On the occasion of the 18th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, author and former child soldier Ishmael Beah was Tuesday appointed UNICEF Advocate for Children Affected by War.
– Ishmael Beah speaks on behalf of young people around the world whose childhoods have been scarred by violence, deprivation (forsømmelse, red.) and other violations of their rights, said UNICEF’s Executive Director, Ann M. Veneman.
REKRUT SOM 13-ÅRIG
Ishmael Beah was forcibly recruited in his native Sierra Leone when he was only 13.
More than two years later UNICEF negotiated with warlords for the release of Beah and other child combatants and placed him in a rehabilitation programme.
Eventually, Beah found his way to New York and finished his education.
SKREV ERINDRINGER
His childhood memoir, A Long Way Gone, became an international bestseller and through the book, lectures and speaking engagements, he has given the world a better understanding of the life of a child soldier.
– For many observers, a child who has known nothing but war, a child for whom the Kalashnikov is the only way to make a living and for whom the bush is the most welcoming community, is a child lost forever for peace and development. I contest this view, Beah said Tuesday.
– For the sake of these children it is essential to prove that another life is possible, he added.
EN MÆRKEDAG
The announcement of Beah’s appointment coincides with the 18th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
This international treaty was created to help prevent the kind of suffering that Ishmael Beah endured.
The Convention was approved by the UN General Assembly on 20 November 1989.
It sets the ground rules for a better life for all children, and is the most widely ratified human rights agreement in the world.
The rights it identifies include the right to survival, the right to be protected from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation, and the right to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.
Kilde: www.unicef.org
