Post Conflict Issues

The ending of armed conflict brings its own particular challenges and opportunities for children and adolescents. In the effort of communities and nations to re-establish themselves the needs and aspirations of the young can be overlooked. Those young people who have participated with military forces must return to a way of life that may no longer be familiar and to a society that is reluctant to re-admit them. Children who have experienced autonomy unprecedented in the life of their communities are expected to submit to social hierarchies championed as ‘traditional’. What redress for young people who have lost relatives and friends, particularly those who know the identity of their loved ones’ killers? How to deal with former child soldiers who have committed atrocities?

The limited research in post-conflict settings has explored the often painful adjustment of both young people and their communities to new realities. Issues of justice and accountability as well as the long-term psycho-emotional effects of exposure to conflict re now being investigaged in various countries around the world, notably in Southern Africa. More research is needed which includes critical consideration of the role of the young in peacebuilding efforts. Also needed are studies of the legal and political processes in societies rebuilding themselves after conflict, and the ways in which such processes include and address young people.