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The impoverishment of households as a consequence of conflict and displacement commonly leads to dietary deficiency. In addition, the ability of communities to feed themselves through farming, fishing or hunter-gathering may be constrained by security considerations or prohibitions imposed by military authorities. Separated children forced to fend for themselves and children in homes with a sole parent may be especially vulnerable to undernourishment and malnutrition. In societies where men leave to fight, are captured or killed, mothers are often compelled to take paid employment. This may leave young children without proper care, including cooked meals, for much of the day. Such cases suggest that child under- or malnutrition are not simply the consequence of poverty and lack of supplies but also result from harsh social conditions.
As a subject of enquiry the strategies of children and adolescents to obtain food for themselves and their households has been little researched. In the midst of armed conflict the quest to obtain sufficient food may have serious consequences for children. The promise of regular meals can encourage some to enlist with a military group. The actual search for foodstuffs leads children in some countries into direct danger by, for example, entering a militarised or heavily mined area. The issue of food entitlement according to age and gender has generally been neglected. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that cultural factors may lead to an unequal distribution of rations within a household such that, for example, adolescent girls suffer micronutrient deficiencies not found amongst their male siblings. This issue highlights the need for a more nuanced, contextualised exploration of the subject. At present most studies consist of assessments of nutritional levels, particularly of under fives, by researchers from a medical background.
In 1996 the Graça Machel report drew the world’s attention to the interrelationship between armed conflict and the high incidence of HIV/AIDS transmission. This relationship is mutually reinforcing. On the one hand, armed conflict commonly contributes to sexual exploitation; it also damages the infrastructure through which messages about HIV/AIDS might otherwise be conveyed to the young and the means of protection and treatment provided. On the other hand, the extensive spread of HIV/AIDS can profoundly destabilize a society, contributing to conditions conducive for armed conflict. It is surely not by chance that thirteen of the seventeen countries with more than 100,000 children orphaned by AIDS are currently experiencing conflict or are on the brink of conflict.
Adolescents in the age range 10–24 are the most at risk of HIV infection. According to UNICEF, at least 50 per cent of all new infections occur amongst this age group. Many of these young people are living in developing countries that are currently experiencing conflict. If the rate of infection of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is a guide, those involved in military forces are especially vulnerable. UNAIDS has estimated that military forces during times of armed conflict are fifty times more likely to contract STDs than civilians. In general, there is a lack of empirical study which explores the connection between HIV/AIDS, conflict, and young people.
WebsitesInternational Save the Children Alliance, HIV and Conflict: A Double Emergency, 2002 http://www.savethechildren.net/alliance/resources/publications.html#hiv Safe Passages to Adulthood http://www.socstats.soton.ac.uk/cshr/safePassages.htm UNAIDS, AIDS and the Military: UNAIDS Point of View, 1998. http://www.unaids.org/NetTools/Misc/DocInfo.aspx?LANG=en&href=http://gva-doc-owl/WEBcontent/Documents/pub/Publications/IRC-pub05/militarypv_en.pdf Children Orphaned by AIDS: Frontline Responses from Eastern and Southern Africa, 2001. http://www.unaids.org/html/pub/publications/irc-pub05/orphrept_en_pdf/orphrept_en_pdf_1.jpg UNICEF, HIV/AIDS and Children Affected by Armed Conflict, 2002. http://www.unaids.org/publications/documents/sectors/military/militarypve.pdf |
In both academic research and agency interventions a growing tension has developed between those who consider the psychological and emotional impact of conflict on the young from a strictly medical standpoint and those who are concerned to develop a more contextualised approach. The former often direct their endeavours towards understanding the traumatic effects of exposure to violence, which is assumed to put the mental health of children and adolescents at great risk. There is a massive body of literature which explores the psycho-emotional consequences of conflict and displacement, much of it conducted with refugee children and adolescents newly-settled in Western countries. 1
However, as noted in the FMO Research Guide to Psychosocial Issues, a growing number of scholars are questionning the notion of ‘trauma’ that underpins this work as well as the methods used to identify ‘traumatised’ young people. Rather than exploring the levels and nature of distress amongst children and adolescents, these researchers have begun to consider the resilience of the young and the means by which they cope with the challenges of conflict. These studies are generally field-based and endeavour to look at young people’s lives in a holistic manner that takes into account local understandings of sickness and well-being. Critics of this approach argue that there is a danger of losing sight of the often immense suffering inflicted on individuals by exposure to armed conflict.
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