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Filed under: Because I Am Girl
On 25 June 2008, the Brussels launch of Plan’s report, “Because I am a Girl. Special Focus: In the Shadow of War,” brought together representatives of United Nations women’s organisations UNICEF, UNIFEM, members of the the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), and the European Parliament.
Nikki van der Gaag, the report’s author, informed the EU institutions about the impact of conflict on girls, before, during, and after war.
And she spoke of how education is one of the key ways of transforming girls’ lives and giving them hope for the future.
Girls themselves are asking for organisations at all levels, including the UN and their own governments, to listen to them. In their own words, “We want more opportunities to take part in making decisions that affect us… We do not want to be called in when you have already made the decisions. We want to work hand in hand with you.”
Find out more about the report
Sylvie Fouet from UNICEF argued that, “It is important to raise awareness around the players and the children themselves.”
Osnat Lubrani from UNIFEM pointed out that peace initiatives should be a central concern of the international community, so that girls can live in safety and security.
Plan presented a statement to the incoming French Presidency of the European Union. This Statement gives recommendations for how the French Presidency should use its leadership to ensure girls’ rights in times of conflict.
Plan recognised the leadership role that France has taken in the past within the international community on the issue of children and armed conflict, and is calling on the French Presidency and the European Union to take all appropriate measures to raise the issue of the rights of girls affected by armed conflict higher on the global agenda.
Ms. Gomes, a member of the European Parliament, underlined the importance of these recommendations. “The French Presidency should use its influence to put the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the heart of the EU”, she concluded.
Cooking over open, indoor fires has had a detrimental effect on the health of women and children in particular. Exposure to high levels of pollutants from wood smoke cause eye and lung problems. Rural women walk increasingly long distances to collect wood and carry heavy bundles home on average two or three times per week.
Due to lack of community awareness on the effects of pollutants from wood smoke to the eyes, elderly women have fallen victim of superstitious beliefs by some community members that elderly women with red eyes are witches. This has resulted in more than 196 elderly women being killed in six regions of the country last year alone, Shinyanga being on top with 50 murders and Mwanza being the second highest with 38 murders.
Exodus, the UK’s leading Adventure Travel Company, is helping by trying to raise £21,697 for Plan to fund a smokeless stove programme in the Geita District, Tanzania. The programme will include the implementation of 140 smokeless stoves in seven villages and the training of 70 members of the community to ensure sustainability. This programme will impact greatly on the health of the communities, particularly the women and children as well as having many other benefits.
This project will reduce the demand for trees for fuel which will help lessen the pressure on the vegetation of the region and enable regeneration to take place. The reduced amount of firewood used will importantly help reduce carbon emissions. As community members will be consulted and made aware of the importance of planting trees, hence preserving the natural resources of Geita for future generations.
There will be less time needed to go and collect firewood which will mean particularly for the women they have more time to do more worthwhile activities and will help empower them.
The introduction of smokeless stoves will also reduce the incidence of elderly women being murdered due to red eyes caused by the pollutants of wood smoke.
Through the introduction of the new technology of building stoves and communities being sensitized, the lives of elderly women will be safeguarded and prolonged as they won’t be subjected to brutal murders. If you would like to donate to this project please click on ‘Donate Now’ on the right of this page and follow the instructions.
“Exodus has been at the forefront of “Responsible Tourism” for many years with a successful history of supporting and managing practical, on the ground projects, that really do make a difference to the people and environment in the places we visit. We are therefore excited and proud to be able to work with PLAN on this excellent project in Tanzania.” Pete Burrell, Exodus Managing Director.
Exodus is also promoting sponsorship with Plan and other campaigns through their brochures, as well as running an appeal to their customers for victims of May’s earthquake in China. If you would like to support Exodus’s China appeal please visit http://www.justgiving.com/exodustravels
Exodus is the UKs leading Adventure Travel Company with over 34 years of experience developing trips across all seven continents. If you would like to hear more about Exodus holidays please visit www.exodus.co.uk.
The horrors this boy has faced are a world away from Ambridge.
Actor Tom Graham – eco warrior-turned-sausage manufacturer Tom Archer in Radio 4’s ever-popular series – travelled to a farming community in Sierra Leone to meet the boy he has been sponsoring for the past year.
Dozens of children grab at his hands, sing and cheer in the harsh West African sun as they welcome their British benefactor. The actor has travelled to Port Loko, a rural community in Sierra Leone, to meet 10-year-old Sheka Koroma, the boy he has been sponsoring for the past year through Plan.
Farming life in Ambridge and the rural community of Port Loko couldn’t be more different and Tom’s – albeit fictional – experiences of rural life are severely challenged.
Sheka’s parents are farmers but they can barely afford to grow enough food to feed their family and keep back a little to sell at a weekly market, where they earn the equivalent of £1.50 per month, to buy clothes and rice.
The poverty Tom is seeing is a result of Sierra Leone’s bloody 10-year civil war. In 2000 the UN, led by Britain, defeated the rebels but it wasn’t until two years later that the war was officially declared over. By then a third of the population was displaced. About 90,000 were killed or maimed by rebel forces and others were forcefully conscripted, many of them children.
When rebel forces ransacked their village, Sheka and his family fled to the bush. Houses were razed to the ground and the only grocery store was looted. Villagers were murdered indiscriminately and women gang-raped.
As village chief, Sheka’s father Pa Koroma knew he would be their prime target. Two of his brothers were killed before they could escape. He recalls: “When the soldiers came I grabbed my family and we ran to the bush. We managed to exist on cassava leaves.
His wife Amie adds: “Sheka would cry because he was hungry but we had to keep him quiet, otherwise we would be found by the soldiers and killed.
“We had no shelter and were cold so Sheka became sick and cried more but we had no medicine to give him and were afraid for his health. We kept moving and slept on the ground when we were tired. Now there is peace and we can sleep well, without fear.”
Tom, 28, says: “When I realised how Sheka’s family had been affected by the conflict, I tried to put myself in their position and ask myself whether I could endure what they did. That they have raised Sheka to be a happy, content little boy, despite all he has been through, speaks volumes about their dignity and stoicis
m.”
Tom is one of the cast of Britain’s longest-running radio institutions but the facelessness of radio renders him largely anonymous. “It is all new to me,” he laughs about his mob welcome in Sheka’s village. “I don’t usually get recognised in the street, never mind cheered.”
The village has a primary school but no running water or sanitation. The nearest rudimentary health facilities are five miles away and must be reached on foot.
Tom says: “A friend of mine works at the charity and helped me start sponsoring Sheka. I picked Sierra Leone because it needs enormous help. Before we met, Sheka and I had exchanged letters and photographs so we knew a little about each other.
“But when I arrived, it quickly became apparent that the whole community were aware I was coming and everyone came out to welcome me. There were about 200 people. It was very kind but a bit overwhelming, both for me and Sheka.”
After the pair had shared a lunch of beef, rice and fruit, Tom gave Sheka some gifts – a Notts County team shirt, as he is a football fan, and some chalk for his school. “He was shy at first but after a while, he’d smile and we’d hold hands,” says Tom.
“Part of the reason for my visit was to witness the fallout of the war and understand what the country needs. Meeting Sheka and his family leaves me in no doubt that I want to continue to help. I’m committed to them indefinitely now.”
Article by Paula Kerr. Originally published in the Sunday Express on 15 June 2008 and reproduced with permission.
Plan has delivered the first batch of relief goods to communities affected by Typhoon Fengshen in the Philippines.
The typhoon swept across the country over the weekend of June 21 causing devastation. More than 2,400,000 people are believed to have been affected by landslides, flash floods and storm surges which have destroyed houses, crops and killed more than 500 people. A further 260 people are missing.
A total of 623 evacuation camps have been established throughout the country for the people affected.
Systems designed to support the needs of children in emergencies are overwhelmed by the scale of the impact of this disaster and water and sanitation has been identified as a major need – with many public facilities destroyed and people forced from their homes.
Plan’s response
Plan is already distributing emergency food supplies together with medicine, hygiene kits, mosquito nets and clothing to affected communities.
Plan has also joined the network of international non-governmental organisations in the Philippines (PINGON) in conducting damage assessments in the Panay Islands covering the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Iloilo, and Guimaras.
Plan’s response will also be focused on:
- Immediate relief supplies for those most in need
- House reconstruction
- Rehabilitation of damaged schools
- Assistance for those who have lost crops
Help us assist those affected
Please donate to the Philippines typhoon appeal by making an online donation.
Following the devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake which struck China in May, Plan has been distributing emergency supplies to affected families and will take part in the reconstruction of schools and the psychological rehabilitation of survivors.
China’s worst earthquake in more than 30 years struck southwest China on May 12, leaving nearly 87,000 dead or missing. The victims include at least 9,000 children who were crushed to death when their school buildings collapsed on them.
Relief efforts have been hampered by aftershocks (which have killed nine people and destroyed 5 million square metres of housing) and fears of flooding from lakes formed after the earthquake. There remains an urgent need for tents, clothes, bedding, food, medicine and medical equipment.
Plan’s post disaster reconstruction work will focus on two areas: post-trauma psychological rehabilitation and school reconstruction.
Help us assist those affected
Please donate to the China earthquake appeal by making an online donation.
Shoot Nations is a free global youth photography competition. It is open to anyone aged 11-24 from anywhere in the world. Shoot Nations gives young people the chance to express their opinions through visual communication – you do not need language or education to take or draw a picture.
Last year the competition received over 1500 entries from 85 countries. Over 4500 people attended
exhibitions of Shoot Nations photographs on four different continents, and 200 young people participated in photography workshops. We hope this year will be even bigger and better.
The 2008 theme is “Young People in a Changing Climate”, a global issue directly affecting us all. The strength of the project comes from young people all over the world getting involved.
You do not need to be a photographer to take part. Shoot Nations is open to everyone!
Take three photographs or draw three pictures that capture the following:
1. How is climate change affecting your life?
2. Act now – be the change!
3. Your world in the future.
The Shoot Nations website is live in five languages, and is open until 31 July.
The best entrants will be in with the chance to win a trip to Quebec and be exhibited at the World Youth Conference as part of International Youth Day 2008. There will also be a UK exhibition of the images at the OXO gallery on the South Bank from 12-19 August.
There are a wealth of UK learning resources to accompany the project, for geography, citizenship and media studies. Follow the links to access the resources:
Climate change
Photography as a tool for communication
A Shoot Nations Workshop Toolkit is available to enable people anywhere to run their own exhibition and workshop. Please email plan-ed@plan-international.org.uk for more information.
Shoot Nations is live! Enter now!
Find out more about Shoot Nations in 2007
Children living in West Africa who have suffered terrible trauma as a result of poverty, conflict and abuse are being offered support by new mobile counselling units.
“Two times the lady I was working for put hot pepper in my vagina as a punishment. Then she tied up my hands and feet and locked me up for an entire day without food or water. You can still see the scars. I was very scared and it hurt so much. It gave me terrible nightmares and I would wake up screaming.
“Now I am back in Togo, it is the wife of my husband’s brother that treats me badly. She tells my husband that I am bad and he beats me as well. It got to the point where I felt I could not go on and I bought chemicals so I could end my life.”
This is the story of Akissi from Est Mono in Togo. She is 15 years old, already a mother and a survivor of child trafficking.
Her story is just one of many uncovered by researchers from the Plan West Africa Regional Office (WARO) as part of their research project into the requirements for psycho-social support for children in the region.
During their study, the researchers began speaking to young people who had been through terrible ordeals and were considering suicide. Some, like Akissi, had already bought the means by which they planned to kill themselves.
The researchers looked at child trafficking in Togo; war-affected communities in Sierra Leone and Liberia; communities with high HIV prevalence in Cameroon; and child refugees in Burkina Faso affected by armed conflict in the Ivory Coast.
More than a thousand children aged between eight and 18 took part in individual interviews, case studies and group discussions conducted in local languages.
The first and very dramatic results showed there was a high risk of suicide among those interviewed who had suffered physical and sexual abuse.
Most of the severely affected were girls, some of whom had babies as a result of rape and were not able to take care of their children. Others had lost their children and suffered from guilt and remorse on top of the trauma caused by abuse.
The report also showed that existing initiatives in the region were not always offering the best support for these traumatised children.
As a result, Plan has now set up its own mobile psycho-social support units to help the high-risk children identified by the researchers, in the first initiative of its kind for Plan.
These units provide traditional healing ceremonies, family mediation, medical facilities and social assistance, including financial support for school or apprenticeship equipment and fees.
So far they have been set up in Togo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Liberia and aim to provide an immediate response to children identified as at a ‘high-risk’ of suicide, with the hope of continuing and expanding the project over the coming years.
It’s 2am and the city of Hue is sleeping, but for Tien and her family the day is just beginning. Her home is a small boat on Vietnam’s Perfume River and her task is to collect sand from the river bed. A long, hard day in the scorching sun lies ahead and 14-year-old Tien also knows she really should be at school.
But Tien, the third of five children, hasn’t attended school for four years. She dropped out aged just 10 to make the long journey south to Ho Chi Minh City, the capital and economic hub, in search of work. But she quickly found out she was too young and had to return to Hue.
There she sells lottery tickets as soon as her work on the banks of the river is finished, and each day she walks past schools and sees the children learning and having fun in the playground and dreams of one day being able to rejoin them.
That was Tien’s life not so long ago but, with help from Plan, her wishes have since become reality.
The turning point was an invitation to the boat communities to attend a meeting on children’s education and protection issues and Tien remembers it was the talk of the riverbank among the mothers.
At the meeting, Tien discovered she could attend informal multi-grade classes and parents signed letters undertaking a commitment to allow their children to attend school regularly, agree to stop them working in unsuitable conditions and to allow them to attend the classes and children’s club activities.
When Tien realised she would be going back to school she cried for joy. She still had to help collect the sand but now no longer had to walk the streets of Hue trying to sell lottery tickets.
She said, “I feel so happy that my parents now let me go to the multi-grade class and children’s club which I have dreamed of doing for a very, very long time”.
Life in Dili’s refugee camps is as threatening as it is demanding. But Plan is determined to relieve the physical and mental strain on the people of East Timor as long as they have to stay there.
“I hope we can move out of the camp before she starts remembering all this,” says Delfina, as she lifts her daughter, Alexandrinha, off the ground.
Alexandrinha’s brother has just snatched her basketball – her most prized possession – and she is crying. Delfina picks her up while balancing on the small plastic chair inside her tent in one of Dili’s many refugee camps. For the past 18 months she has lived here with her 2-year-old daughter, husband Manuel and their son, Alexandrinho. No one knows how long they will stay.
“We hear rumours of the government providing compensation money, so that we can return to our homes and rebuild them,” says Delfina. “But there are so many rumours – so many words and promises.”
In April 2006, 600 soldiers were dismissed, triggering political and social instability in Dili. More than 130,000 people lost their homes – Delfina’s family among them.
“We had heard rumours of gangs threatening to burn people’s houses down,” says Delfina. “But it is hard to leave your home. Then one night we woke up. The house was on fire. We were able to get the children out and leave before the house came down. We went for the mountains, and brought nothing with us.”
The family survived there for more than two weeks before returning to Dili and life in a camp. But they faced threats there too and moved to their present camp near the beach.
Delfina’s story is typical, according to Jose Francisco de Sousa, the child rights advisor with Plan East Timor: “There was destruction of houses and property at the time of the crisis. Many people don’t have a home to return to, and even if it can be rebuilt, they lack the funds to do it.”
Others live with relatives in the country and it is hard to work out who is where. After decades of bad governance under Portuguese and Indonesian colonial powers, many people are reluctant to be registered and many properties are the subject of long-running ownership disputes that cannot be easily settled.
In the meantime, Plan is committed to helping those in the camps: “Our main working areas are water/sanitation issues, child protection and psychosocial activities for the children,” says Jose.
A child protection network, set up by Plan with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, helps children in the short and the longer term. The network now incorporates the efforts of organisations such as Unicef, World Vision, CCF and Care.
“We know that violence and abuse is prevalent,” says Jose. “Children living in camps experience that something as simple as going to school can be unsafe. Any individual case of neglect or abuse can be addressed in the child protection network, and we can act accordingly to stop the harm done to the child.”
Alexandrinha is one of the luckier children. She is surrounded by people who love her and is relatively safe and happy. Her father, a nurse in a local hospital, brings in just enough money to put some food on the table. But even Alexandrinha suffers from her experiences.
“She is very sensitive to sounds,” says her mother. “It scares me to see how she reacts to sounds like sirens, or something as simple as a clap of hands. She will start crying, and runs off to hide. She will often wake up at night crying.”
Jose says children need grown-ups around them with whom they can develop a trusting relationship. “Through our child-friendly spaces in the refugee camps, our volunteers are able to interact with the children, play with them or read books to them. Some children like to draw – whatever they need to get time off from camp life.”
Alexandrinha attends each week. Her mother says they try hard to forget the condition they are in and the child-friendly spaces provide a place where that is possible.
“You see, as hard as these living conditions are, we cannot plan ahead either,” says Delfina. “We try not to make plans, or consider the future, because our future depends entirely on other people’s decisions.”
Alf Berg, photographer, Plan
