CHILDREN: Sierra Leone Nurtures Limbless Community

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 3 1998 (IPS) - The battle-scarred nation of Sierra Leone is nurturing a community of persons without limbs, says a senior U.N. official after a four-day tour of West Africa.

U.N. Under Secretary-General Olara Otunnu is appealing for urgent international assistance to help victims of recent atrocities, mostly children, whose arms and feet have been savagely chopped off by armed groups fighting the government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.

Although Kebbah was restored to power in March 1998 after a 10- month long exile, the remnants of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) continue their fight in the country’s northern and eastern provinces.

“I met a child victim of less than 10 years of age who recounted to me that, after cutting off his hands, the RUF fighters told him: ‘Go, tell President Kabbah that we are still here,”‘ Otunnu told reporters.

As the U.N.’s ‘Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict’, Otunnu has visited Liberia and Sri Lanka to assess the plight of children victimised by the ongoing military conflicts in those two countries. He is planning similar visits to Sudan, Afghanistan and Uganda.

Otunnu saw at least 300 victims of reprisals at the Connaught Hospital in the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown. “This is estimated to constitute only a small proportion of those who have been maimed by the atrocities,” he says.

The number of victims reporting to upcountry hospitals is still unknown, and a larger number of people are reported to have died or still suffering in the bush.

“Clearly, the needs of the street children, child soldiers and displaced children, including those who were unaccompanied, constituted the country’s most pressing single challenge,” Otunnu says.

He also points out that the challenge was compounded by the demobilisation process, as well as by educational and medical concerns. “The road to national recovery lies in rehabilitating the children and giving them a sense of renewed hope.”

In a report to the Security Council in February, Secretary- General Kofi Annan painted a grim picture of the situation inside Sierra Leone. “The health status of the Sierra Leone population has been poor. Life expectancy is only 43 years, one of the lowest in the world,” he said.

The United Nations ranks Sierra Leone as the second least developed nation after Niger. Per capita income stands at 160 dollars a year.

After a five-year long civil war that killed more than 10,000 people and displaced several hundred thousands, a democractically- elected President Kabbah signed a peace treaty with RUF in November 1996. In May 1997, Kabbah was ousted in a military coup, but was restored to power with the help of a regional African peacekeeping force, the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG). The military junta was ousted in February 1998.

Otunnu told reporters that even though peace has not been fully restored to Sierra Leone, the conduct of ECOMOG has been “very impressive,” especially with regard to its rapport with the civilian population.

“Overall, Sierra Leoneans displayed a sesne of confidence stemming from the success of their efforts, as well as those of neighbouring countries, in restoring democracy to their country. We must help them to consolidate that sense of self-confidence,” he adds.

During talks in Sierra Leone, Otunnu recevied a number of commitments, including a pledge to demobilise all child soldiers. The government has appointed a Coordination Group and a Parliamentary Caucus to to protect the rights and welfare of children affected by the conflict in Sierra Leone.

Otunnu says he had identified five areas requiring urgent action by the international community: the demobilisation and reintegration of child combatants; the resettlement of internally displaced persons; the tracing of families of unaccompanied children; the rehabilitation and support of victims without limbs; and the provision and rehabilitation of medical and educational services.

“The challenge of children in Sierra Leone is very serious, but not overwhelming,” he added. Otunnu said the situation can be turned around withy carefully organised and targeted assistance.

“Providing new hope for the children of Sierra Leone may well be the best way to ensure national recovery for the country as a whole. The international community should move now,” he added.

Otunnu warned that the restored democracy, as well as prospects for stability, could be seriously jeopardised if the international community adopts a wait-and-see attitude on Sierra Leone.