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After the war...POST CONFLICT Sierra Leone: Women and Children
29/09/2007
This article was originally written by Rebekah Rampe in 2007 as a 14 year old. It was based on her experiences when visiting her parents who were working as expatriates in Sierra Leone. The article was updated in October 2008 to reflect the most recent situation in Sierra Leone.
We all hear about wars at one point in our lives, we see images on the Television and we feel great sympathy for the innocent people caught up in war. Nothing in my life prepared me for what I saw in post-conflict Sierra Leone.
War has an effect on everyone, but it has different types of effects on different people. It is evident that it has the most negative effect on women and children, although the problems become clearer after the war.
Women in most African countries are treated unequally. A woman is considered less important than a man because culturally the African man is seen as the sole provider, therefore would believe they are superior to women. Where there is famine the woman will suffer more, where there is poverty the woman will suffer most and where there is war the woman will suffer even more.
During the civil war in Sierra Leone, 46% of women were displaced and more than half of those women still have not returned to their original homes. More than 45% of Sierra Leonean women were sexually attacked and many young girls were captured to become wives to the rebels. Some pregnant women would be attacked and their stomachs would be cut open in order to settle an argument between two rebels over the sex of the foetus.
Mothers would be separated from their children and the children would then either have one or more of their limbs amputated, for not giving the information the rebels needed or to make older family members join their 'army'.
Surprisingly, in some cases the women became rebels themselves and became ruthless because of their past experiences, or simply to survive.
Many women, because of their past experiences still have not recovered from the traumas of war. Although some women want to improve their circumstances, due to poverty and sickness, the average life expectancy for a Sierra Leonean woman is 43 years, one of the lowest in the world. The lack of decent health care is not helping the situation.
Sierra Leone is 154th out of 155 on the world poverty index. Amazingly, it is about the 4th richest countries in natural resources, with vast potential wealth from diamonds, gold, minerals such as bauxite and titanium, fisheries and agriculture. It is as rich as Qatar in natural resources, potentially.
The ratio of men to women in Sierra Leone is 0.94:1 (94 men for every 100 women) and the women do the vast majority of the agricultural work, but they are still given very little respect and recognition which is reinforced throughout the culture. Despite this there are some very brilliant and determined women who have broken through the political barrier. Indeed in 2005, there were 16 women in parliament, three women in cabinet and the first female commissioner was elected in Freetown. There were also four female judges out of a total of seven on the high court, and three female judges out of six on the court of appeals.
One of the biggest problems that most countries face after a war is unemployment. Unemployment creates a big problem for the youth (Sierra came second to last on the United Nations Human Development Index, with youth unemployment at nearly 80%). Although some might be getting a basic education, the problem starts once they leave school. Due to this, the young people of Sierra Leone are finding immoral or 'easy' ways of surviving:
- Prostitution
- Drug Dealing
- Armed Robbery, etc.
Due to this, economic productivity is reduced and young men and women cannot contribute much to rebuilding their nation. Young women are unfortunately realising the more children they have, the chance of them living a better life increases. Examples of this include:
- Selling their children to work as servants
- Sending their children on their streets to beg
- Simply by using them as ways of getting sympathy (money)
Unfortunately, the ones who have a chance to rebuild their country are the ones no attention is being paid to, the children. The children born after the war have no disturbing memories, injuries or trauma that will hold them back from improving their nation. The only thing holding these children back is the war they are fighting with poverty. The people they are expecting to protect and provide for them cannot. The infant mortality rate in Sierra Leone is as high as 15.8% (second highest in the world). Children are dying from malnutrition and curable diseases, but due to the collapse of the economy that leads to extreme poverty, there is very poor primary health care and if the health care does not improve, the birth rate could soon become equal to the infant mortality rate. Currently the mortality rate for 0-5 year olds is also the second highest in the world.
Donor countries are putting a lot of money into Sierra Leone. More than £1.5 billion in aid has been given since 2000 along with £800m in debt relief. There are many foreign NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) out there trying to help the people, especially women and children. It is very hard to empower the women, as they have been put down for so long, and suffered so much during the civil war. Unfortunately, the women and children are the ones who miss out most on the foreign aid. There seems to be a glimpse of hope for justice, the UN (United Nations) Special Court in Sierra Leone has been investigating and prosecuting rebel leaders and ex-rebels since 2003. This is after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up (as was done in South Africa after the apartheid).
In July 2007 four senior leaders were given long prison sentences by the UN Special Court for terrible crimes including those against defenceless women and children. This includes Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu, all senior commanders of the AFRC (Armed Forces Revolutionary Council).
Recently, in September 2007, the first Parliamentary and Presidential election in 10 years was held. There were a few women who won seats in Parliament, 16 of a total of 121, including Minister of Social Welfare Gender and Childrens Affair's Musu Kandeh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Zainab Hawa Bangura. Hopefully, the new Government will do more to help the women of Sierra Leone, and will begin to provide and care for the future of Sierra Leone, the children.
The British Government has put a lot of money into helping rebuild Sierra Leone. DFID (Department for International Development) has set up a lot of projects in Sierra Leone to help rebuild the country and to empower the women. Other NGOs such as Save the Children, Tear Fund and Oxfam identify the needs of the children and try to provide for them. UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) is also working at resettling displaced women as well as men and children.
I found these shocking facts by talking to people who had survived the war, talking to my father and his colleagues who work for DFID and from my mother who interacted a lot with displaced women and children. This was during holidays I spent in Sierra Leone with my family, who have lived there for the past four years. Although we were living a 'diplomatic' life, it was impossible to ignore the poverty that we were surrounded by. Everywhere we went, we could see men, women and children with amputated limbs, and huge scars and we saw countless children begging on the streets.
War destroys many lives and dreams, but what war leaves behind is even more destructive as it destroys people's lives and also the lives of those who have not yet lived... as seen in post-conflict Sierra Leone.
Rebekah Rampe
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