OneWorld.net (U.S.)

“They grew up hearing the sound of weapons, bombs and strong explosions; they took part in some of the cruellest battles ever seen anywhere: for this reason, I wonder if these children will ever manage to overcome the trauma of war,” the President of Sierra Leone, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, said this morning at the opening of the conference dedicated to children in West Africa organised by the Italian department for international development. Delegations from Italy and 18 countries in the region as well as representatives of numerous international bodies and non-governmental organisations assembled in the small conference hall in the ‘Lagoonda Complex’ overlooking a small bay to discuss the problems faced by children in this part of Africa, which has seen “some of the world’s most violent and terrible conflicts of the last ten years, from Liberia to Guinea Bissau, from Mali to Ivory Coast”. “The protagonists of these wars (armed gangs, militias and mercenaries) then began to forcibly recruit minors,” continued Kabbah. “Our children, the children of West Africa, have lost the chance to enjoy the normal pleasures of childhood, to go to school, but in particular we have stopped thinking of them as children”. Some have continued along the path of war, becoming mercenaries and moving across the borders in the region from one conflict to another. “For this reason the countries of West Africa must work together to find a solution to a problem that makes our children both victims and authors of violence at the same time,” added Kabbah. There are plenty of children on the streets of Freetown, and on first sight the scars of their past seem well hidden. However, it is enough to pause to talk to one of them in a small garden caressed by the sea breeze to realise that the trauma is still present. “The main problem is that I remember too much, I remember too many things,” says a girl who saw her father and mother being killed and thrown into the river before the rebels took her away. “The ghosts, the faces, the cries, the darkness and the fear of those days return to haunt me during the night,” she adds. “There is need for assistance and instruments able to give these victims a hand so that they can start thinking like children once again and thereby resume their real place within society,” said the head of state during his inaugural speech. Kabbah stressed that one of the most terrible consequences is seen in the changes in children’s “attitudes, behaviour and language”. The main challenge facing West African governments “is to guarantee a free and functioning school system”, he concluded. (by Massimo Zaurrini in Freetown)