Edition 3

Edition 3 / Edition no. 3

Elvira, ON, Ryann, ON

"We are here because these things are a crime against humanity, and this must end." stated Minister Maria Minna at the opening of the Expert’s Meeting at the International Conference on War-Affected Children on September 13th. The youth voice at the meeting was a strong one. Secret and Dwayne did a wonderful job of stating the youth’s opinions and recommendations, "From this conference, we hope to see practical solutions to benefit war-affected children emerge." Recommendations stressed by the youth delegates included giving a third party the ability to intervene in situations where governments don’t want or aren’t able to practice security measures, prevention of conflict, support of and enforcement of the Optional Protocol preventing child soldiers, and moving from words to deeds. Kathy Vandergrift summarized a common opinion among youth and experts by saying, "Peace is every child’s right." Minister Minna seemed very supportive of youth and their solutions. In her address, she believed that, "The last thing we need right now is another global talk shop," and that "Ending impunity is important, but we also need to look at prevention." Much of the applause was for Stephen Lewis, though, as he finished his address with the issue of Sudan and how that could be a good starting point to push for peace. Referring to a few personal conversations he had with representatives from Sudan, he claimed that "the victim was truth..." describing the way the Sudanese government denied and avoided the issue of abducted children. All in all, people involved in this conference are definitely focused and dedicating time to solutions to help children in conflict. The Expert’s Meeting is hosted by the Canadian Government and UNICEF. A video showing scenes of war and children in war opened the meeting. The audience was silent, and you could see tears in some of the youth’s eyes. An emotional Minister Minna then stated, "These are the faces of war in the 21st century." She commented on how the children in the video have been raped, slaughtered, maimed, terrorized, physically and emotionally affected, and that this is unacceptable.

The panel at the opening of the Experts Meeting consisted of:

· Minister of International Cooperation Maria Minna

· UNICEF Director Carol Bellamy

· Under Secretary-General of the U.N. Olara Otunnu

· Special Advisor of the Graça Machel Review Stephen Lewis,

· Youth Delegates Dwayne and Secret

· Chair of the NGO Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict Kathy Vandergrift

Emmanuel, ON and Armando, ON

Mayor Glen’s office on Main Street in Winnipeg is holding an art exhibit from Mozambique from September 10 &endash; 17. This exhibit will be touring all across Canada to Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Saskatoon and Vancouver. The exhibit is about sculptures made of destroyed weapons and pictures of the process of making them. The sculptures are very creative and show us the only good use of weapons. The project was created by the Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM) in 1995 and it offers incentives for exchanging weapons. The objective of the project is to encourage people to participate in peacebuilding activities and to embrace peace. Works were shown by artists such as Kester, Micas, Fiel, Celestino, Humberto, Kester, and many others.

Ashley, MB

Children need to be protected. That is the belief voiced by Roz Prober, Norman Boudreau, David Matas, and Bruce Harris at a session at the Experts Meeting at the International Conference on War-Affected Children. They are a part of Beyond Borders, an organization that is working to protect children from being sexually abused and sexually exploited. Sex tourism happens everywhere; it’s a global problem. Children on the streets are preyed upon because they are easy targets. The new region for sexually abused children is in Central America. There, tourists from around the world come and take advantage of the children in poverty-stricken areas. In San Jose (Costa Rica’s capitol city) alone, one million tourists visit each year, and over 300, 000 children are sexually abused. Fortunately, there is hope for these children in third world countries. Canada, among other countries, has signed a convention to protect children from sexual exploitation. Canada is also one of 20 countries enacting new laws to protect children from sexual abuse. Through these laws, if a citizen from one of those countries commits a crime regarding sex tourism in another country, they can be convicted back home. Such is the case regarding a university professor from Florida and a millionaire from New York City. They sexually exploited 10, 11, and 12 year olds overseas, and were sentenced to 125 years in jail in the U.S. Canadians are involved in sex tourism, and 4 cases are currently under investigation in Canada, one of which is in Manitoba. We, as citizens, need to put a stop to this. We cannot let the children of the future be hurt. We cannot let the children be scarred. Children who are abused carry awful memories with them for life. We can help them. We can give them a better life. We can show that we care. Youth, says Roz, is a powerful voice in making changes. And we can make the difference to these children.

GETTING INVOLVED… On the Beyond Borders website, www.beyondborders.org there are ways that we can get involved. Youth can get involved by visiting a part of the web site regarding ECPAT (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism).

Natalie, MB

On September 12, angry Native protesters gathered in front of the Fort Garry Hotel to battle the ongoing issue of Burnt Church. Their goal was to give a clear and simple message to the ministers gathered there: Canada is also fighting a war. The issue on which the protest was centred is one that has been of great concern to Canadian Natives, when boats were ceased and a chief was arrested a few weeks ago. "Though the issue seems complicated at times, the solutions are simple and simply common sense. Let them fish; just let it be fair," said Albert Keesick Sr. Another complaint was the fact that even though Canada was declared the best place to live in by the United Nations, the native population is living in third world conditions. "Hospitals and streets are full of our people. Most natives are on welfare. This is our land," said Bill Traverse "Canada is ignoring our rights. They’re just sitting back denying our right to make a living and get our people off welfare," said one protester. The main slogan used for the protest was "No justice, no peace". When protestors were asked why they had chosen this, they said the explanation is simple. If Canada served justice to the native people, internal problems would be resolved and we would be able to take a step in the right direction. Courtney, one of the national delegates at the International Conference on War Affected Children, says that people don’t understand the significance of treaties. A few solutions she suggested: "Love your culture, show the natives that people care and stop racism." Another interesting thing she pointed is that the stereotype that natives don’t like reserves is not true. " I love the reserve. It’s the only place to which I can go and not be victim of racism and rude comments. We should keep reserves." The protesters also want one more thing to be heard in connection with the International Conference on War Affected Children; "You have to respect your own culture before you can respect someone else’s".

Courtney, MB

Canada should realize that we are having our own silent war inside our country. We should take care of our own human rights problem before we go and jump to help other countries in need. Canadians need to realize that we are having a war on the Aboriginal people of Canada. We really have to think of some of the stuff that my people have actually gone through, like residential schools that aboriginal children and youth were forced to go to. These schools made aboriginal children change their whole lives around. How would the average Canadian like it if they weren’t allowed to speak their own language, practice their culture and were sexually and physically abused? But something good should’ve came out of it… treaties. Treaties were made nation to nation through Sacred Ceremonies, charters an legal documentations. They were and still are considered sacred and therefore they are not negotiable. The First Nations respected and honoured these agreements by surrendering their lands and freedom as a Sovereign Nation - while the Canadian government viewed them as temporary agreements to be amended and altered by governments of today. The story of aboriginal children is missing from the International Conference on War-Affected Children. In the years to follow we need to include a focus on our own country as well as others.

A Historical Night

Ashley, MB

At the International Conference on War-Affected Children, we hear about people from different cultures fighting each other and different ethnic groups fighting each other. But for the youth of the conference, their different cultures means an opportunity to learn about each other and about themselves. When the evening comes, everyone loses their titles. The youth are no longer international delegates or Canadian delegates, or youth media, they are just friends. When invited by Mayor Glen Murray to go on a historical train ride, the youth present at the International Conference gladly accepted. The train departed from Prairie Dog Central at 7:30 PM, heading for the Hitch’n Post. There, a BBQ of chicken, corn, potatoes, and rolls was waiting for them. It was a delicious meal. Apple crisp and ice cream was served for dessert. It was a night of fun. Some delegates had a tower of pop cans going, others were dancing, and some people were just hanging out and having a good time. A group called the Pushing Daisies were playing and we danced to that. The evening demonstrated, once again, that the youth of the conference are good friends and that all are enjoying themelves.

"For the youth of the conference, their different cultures means an opportunity to learn about each other."

The Darker Side

Diana, MB

We often think of war as soldiers fighting with other soldiers. Shooting against shooting, killing against killing, and hatred against hatred. But there is much more to war than that. There is another side that everyone seems to forget, the darker side of war. That is the side that other people don’t see, except for those who are experiencing it, or have experienced it. There are children that suffer from war, and no-one remembers. There are women whose rights get taken away, but no-one notices. There are men that get forced to do things they don’t want to do, but no-one cares. Girl soldiers make up thirty percent of the military in some countries in Africa. They may be abducted, and forced into fighting. Other times, they are given as "wives" to soldiers &endash; some as young as ten. Informing people about the bad things that go on in the war zones is the only way to get people to remember, notice and care. This message is to ask people that, if you are ever thinking about wars that go on in the world, always remember the darker side of it.
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