (NACU), UNICEF, and a dispute. The first concerns the much-publi- number of child welfare NGOs, guidelines cized plans of the Anglican Church to build are being established and national legisla- an orphanage in Bo. Officials from a variety tion