The role of children in reconciliation

Moderator Mano Tittawella, Iris Marin Ortiz, Saudamini Siegrist, Friedrich Affolter, Cheryl Heykoop, Caitlin Reiger and Alan Aud at the Panel – Pic by Upul Abayasekara

The role of children in ethnic harmony, in maintaining the stability of the human fabric of togetherness and maintaining the peace of multicultural communities is one that is not often discussed, and even less the role of children in reconciliation in the aftermath of ethnic violence in long-drawn conflicts. 

The panel discussion on ‘The Role of Children in Reconciliation: Lessons from International Experiences’, organised last week by the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM) in partnership with The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) held at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute in Colombo provided some insights into how diverse the roles of children in reconciliation could be, as well as the challenges that are involved in making children stakeholders of the process. 

The discussion was moderated by SCRM Secretary General Mano Tittawella and the featured international panel of experts were UNICEF Child Protection in Emergencies Global Senior Adviser Saudamini Siegrist; UNICEF Global Education Specialist Friedrich Affolter; Royal Roads University, Canada Dr. Cheryl Heykoop; Legal Advisor, Association of Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, Argentina Alan Iud; Presidential Advisor on Human Rights, Colombia, Iris Marin Ortiz; and Caitlin Reiger, British Council, Myanmar.

The Secretary General of SCRM in his introduction of the work done so far in Sri Lanka towards reconciliation, in the backdrop of preparing for a new constitution, said that so far over 100 meetings have been held throughout the island with the participation of focus groups ranging from political parties to civil society members. 

Stating that the next open dialogue will be held in Batticaloa, it was also pointed out that the way the legislation is supposed to be drafted in Sri Lanka will be to give a significant level of autonomy to the commissioners to ensure human rights and truth so that the victims, whether they be in the south or north, will be served justice.

Why children?

On the relatively new concept to Sri Lanka of the role of children in reconciliation, it was pointed out by UNICEF Child Protection in Emergencies Global Senior Advisor Saudamini Siegrist that when 15 years ago the UNICEF started the agenda of using children in reconciliation the question that was asked was‘why children?’ as it is not the job of children to put an end to wars. The answer then was that as the future leaders of society, children had to be given a channel for them to have their voices heard.

“Children are among the principal victims of war and they have a key role to play,” Siegrist said, emphasising Article 19 (on protection from all forms of violence) and Article 38 on (war and armed conflicts) of the treaties of the rights of the child and where participation of children in the course of post-war justice should go hand in hand with much needed protection for them. 

“Essential to the participation of children is that their threat is not increased and thereby mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that their rights are safeguarded,” Siegrist said, pointing out from her global experiences that children have repeatedly demonstrated that they want to be involved in the process of accountability. 

Education

UNICEF Global Education Specialist Friedrich Affolter said that last year UNICEF has been trying to study aspects of education that could either contribute to or minimise violence and used the example of the Third Reich where education was used to divide communities and explained that the process of transitional justice could benefit from having a related framework through education. 

Cheryl Heykoop of the Royal Roads University of Canada said that in making a reconciliation process meaningful for all, the question that is being asked is how children and youth could be encouraged to volunteer for the process while at the same time recognising cultural sensitivities and leveraging on aspects such as the technology familiarity of most youth. 

Caitlin Reiger of British Council, Myanmar, drawing from her work with children in conflicts in locations such as Sierra Leone and Timor Leste, highlighted the issue of many world conflicts in which children are both victims and perpetrators and how in the case of child soldiers they should be viewed as victims who suffer both during and after the conflict. 

The overall emphasis of using children in the reconciliation process was stressed to be the enabling of normal lives for children and ensuring their rights for education and a future of stability. In the case of South Sudan, it was pointed out that a key issue for the children as highlighted by them was regarding their future,where from the point of view of children it was about wanting their life to be changed as a result of them being part of the reconciliation process.

How the process of a judicial exercise could be harmful to children was discussed at length with the understanding that even if children have committed horrendous crimes they are still victims and how in designing a framework for the involvement of children in a judicial process should include the full sensitivity necessary which should also take into consideration the gendered aspects of involving both girls and boys. 

Cycles of violence

Association of Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, Argentina, Legal Adviser Alan Iud stated that Argentina was still dealing with the transitional justice process which begun around 30 years ago. 

The issue of how the cycles of violence continue through oral narrative and largely rumour-myth-based stories that are told of one community by another through adults was discussed, and whereby the role of evidence seeking and curricula development in education especially in subjects such as history was highlighted.

Answering a question on how Sri Lanka could look at reconciliation through education it was pointed out that one way could be to incorporate conflict and post-conflict-related issues of other countries so that a discussion starts on the complexities as well as the possibilities of peace at a global level. 

Highlighting aspects of the Nazi and post-Nazi aftermath of Germany, it was emphasised that what could be learnt from Germany was how it handled the post-Nazi aftermath to ensure that such a situation did not rise again.