PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

There was good news about the situation of children affected by the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, told correspondents this afternoon during a Headquarters briefing on his recently completed field trip to the region.  Neither side had resorted to the systematic use of children as child soldiers, he added, as he reviewed on how the border conflict between the two countries had affected their children.

During talks with parties in both Eritrea and Ethiopia, Mr. Otunnu said, he’d been impressed with the fact that no other conflict zone he’d visited recently had been free of the “child soldiering” phenomenon.  In addition, since his field trip had coincided with the horrific allegations coming to light in western Africa about the systematic sexual exploitation of children in refugee camps, he’d looked for any inkling of such activity.  He had found no reports or evidence of such abuse among women and children housed as either refugees or displaced persons.  The situation warranted analysis for application of conclusions elsewhere, because the key appeared to be good coordination between the local authorities and community, and with the international personnel of the United Nations Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).

Both the non-recruitment of children for armed conflict and the absence of abuse in camps were due in part to the fact that the local authorities and communities were in charge, he said.  The locals both organized and monitored life in the camps and they distributed provisions, while the international community and national non-governmental organizations provided support for their activities.  Further, there was a high level of organization between the local authorities and the local population, particularly in seeing to the needs of vulnerable populations.  Finally, there was a high level of cooperation based on rapport between UNMEE and the locals.

The actual purpose of the trip had been to assess the effect of two conflicts, the Special Representative explained.  One was the recent border dispute that had lasted two years, which had added to the conditions resulting from the earlier “30-year” war that had ended in Eritrea’s independence.

The key impact of the combined conflicts was the prevalence of landmines and the large-scale separation of families, due to repeated displacement of people from their homes, he continued.  That was particularly problematic for children and young people, who lived on the street or engaged in prostitution upon separation from their families.  Intensive reunification activities were under way in both countries and programmes were addressing the social behaviors of separated young people, some of those measures being instituted in the context of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) plan for the Zone, which included countries such as Somalia and Sudan.

The common element among the Zone countries was that they were either in conflict or newly emerging from it, he said.  The IGAD plan for the Zone addressed local issues related to fresh water, schooling and health.  It also

provided for measures to address cross-border issues such as recruitment of child soldiers, the flow of small arms, displacement of populations and clearing of landmines.  In addition, for the Zone, the IGAD agenda promoted implementation of international instruments assisting and protecting those affected by conflict, such as the Ottawa Convention on landmines.  The United Nations, including through UNMEE, was active in such areas as the placement and training of child protection advisers.     

At the moment, he said, there were two imperatives for Ethiopia and Eritrea.  The first was to ensure a successful acceptance of the forthcoming

13 April Boundary Commission decision on the disputed border.  Acceptance could inaugurate a much-needed, definitive period of peace.  Both women and children said they wanted it and hoped their leaders would agree.  Second, those now displaced would need wide support for the resettlement activities that would return them to their homes with the tools to start development projects.

In response to a question, Mr. Otunnu said the activities in the Zone were related to two major initiatives taking place in continental Africa and beyond.  The first was the New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), which built partnerships between developing and developed countries.  The Second was the conversion of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) into an entity to be known as the African Union.

He said the local, regional and broader aspects of the Ethiopia-Eritrea situation in context of those continent-wide initiatives would be taken up later this year at Summits of both the OAU and of the Group of 8 Industrialized Countries.  The key to successful implementation of programmes, however, lay in the lesson learned from the successful averting of child-soldiering in Ethiopia and Eritrea.  While some African local groups were made dependent by assistance, those empowered to organize themselves achieved the intended aims.

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