Physical Experiment to validate model

Armed conflicts and increasingly frequent natural disasters continue to scar children’s lives. Each year, natural and man-made disasters affect an estimated 231 million people worldwide (World watch Institute Report.

2007 cited in The International Save the Children Alliance, 2007: 9), causing countless injuries and deaths and costing billions of dollars. The majority of the affected people are usually children (The International Save the Children Alliance, 2007: 9). Almost half of all forcibly displaced persons globally are children – over 12 million girls and boys (United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR), 2006: 7). There are currently 250-300 million children affected by humanitarian crises and disasters globally (International Save the Children Alliance, 2006: 8.);

increasingly, they come from or stay in urban areas. Of the estimated 24.5 million conflict-related internally displaced people (IDPs) in the world, about 50% are children (The International Save the Children Alliance, 2007: 9).

Many refugee children spend their entire childhood in displacement, uncertain about their future. Children – whether refugees, internally displaced or stateless – are at greater risk than adults of abuse, neglect, violence, exploitation, trafficking or forced recruitment into armed groups.

They may experience and witness disturbing events or be separated from their family. At the same time, family and other social support networks

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may be weakened and education may be disrupted. These experiences can have a profound effect on children – from infancy and childhood through to adolescence. During emergencies and in displacement, girls face particular gender-related protection risks (United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR), 2006: 7). Children are also highly resilient and find ways to cope and move forward in the face of hardship and suffering. They draw strength from their families and find joy in friendships. By learning in school, playing sports, and having the creative space to explore their talents and use some of their skills, children can be active members of their community (UNHCR), 2006: 7).

Forced displacement exacerbates children’s exposure to neglect, exploitation and sexual and other forms of violence and abuse. Children are at particular risk and require special attention due to their dependence on adults to survive, their vulnerability to physical and psychological trauma, and their needs that must be met to ensure normal growth and development (UNHCR’s Age, Gender and Diversity Policy, 2011). Whether internally displaced or a refugee, whether as a result of war, civil unrest or natural disaster, whether in an urban, rural or semi-rural setting, a child’s vulnerability to abuse during a crisis is very high. Families suffer multiple and severe disruptions: losing their homes and livelihoods, and often also losing their autonomy and dignity when trying to obtain humanitarian relief and protection. With an uncertain future, repeated emotional stress and only minimal access to education, children are at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation, physical harm, separation from their families, psychosocial distress, gender-based violence, economic exploitation, recruitment into armed groups, and other forms of harm (International Save the Children Alliance, 2007: 9).

Over 200 million children between 5 and 14 years of age are working world-wide. This figure represents one- fifth of the total population of girls and boys in this age group. About 111 million children are in what has been termed as “hazardous work” which refers to forms of labour which are likely to have adverse effects on the child’s safety, health, and moral development. Nearly 10 million of these children are engaged in some form of slave labour, armed conflict, prostitution or pornography, or other illicit activities. Some observers believe that these figures understate the real magnitude of child labour. The implications of this situation are significant, complex, and multidimensional (Betcherman et al, 2004: 1).

The term ‘child protection’ is used in different ways by different organisations in different situations. The term will mean protection from violence, abuse and exploitation. In its simplest form, child protection

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addresses every child’s right not to be subjected to harm. It complements other rights that, inter alia, ensure that children receive that which they need in order to survive, develop and thrive (UNICEF and Inter Parliamentary Union, 2004: 8). Child protection covers a wide range of important, diverse and urgent issues. Many, such as child prostitution, are very closely linked to economic factors. Others, such as violence in the home or in schools, may relate more closely to poverty, social values, norms and traditions.

Often criminality is involved, for example, with regard to child trafficking.

Even technological advancement has its protection aspects, as has been seen with the growth in child pornography (UNICEF and Inter Parliamentary Union, 2004: 8).

Expressing the need for, as well as the danger of withholding child protection UNICEF and Inter Parliamentary Union (2004: 10) affirms that:

Child protection is a special concern in situations of emergency and humanitarian crisis. Many of the defining features of emergencies – displacement, lack of humanitarian access, breakdown in family and social structures, erosion of traditional value systems, a culture of violence, weak governance, absence of accountability and lack of access to basic social services – create serious child protection problems. Emergencies may result in large numbers of children becoming orphaned, displaced or separated from their families. Children may become refugees or be internally displaced; abducted or forced to work for armed groups; disabled as a result of combat, landmines and unexploded ordnance; sexually exploited during and after conflict; or trafficked for military purposes. They may become soldiers, or be witnesses to war crimes and come before justice mechanisms. Armed conflict and periods of repression increase the risk that children will be tortured. For money or protection, children may turn to

‘survival sex’, which is usually unprotected and carries a high risk of transmission of disease, including HIV/AIDS.

Children’s rights are enshrined in international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1990). International consensus developed on the need for a new instrument that would explicitly lay out the specific and special rights of children. In 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the General Assembly. It rapidly became the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history, enjoying almost universal ratification (UNICEF and Inter Parliamentary Union, 2004: 10). The Convention on the Rights of the Child advances international standards on children’s rights in a number of ways. It elaborates and makes legally binding many of the rights of children laid out in previous instruments. It contains new provisions relating to children, for

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example, with regard to rights to participation, and the principle that in all decisions concerning the child, the child’s best interests must come first. It also created for the first time an international body responsible for overseeing respect for the rights of the child, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNICEF and Inter Parliamentary Union, 2004: 10).

Children’s right to be heard and to be taken seriously is a crucial and also visionary provision of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It has helped to see childhood through a new lens and gain a renewed understanding of citizenship and democracy (Willow, 2010: vii). Child protection work aims to prevent, respond to, and resolve the abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence experienced by children in all settings (International Save the Children Alliance, 2007: 7). Recognition of the child’s right to protection is not limited to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. There are a number of other instruments, both those of the United Nations and those of other international and regional bodies, which also lay out these rights. These instruments include:

• The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child of the Organisation for African Unity (now African Union) of 1990

• The Geneva Conventions on International Humanitarian Law (1949) and their Additional Protocols (1977)

• International Labour Convention No. 138 (1973), which states that, in general, persons under the age of 18 may not be employed in jobs that are dangerous to their health or development, and International Labour Convention No. 182 (1999) concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour

• The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children to the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (UNICEF and Inter Parliamentary Union, 2004: 10).